Themes That Matter: About the film festival

In a world grappling with challenges on all fronts, THENGOIFF focuses on the stories that matter the most. This year’s festival focuses on these themes:

• Immigration: Stories of movement, belonging, and identity.
• Indigenous Knowledge: Timeless wisdom and perspectives often overlooked by mainstream cinema.
• Ecological Protection: Films that confront the environmental crisis and offer real-world solutions.

These films are cinematic game-changers. They don’t just tell stories—they spark conversations and call for action, reminding us that cinema can be the driving force behind real change.

“In 2024, our lens turns towards the pressing issues of Immigration, Indigenous Knowledge, and Ecological Protection. The challenges of global migration, the urgent need to preserve indigenous wisdom amidst cultural shifts, and the escalating environmental crises demand our attention”. NGO International Film Festival 2024

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The first time Andrea and I arrived in Australia was Christmas Day 1974 along with Cyclone Tracey which destroyed Darwin. So 50 years of engagement with Australia and Oceania and Asia.

Our connections to Indigenous people in Australia began in February 1975, just a few weeks after that dramatic Christmas landing. Connecting us, an object, a bark painting from Maningrida in Arnhem Land.

Our thinking comes from direct experience and is not shaped by the influence of non-Indigenous learning systems. Nor do we speak for Indigenous people.

Our long journey of 50 years or so with Indigenous people in Australia was a personal journey and one of love and respect and one shaped by research, there were numerous films from Northern Australia, including the Torres Strait, Arnhem Land, Central Australia and in the south, Tasmania, a great deal of art collecting, employment projects, detailed analysis and business planning with economist friends and the inevitable meetings with politicians.

Australia is both a continent and a country (a nation state). We see Australia as a continent with its plants and animals and Indigenous cultures of many languages and many countries. Since 1788 things have changed, Federation came when Australia became a nation on 1 January 1901 when 6 British state colonies united to create the Commonwealth of Australia. Since 1788 things have changed a lot – for all those things that existed here pre-1788, first and foremost for Indigenous people.

This journey of continent and nation state conjoined has been far from comfortable and that describes a journey of cultural destruction of people, heritage, including languages, destruction of biodiversity and the places where people lived and gathered food, theft and dispossession, atomic testing on Aboriginal lands, stolen generations, endless deaths in custody and the extraordinary and shocking incarceration of Indigenous children.

We see knowledge as being in the land and the sky and in the continent. The Northern Territory is one of those great repositories of knowledge in its plants and animals and in its Indigenous cultures and people. The nation state has overlaid a territory that, in contrasts, lacks the capacity to develop its knowledge and lacks the capacity to repair all that it breaks. The possibility, the attraction of industries and businesses that have little or no social  license to operate elsewhere. While politicians and public servants (civil servants) tell the public it will all be fine, it seldom is. In the front line of what has been imposed, the people who have lived in these places for thousands of years.

Our long held dread that land clearing in the Northern Territory (and before it, Cape York) would begin at scale, appears to be happening. Our friends in Western Australia tell us that the huge land clearing equipment that churned through the Western Australian bush has now moved to the Northern Territory.

One particular high point over this time (there were many) was sinking in mid-Pacific during a ferocious storm, they high point bit was surviving and swimming to a small island. We were so lucky and it anchored us in the region.

Particular low points (there were others) in our Australian journey were the Intervention (2007) and the outcome of the voice referendum (2023 – 60 per cent said no), two events which describe the need for some serious repair to that relationship between continent and nation state.

Topics to be addressed could include:

1. Climate change
2. Biodiversity loss and land clearing
3. Fire
4. Water – freshwater (GAB) and saltwater (GBR)
5. Construction science, design and materials
6. Plant based and sustainable food solutions including better food solutions for Indigenous communities
7. Plant science – medicine
8. Plant science –  Buffel (arid) and Gamba (tropical savanna) - impact of grasses and solutions
9. Transport in a carbon constrained world – distances travelled are great
10. The need for an International University research and teaching campus led by Indigenous peoples in two or three remote regions – Central Australia and Arnhem Land. The Garma Institute in Eastern Arnhem Land may well sow the seeds of these developments
11. How can Indigenous peoples’ ideas and practices shape future science (and not the other way around)
12. How  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art and cultural practices including language, song and dance can help make science visible (ie.Blue Mud Bay Case – Eastern Arnhem Land)

Checkmate

• Sustaining knowledge in younger generations of Indigenous people – we do not get the knowledge transfer we need if the children who should be learning are behind bars; and
• Discontinuity of policies from government are very destructive to finding a highway to the future, this includes Federal, state and territory governments.

