For over four decades, Yolŋu actor David Gulpilil established his career as a legend of the big and small screens. Whether it was Crocodile Dundee or Rabbit-Proof Fence, Gulpilil made fictional characters feel unforgettably tangible, physical and authentic.
As his son, Jida Gulpilil has told media in the past, Gulpilil rued that his homeland in north-east Arnhem Land was little recognised and appreciated, let alone its history of First Nations peoples, culture, and stories. Upon his death of lung cancer in South Australia in November 2021, it became the imperative of his family and committed filmmakers to share Gulpilil's homeland, both in celebration of his life, and in honour of his legacy in Australia's film canon.
Journey Home, David Gulpilil is a beautiful, tender telling of Gulpilil's final 3,000+ kilometre return to his Northern Territory home, where his traditional funeral was held in Gupulul in 2022. But rewind to 2021, and the director and producer Maggie Miles recognised the vitality of putting Gulpilil's final journey on camera while the singular opportunity was before her. Miles worked with Yolŋu leader Witiyana Marika to film the funerary rites, and months-long mourning ceremonies that took place between Murray Bridge, South Australia, Darwin, and Nhulunbuy in Arnhem Land before Gulpilil was finally buried in Gupulul.
Gulpilil's funeral ceremony (or Bäpurru), was a rich tapestry of dance, music and traditions deeply ingrained in Gupulul. It represented centuries of history and connection between people, land, spirits and wildlife that Gulpilil had so deeply wanted a broader reach of Australia to appreciate and respect.
You feel this grief intensely, and you pay all of your respects, and then you're able to let it go in a more healthy way, I guess.
Phoebe Marson Gulpilil is David’s daughter and the founder of Djarrka, a Yolŋu-led consultancy focusing on strategic policy and community impact, leading system reform projects that have made lasting impacts for First Nations communities. She sees the documentary as part of her “healing process” following her dad’s death, along with founding Djarrka, and curating a recent Melbourne exhibition, ‘One Red Blood’, telling her father’s story in imagery.
She says Journey Home, David Gulpilil gets to the fundamental truth that her father's story could not be separated from family, community and land.
“I think that Journey Home looks behind the man on the screen. Dad's whole story, and everything that he brought into this world through what he did was always about sharing Yolŋu culture, about celebrating how beautiful they are as people. That's portrayed through him and his films. But this film really goes deeper into why he is the way that he is. It's family, it's culture, it's land, it's our Dreamtimes, it's all of these things that not everybody always gets to see.”
Marson Gulpilil is delighted that audiences can share in that lesser seen side of her father, their family, and the community.
“I suppose that's why he had so much energy as well,” she reflects. “Everyone up North is sort of like him, that infectious sense of being full of love and joy. Up North, too, everyone's funeral is like that. It's all so insanely rich and deep, so it's nice to share it.”
Though the topic of the film is David’s funeral, Marson Gulpilil says, “To me, it's sad, but it's so beautiful and uplifting at the same time. It’s about how we process our emotions and our grief, and like most Yolŋu people, we very much wear our heart on our sleeve.”
Ultimately, she explains, “You feel this grief intensely, and you pay all of your respects, and then you're able to let it go in a more healthy way, I guess.”
The unforgettable screen homage to David Gulpilil’s final journey home feels epic, though it runs a smidge under 1.5 hours. We are invited to take the same route that David, his family, and the documentary crew took on the mission, sprawling over four thousand kilometres by vehicles, planes, boats, helicopter, and walking. We end where David’s spirit was guided home, to a place known as Marawuyu, a sacred waterhole from where Yolŋu souls emerge and return at the end of their lives. Even in death, Gulpilil knew the immense power of his land, his community, and his legacy as screen magic. His spirit emanates from every second of Journey Home, David Gulpilil.
'One Red Blood: Gulpilil in the Landscape' runs from May 1 to June 13 at Midnight in Paris Gallery, Melbourne.
Journey Home, David Gulpilil is now streaming at SBS On Demand.
