Yolngu Boy | |
---|---|
Directed by | Stephen Maxwell Johnson |
Written by | Chris Anastassiades |
Produced by | Patricia Edgar M. Yunupingu Galarrwuy Yunupingu Gordon Glenn |
Starring | Sean Mununggurr John Sebastian Pilakui Nathan Daniels |
Cinematography | Brad Shield |
Edited by | Ken Sallows |
Music by | Mark Ovenden |
Release date |
|
Running time | 85 minutes |
Country | Australia |
Language | English |
Box office | $645,700 |
Yolngu Boy is a 2001 Australian coming-of-age film directed by Stephen Maxwell Johnson, produced by Patricia Edgar, Gordon Glenn, Galarrwuy Yunupingu and Mandawuy Yunupingu, and starring Sean Mununggurr, John Sebastian Pilakui, and Nathan Daniels. Yolngu Boy is based around three Aboriginal teenage boys linked by ceremony, kinship and a common dream-to become great Yolngu hunters, in a remote community at Yirrkala in North-East Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. [1] The feature film traces the metaphorical journey of the three young Aboriginal teenagers caught in a collision between the modern world and traditional Aboriginal culture where they hunt wild animals in the morning using spears and play football while listening to hip hop rap music in the afternoon. The project involved a significant number of community members in the cast and crew of the film. [2]
After being initiated and growing up together, troubled natural born leader Botj (Sean Mununggurr), conservative and traditionalist Lorrpu (John Sebastian) and football loving ladies' man Milika (Nathan Daniels) are transitioning from childhood to adulthood.
Botj, who has recently been released from prison, decides to break into the local store to get cigarettes and he convinces Lorrpu and Milika to join him. Lorrpu and Milika decide to return home, but Botj remains and gets high by sniffing petrol. He makes his way to the Women's Community Centre, where he lights a smoke, but as he does this, the petrol ignites and the building is burnt down.
The boys find themselves on the wrong side of both black and white law. Determined to help Botj avoid imprisonment, Lorrpu and Milika trek with him from their home in north-eastern Arnhem Land through the wilderness and treacherous escarpment country to Darwin to plead his case before Dawu (Nungki Yunupingu), a Yolngu elder. On their journey they draw upon the ancient bush knowledge they were taught as boys, the street instinct of their leader, Botj, and consequently gain new respect for themselves, and the land they come from.
In Darwin, Lorrpu tries to convince Dawu that Botj is rehabilitated, but Dawu does not believe him. Botj fears he may be turned over to the police, so he leaves the group and attempts to find his father. When he finds his father, his father is so intoxicated that he is unable to recognize Botj. Following this, Botj turns to sniffing petrol once again and while under its effects, he falls to his death from a bridge. His body is discovered by Lorrpu and Milika later that day.
Lorrpu and Milika return to their original home and their old lives. For Lorrpu, the journey has been a rite of passage, and through it he has been able to gain the acceptance of his elders. [3] [4] [5] [6]
The project was a joint development with independent producer, Stephen Johnson of Darwin-based production company, Burrundi Pictures. Gordon Glenn, of Cradle Mountain Film Productions, co-produced the film. The project had the support of the Yirrkala community and involved a significant number of community members in the cast and crew of the film. [8]
In late April 1996, Foundation Director, Patricia Edgar, Johnson and Gordon Glenn, of Burrundi Films, travelled to north Arnhem Land to discuss proposals for the workshops and for a feature film with the community, the Yirrkala Dhanbul Council and Galarrwuy Yunupingu. During the visit, Edgar spent time hunting mud crabs with elder Gulumbu Mununggurr, who confirmed the community's interest in proceeding with the development of a feature film and the workshops. [9]
Yolngu Boy was the first Australian feature film made with an all-Indigenous lead cast and the full collaboration of the Yolngu people. Galarrwuy Yunupingu and Mandawuy Yunupingu were associate producers. [10] Together with the local community elders, they advised and approved the film from a cultural perspective, including the researching and writing of the script, casting, wardrobe, makeup and art department. [10]
"the families were very excited that the film was focused on their youth culture and community life. They wanted the story to be a true reflection of the big issues facing them today". Director, Stephen Johnson [10]
The Foundation and Darwin-based Corrugated Iron Youth Theatre (CIYT) conducted two weeks of performance workshops for young Yolngu people from the Yirrkala and Gunyangara Communities in north Arnhem Land from 17 to 28 June 1996. The purpose of the workshops was to provide insight into acting skills and the process of filmmaking and to impart a feeling of ownership and pride in the finished product. The workshops were sponsored by the Foundation, Northern Territory Health Services, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board and the Theatre Fund of the Australia Council. The workshops took place at the Yirrkala School and nearby locations in the community, with 60 children attending. During the first week, the workshops included movement, acting and vocal classes. The second week concentrated on character development, working toward short dramatic presentations. The workshops were directed by Maggie Miles of CIYT, and Witiyana Marika from the Yirrkala Community was the interpreter and assistant director of the workshops. [8]
Stage one of the development phase also involved Johnson and other members of his company, Burundi Pictures, spending two weeks in August researching the project and discussing the script with members of the Yirrkala, Galiwinku, Maningrida and Gunbalanya (Oenpelli) Aboriginal communities. [11] They also conducted a location survey throughout Arnhem Land. A first draft script by Chris Anastassiades was completed in 1997 and then further developed. [12]
After four years of negotiation with the Yolngu community and development, the film was fully financed in early 1999, through a combination of private and government investment, a Northern Territory Government grant, and a pre-sale to SBS Independent. [13] Some scenes in the film required extensive negotiations with local elders to arrange permissions to film at certain sites. For example, one scene where Botj, Lorrpu and Milika climb down a cliff overlooking a waterhole to go for a swim was filmed at Lightning Dreaming at Twin Falls on the edge of the Arnhem Land escarpment, and took months of negotiations with local elders to arrange permission to film. [14] [15]
The casting director, Maggie Miles, with Glenn and Johnson, toured the Northern territory top-end visiting communities and screened 1,000 boys for the three main roles. Sixteen were then selected for a workshop in July to determine a final cast. [16]
Sean Mununggurr is from Gapuwiyak in Eastern Arnhem Land and is a Gumatj dialect speaker, while John Sebastian Pilakui (Sebbie) and Nathan Daniels both hail from Bathurst Island in the Tiwi Islands. For all three, English is their second language, and all three were fifteen years old at the time of filming. [14] [15]
Pre-production commenced in April 1999, with principal photography commencing in the Northern Territory in September 1999. [13]
Yolngu Boy was filmed entirely on location in the Northern Territory during a seven-week shoot, from 17 September 1999 and concluded on 6 November 1999. Filming took place in remote locations in North East Arnhem Land and Kadadu, as well as in Darwin. [17]
"The crew were absolutely fabulous – everyone gave 150 per cent effort. Never has anything like this been done before on this scale in these locations. We had equipment taken into some radical locations and we were moving fast from set-up to set-up." Producer and Executive Producer, Patricia Edgar.