Our advice from long experience, there are plenty of people out there who do not want what you want, including some in government, is to just keep going and get ready to sidestep barriers fast, that might mean changing direction in surprising ways. Don’t just give up.

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A note on employment

Employment in a contemporary economic system is important as it provides income and the capacity to engage in the local community and beyond.

Comments in this section are focussed on Central Australia. Much of the employment currently available in the region is erratic at best and this feature of daily life creates significant barriers to planning and training solutions for community members. Both young and older community members are caught in the cycle of the inconsistent nature of employment (and the low number of hours available for employment within communities and for community members). This further restricts training activities and the ability to build a highly skilled and competitive workforce.

One strategy for increasing resident employment is the “import replacement” strategy of replacing workers from other regions with suitably trained local residents. This process is enabled and enriched by the establishment of Leadership Programs for young Aboriginal people. Although it is hard to identify the exact financial benefit to government, the benefits will be in reduced social security and, longer term, health costs, as levels of wellbeing improve. We want to create the opportunities that make healthier and wealthier communities.

There are opportunities for young Aboriginal people to engage in protecting the local environment, particularly as it relates to the iconic and beautiful Tjoritja National Park, participating in the tourism and educational opportunities the region provides. That is, engaging our young people in restoration projects as well as engaging with tourists and encouraging them to participate in environment based projects.

This work is critical because currently (2019), the employment status and unemployment rate comparing Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in NT Lingiari, which includes the region discussed here, has an Indigenous unemployment rate of 32.6 per cent against a non-Indigenous employment rate of 2.5 per cent. This is why we believe it is so important to make a difference and to do this through a range of mechanisms including building the capacity of young minds and young leaders in our beautiful region.

At the heart of planning for these developments is the need to provide opportunities for community members to develop skills and improve wellbeing, including prosperity, at the same time building aspects of community amenity. We want to give people the opportunity to stay, to learn and to work.

"It is in my mind, not only in my heart, it is in my soul. It won’t run away from me. I live with it until I die". Djambawa Marawili on Aboriginality (from the Rock of the Fire – Creative cowboy films – Arnhem Land)

“Education works best when it’s led by the local community, and YYF is working hand-in-hand with parents and families every step of the way, ensuring there’s community involvement in everything from the design of the buildings to what’s taught in the classroom”. Yothu Yindi Foundation

“This is the food we ate when I was young. Back then, everywhere we looked, there were old people. Strong and healthy – they lived with us for a long time. Nowadays people die when they are only young. There are very few people as old as I am. Children are given rubbish food to eat. It is killing us”. Ms Wirrpanda (from Two old artists looking for food – Creative cowboy films / NMA – Arnhem Land)

“There is a connection to land with the deepest of roots. There is a joy in the abundance of the seasons, people coming together to celebrate a certain harvest. Human beings interact, the living and the spirit world work together to maximise access to resources and to ensure successful collection of these resources. This is not only a co-operative thing, it is a protocol thing. This is what you have to do to get it right. There are forces in the world that are unseen and you have to communicate with them and continue an ongoing relationship with them. They have a responsibility and so do you. There is a total network of interconnectedness. Human beings with objects and human beings with spirit figures who interact with people and sing out to people to tell them this is the right time to harvest this thing, a calendar marker of the seasons. Also people interacting with places in the country like the scared sites to set certain seasonal processes into action. This happens around the same time each year for a given event and type of harvest and it is about people interacting with the metaphysical world to make the order of the universe continue in a balanced way”. Mr Burruwal (on a journey through Arnhem Land with Peter and Andrea Hylands)

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“Language stands in the middle, art branches off from that, performing art, dance, song, any practice in life from our Melanesian culture branches off of that”. Alick Tipoti (from Zugub, the mask, the spirits and the stars – Creative cowboy films – Badu Island)

"That night the wind punched its way to the east. It was cold and the star filled sky was crystal clear. At our feet, the mirror of wet sand reflected the night sky and, like the thousands of ancestors before us, we walked on a carpet of stars". Peter Hylands (on making We walked on a Carpet of Stars - Tasmania)

“Mainly respect, and don’t just take what you want, just take only what you need, not a whole heap, a mob of it” Napolean Oui (from the film Rainforest people – Creative cowboy films - North Queensland)

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Peter  and Moses in discussion from the film Keeping Knowledge – Creative cowboy films - Rift Valley):

“Can they live in both worlds, the Maasai world and the other world? Yes, it is very possible, we have gone to school and we still live in our culture. When we go out there, we go and do different things, we can work, we go to schools, we live with different people, but when we come back home, we live our life and that is it. Education is the key, education is life, education is all we need to live in the current world”. Moses Parmale Supaari

