Broadcasting on-air and streaming online, we are celebrating NAIDOC Week and exploring this year’s theme #VoiceTreatyTruth.
A collection of vibrant and thought-provoking feature documentaries, movies and shorts screening daily from 7-14 July.
We take you from the glamour of the 2019 NAIDOC Awards in Canberra, to the coastal wilderness of South Australia with Storm Boy, and blue-water beaches of Elcho Island, where Gurrumul Yunipingu's family calls home.
2019 National NAIDOC Awards
Saturday, 6.30pm
Join Aaron Fa’aosa and Rachel Hocking as they bring you all the glitz and the glamour from the Red Carpet and Awards Ceremony at the 2019 NAIDOC Ball live from Canberra.
2018 NAIDOC Ball at Sydney International Convention Centre on July 13, 2018. (Flickr) Source: Flickr
Running since 1985, the annual NAIDOC Awards Ceremony marks the start of NAIDOC Week and recognises outstanding Indigenous Australians and the contributions they’ve made to improve the lives of First Peoples in their communities or the excellence they’ve shown in their chosen field.
Treaty
Sunday, 6.30pm
Treaty Time - taking enrollments to vote for the First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria Source: Bertrand Tungandame
An Australian television premiere, brought to the screen by NITV’s Commissioning team, Treaty is a documentary series made up of four short films that explore what Treaty means to Aboriginal people in Victoria today.
These individual stories document the issues around Treaty in Victoria, told through the lens of emerging Aboriginal filmmakers.
Gurrumul
Sunday, 8.30pm (also simulcast on SBS)
‘Core to the film is the question of what it means to be an Indigenous Australian in the modern world.’ - Luke Buckmaster, The Guardian.
Acclaimed documentary, Gurrumul (Supplied) Source: Supplied
Debuted at the Berlin Film Festival in 2018 and met with rave reviews, Gurrumul is a portrait of an artist on the brink of global reverence, and the struggles he and those closest to him faced in balancing that which mattered most to him and keeping the show on the road.
Celebrated by audiences at home and abroad, Indigenous artist Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunipingu was one of the most important and acclaimed voices to ever come out of Australia. Blind from birth, he found purpose and meaning through songs and music inspired by his community and country on Elcho Island in far North East Arnhem Land.
Living a traditional Yolngu life, his breakthrough album ‘Gurrumul’ brought him to a crossroads as audiences and artists around the world began to embrace his music.
The Song Keepers
Monday, 7.30pm
Premiering on the world stage at MIFF 2017 and commissioned by NITV, The Song Keepers tells the joyous and poignant story of four generations of song women that make up The Central Australian Aboriginal Women’s Choir as they go on a historic journey to take back the hymns that were given to them by their ancestors by the German missionaries but in their own Western Arrarnta and Pitjantjatjara languages and on their own terms.
Central Australian Aboriginal Women's Choir (W. Mueller) Source: SBS/W.Mueller
Servant or Slave
Wednesday, 7.30pm
Another gem from the NITV Commissioning team, Servant or Slave made its debut at MIFF 2016 and is a compelling piece of first-person storytelling casting light over a dark part of Australia’s colonial history.
Still from powerful documentary, Servant or Slave Source: NITV
Director Steven McGregor’s documentary follows the lives of five Aboriginal women who were stolen from their families and trained to be domestic servants. With the government exercising complete control over their wages, many thousands of Aboriginal boys and girls were effectively condemned to an inescapable cycle of abuse, rape and enslavement.
The Point – Youth Parliament
Wednesday, 8.30pm
The Point with hosts Rachael Hocking and John Paul Janke. Wednesdays, 8.30pm on NITV. Source: NITV
The Point broadcasts a youth forum from Old Parliament House from the NAIDOC host city, Canberra. Hosts Rachael Hocking and John Paul Janke will be joined by 12 young guests to design a future declaration for young Australians, celebrating and acknowledging our shared history and aspirations, from our ancient First Peoples’ heritage and culture, our British institutions and our multicultural society in Australia.
Rabbit-Proof Fence
Wednesday, 9.30pm
Rabbit-Proof Fence Source: Supplied
The controversy of the Stolen Generation is played out in this true story about three Aboriginal girls.
Taken from their home and separated from their mothers, they are sent to a remote settlement 1,500 miles away. In response, they attempt the impossible and embark on a daring escape and epic journey to find their way back home – across an unforgiving landscape that will test their very will to survive.
Starring Everlyn Sampi, Kenneth Branagh and David Gulpilil, who was nominated for an AACTA for Best Supporting Actor.
Westwind: Djalu's Legacy
Thursday, 9pm
Djalu Gurriwiwi is an aging elder in a line of 60,000 years long who is running out of time to pass on the Yidaki (didgeridoo) Songlines entrusted to him for the future of his people, before they die with him.
Djalu's Legacy explores two worlds coming together to save Yolgnu culture. Source: SBS movies
His son and community, struggling to come to terms with the consequences of colonisation, are lost. When Djalu breaks with tradition to try and save them, world famous musician Gotye becomes an unexpected family member and helps heal Djalu’s sons and amplify his songs to the world. Featured at CinefestOZ 2017 and MIFF 2017, Westwind: Djalu’s Legacy is a proud NITV commission.
Storm Boy
Friday, 7.30pm
Filmed in 1976, Storm Boy is a classic Australian film about Mike, a lonely boy living in a coastal wilderness with his reclusive father. In search of friendship, he encounters an Aboriginal loner and the two form a bond caring for orphaned pelicans. Storm Boy was the winner of three AFI Awards in 1977 for Best Film, Best Director (Henri Safran) and Best Actor in a Lead Role (David Gulpilil).
Storm Boy (1976) starring Greg Rowe and David Gulpilil. (Supplied) Source: Supplied
She Who Must Be Loved
Sunday, 8.30pm
Winner of the Documentary Australia Foundation Award for Australian Documentary at this year’s Sydney Film Festival, She Who Must Be Loved, is the life story of trailblazing Alfreda Glynn, a 78-year-old Aboriginal woman and co-founder of the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association and Imparja TV.
Portrait of Freda Gynn, a woman celebrated in the documentary 'She Who Must Be Loved'. (Supplied) Source: Supplied
Directed by her daughter, Erica Glynn (In My Own Words) and commissioned by NITV, She Who Must Be Loved documents Freda’s childhood living under Aboriginal Protection policies, moving onto her early adulthood carving out a career as a photographer while raising five children on her own.
It details Freda’s radicalisation in the early ’70s that saw her channel her unstoppable energy and enthusiasm into co-founding and establishing CAAMA, the first radio broadcaster to transmit regular programming in Aboriginal languages.
Jupurrurla – Man of Media
Sunday, 10pm
Commissioned by NITV and an Australian television premiere, this short documentary is the story of Warlpiri elder and lawman, Francis Jupurrurla Kelly, who was instrumental in starting the Indigenous media industry in Australia and now serves as Chair of the Central Land Council.
The SBS network is celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and recognising the achievements of our First Peoples throughout National NAIDOC Week (7-14 July). For programs, movies, articles and info, go here.
Join the conversation #NAIDOC2019 & #VoiceTreatyTruth