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“Education has the capacity to relieve poverty and disadvantage. The more and the higher educational standards, the greater the options and opportunities for Indigenous communities to maintain their cultures and generally improve their economic circumstances and status”. Peter Hylands – (From the film Maasai: Keeping knowledge – Kenya)

And on climate change and its impact on cultural practices and knowledge:

“We find people who have had lots of cattle losing them and their lifestyle completely changes. We find these people moving to towns to get other jobs. Climate change can be attributed to the loss of culture”. Emmanuel Parsimei (from Film Essays of Maasai life Maasailand – Creative cowboy films – Kenya)

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“The 2024 Living Planet Index reveals the scale of the nature crisis. Between 1970 and 2020, the size of wildlife populations plummeted by 73 per cent on average. This is based on almost 35,000 population trends across 5,495 species of amphibians, birds, fish, mammals and reptiles. Regionally, the worst losses happened in Latin America (-95 per cent). Freshwater species experienced the greatest decline – a shocking per cent.” WWF

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We remember those who fought so hard  and do we not forget the legal recognition of Aboriginal land rights in the Northern Territory (The Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976), which meant that Aboriginal land trusts could begin to hold title to Aboriginal land which in turn has now resulted in almost 50 per cent of the Northern Territory being returned to Aboriginal peoples. States followed and with significant limitations, in 1982 Eddie Koiki Mabo was named as the first plaintiff in what was to become known as the Mabo Case in the Meriam peoples’ action against the State of Queensland and the Commonwealth of Australia in the High Court.

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1996 marked a change in Australia and the beginning of a growing disconnection with its Pacific neighbours, a relationship which, not satisfied with disconnection, featured moments of arrogance, particularly in relation to climate change. The current Australian Government understands the implications of this all too well. The trick now will be to demonstrate that they really care, doing so, as rising tides not only impact Pacific neighbours, but many of the islands of Queensland’s Torres Strait.

From our work re entrepreneurship / business development / employment / west of Alice (includes work done with NIEIR plus CSIRO).

This is what Indigenous community leaders thought when we spoke to people and wrote plans with people. These are pointers to opportunities around understanding how traditional ecological knowledge can enhance contemporary scientific research and environmental management practices in Central Australia (note Australia is very large and regions differ considerably (from rainforest communities, freshwater people, saltwater people, desert dwellers, city dwellers and so on). In Central Australia -

• Average temperature increases in all seasons;
• More hot days and fewer frosts;
• Changes to rainfall patterns;
• Increased intensity of rainfall events; and
• More frequent and intense fires.

The impacts of climate change in Central Australia and the difficulties to be addressed include:

• Increased use of energy for cooling and energy poverty experienced by a greater number of low-income earners, particularly in Indigenous communities;
• Increased use of the underground water resource;
• Increased evaporation during heatwaves;
• Disturbance to climate-sensitive flora and fauna and the flow on effects to Aboriginal culture;
• Reduction in range of suitable habitat for some species leading to additional extinctions;
• Greater spread of invasive species such as Buffel grass and increase in related fire risk caused by invasive species;
• Higher chance of mortality and exacerbated health conditions during heatwaves, particularly in energy poor Aboriginal households;
• Absenteeism during heatwaves and floods reducing productivity;
• Disruption of critical infrastructure such as power blackouts;
• Disruption to travel to and from remote communities stranded in town during flood events;
• Events such as sporting or cultural events cancelled during extreme weather;
• Intensified weather events exacerbate pre-existing disadvantage and poverty in many Aboriginal Australians in remote communities;
• If conditions become too extreme more people leaving region and at risk of losing culture;
• Risk to tourism industry because of extreme weather events throughout central Australia; and
• Flow-on effects to the local economy including possible drop in reliability in food and supply delivery.

There are (were) nine key elements in the Northern Territory Climate Change Policy, which provide the focus for collaborative action:

• Government leadership on climate change;
• A focus on green energy;
• Land management – a unique Territory offset opportunity;
• Building green cities and towns;
• Rethinking waste;
• Expanding green business and industry;
• Developing a green workforce;
• Promoting green communities; and
• Living with change.

Among the headline actions identified by the Northern Territory Government with significant implications for Central Australia are (were):

• The Territory will be a low land-clearing jurisdiction, protecting the ‘carbon bank’ in our landscape. The rate of clearing will be contained. The government will introduce native vegetation legislation to protect Territory vegetation; and
• The Territory will be a world-leading generator of renewable and low emissions power in remote communities.

Note: Certainly on the first dot point immediately above, they now appear to be doing the opposite.

Key actions will be in relation to:

• Building design and materials;
• Use of renewable energy;
• Longer term vehicle policies;
• Conservation of native species and protection of the web of life;
• Water use conservation;
• Care and protection of natural landscapes;
• Strict vegetation policies and remedial programs; and
• Community education.

Technology will be used wherever this is possible given remote location but innovation in energy systems represents a significant opportunity in coming years. We would like to think that in the future cultural and safety information could be accessed in the region as tourists travel in more remote locations.

Use of materials also offers future opportunities for innovative, including building materials and reducing the general use of plastics, particularly in remote places.

• Preservation of land;
• Preserving environmental assets;
• Promoting multicultural society and bringing people together;
• Upskilling and empowering Aboriginal youth; and
• Developing infrastructure and enabling greater levels of engagement.

What we see in different parts of Australia in relation to hazard reduction burns (prescribed burning) is frankly shocking and too many burns takes little account of local ecology, damage to Indigenous heritage or significant damage to biodiversity. Too many burns are far too large and far too hot. In states like Victoria, prescribed burning takes place at a scale now greater than in the past and in parallel to the state's vast scale eradication of protected Australian wildlife (via permit systems and other mechanisms), in Arnhem Land and other places, prescribed burning (incendiary pellets dropped from helicopters) occurs alongside more traditional practices.

We asked friend, Assoc/Prof Janet Stanley (Hon), to reflect on these matters and Janet makes the following points to which we concur:

There is confusion about Indigenous fire management and it is likely that management was very localised, applied differently between several hundred groups, and ecologically specific (Bowman 2003). There is a need to listen more closely to Indigenous knowledge, not use assumed knowledge to support pre-conceived methods (in my opinion). An example is that much prescribed burning is still large-scale and reverts to a hot fire. I have been told that Indigenous Australians managed cultural burning on a very small scale and often during rain (so the fire didn’t get too hot) and this was done with bare feet. Some areas were not culturally burned – such as tall, wet forests.

Describing some of the many issues:

There is little research on effectiveness of these (western influenced) approaches to fire prevention.

The approach is ‘blunt’ – it does not consider risks and trade-offs:

• Risks relate to a prescribed burning turning into a wildfire. This does happen but the evidence for this is murky due to the poor quality of data on wildfires.
• There is rarely a ‘trade-off’ assessment done about a cool burn in relation to environmental loss, such as old vegetation and endangered species, weed penetration post burn, cost of prescribed burn and land repair, risk of turning into a wildfire, alternative approaches, such as through land-use planning.
• Prescribed burning is required every few years on the same site to maintain the clearing.
• There is no evidence of an evaluation of the need for a prescribed burn for particular ecosystems, as some land does not have a history of burning.
• There is not a price put on the value of a piece of undisturbed land. Thus, in effect, land with native vegetation is treated as of no value.

There is an increasing body of evidence that land clearing is not necessarily effective in preventing wildfire, and in some situations, may increase the risk of wildfire.

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A note on internationalisation as a mechanism for breaking down capture of and control of Indigenous peoples

“The rule that appears to apply, the more the ‘capture and control’ of Indigenous people in a given place (that includes both economic and cultural ‘capture’) the less welcome the idea of internationalisation as a mechanism for breaking down the barriers to proper inclusion is. They really do not like it. That tells you a very great deal”. Peter Hylands

It was well over a decade ago that we asked Professor Stéphane Laurent to give the French perspective on Australian Indigenous art, at the time of writing Stéphane was Director of Research at Sorbonne University:

“The fascination for the emerging cultures in France probably finds its roots in its archetypal exhibition held in 1989 at the Centre Georges Pompidou Paris, Magicians of the earth. For the first time the public could discover contemporary artists, originated contemporary art from non-western cultures, who dealt with their own traditions and beliefs, art which they expressed through modern language”. Professor Stéphane Laurent in Creative cowboy films Creative-i magazine – First Nations Issue

“I note Jacques Chirac delight at the group of Australian Indigenous artists commissioned to apply their art to the architectural development of the office section of the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris”. Peter Hylands

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The Australian timeline is interesting, we suggest you draw a timeline which represents your time in Australia (ours spans 21 percent of European settlement and 41 per cent since Federation) – not that far from the start of it) and then extend the timeline for another 65,000 years. That simple and very long diagram will tell you all a great deal about Australia’s knowledge systems (our own time here represents 0.0007 per cent of the time Aboriginal Australians have lived on this continent.

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