The three main boys, Nathan, Sean and Sebastian, playing Milika, Botj and Lorrpu, had never acted prior to filming Yolngu Boy and had lived their lives in the outback. [18] Johnson felt that they brought a "raw energy" to their characters. [18]
Post-production on the film commenced in Melbourne in November 1999 and the final release print was delivered to the film's distributors in early June 2000. [17]
The world premiere of the film took place on 31 January 2001 in Yirrkala at a temporary outdoor cinema on a football field. The 300 guests who attended were local Yolngu people, many of whom were involved directly or indirectly in the film, whose response was overwhelming. [19]
On 1 February 2001, more than 800 guests arrived at the Village Cinema in central Darwin for a premiere screening, hosted by the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, Denis Burke. A parliamentary screening hosted by the Peter McGauran, Minister for the Arts, took place in Parliament House, Canberra, on 7 February 2001. The Melbourne premiere, hosted by Victorian Premier Steve Bracks and Terry Bracks, took place on 12 February 2001. A Sydney premiere was held on 15 March 2001. [19]
Yolngu Boy was released in major cinemas across Australia from March 2001. [19]
The domestic theatrical distributor was Palace Films. [20] The film was also pre-sold to SBS Independent. [20] Beyond Films Limited distributed overseas and investors included the Australian Film Finance Corporation, Film Victoria, the Northern Territory Government, SBSI, the Australian Children's Television Foundation (ACTF), along with private investment. [20]
Yolngu Boy was selected to screen at three festivals: the Cinemagic Northern Ireland World Screen Entertainment Festival for Young People in Belfast in December 2001; the Barcelona International Festival and the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Next Wave Festival in the USA. The Next Wave Festival had a month long focus on Australian arts and culture and included a three-week festival of Australian films of the past 10 years. [21]
Athabasca University in Canada hosted the Canadian premiere of Yolngu Boy in conjunction with their indigenous education program. [21]
Free screenings of the feature film Yolngu Boy took place for teachers in the first week of December in capital cities around Australia. [22]
A study Guide for teachers was available at the screenings. [22] Key Themes included in the Study Guide were Rites of Passage and personal Growth, The Search For Identity, Friendship, Rules, Rights and Responsibilities and Culture. [22] The themes and activities developed in the Study Guide targeted teachers and students from middle to senior years in the subjects of Australian history, Cultural Studies, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Studies of Society and Environment, English, Personal Development and Media Studies. [22]
On 7 February, the Hon Peter McGauran, Minister for the Arts, hosted a parliamentary screening of Yolngu Boy at Parliament House in Canberra. [10] The screening, introduced by producer Patricia Edgar and Director Stephen Johnson, was attended by over 300 guests including Dr. David Kemp, Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs and the Hon. Phillip Ruddock, Minister for Reconciliation and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs. [10]
Eight teenage boys from the Sunbury-based young men's program visited the ACTF on 16 May 2001. [23] The group met with Yolngu Boy's producer, Patricia Edgar, and writer, Chris Anastassiades. Youth Services Officer, Darren Rose, took the group to see Yolngu Boy earlier in the year. [23] The film has such a great impact on the boys that they wanted to meet with the film's producer to get further insight into the making of the film and the themes it explores. [23] The group later participated in an exchange program in the Northern Territory in September of that year. [23]
In 2002, Yolngu Boy's international distributor, Beyond International Film Sales, reported that television sales were made during the year to Shapira Films (Israel) and Aipi-Bulgaria, and a video deal was concluded with Video Networks UK. [21] Highlights of the Foundation's sales in 2002 included sales of 793 copies of Yolngu Boy. [21] The film was distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Palace Films and, until March 2003, was distributed internationally by Beyond Films. [24] During 2002, Palace sold Australian pay television rights to showtime, and Beyond sold Canadian Pay TV rights to the Aboriginal People's Network. [24]
In March 2003, the ACTF assumed responsibility for international distribution of Yolngu Boy. [24] The ACTF also participated in the national conference of the Social Education Association of Australia (SEAA) in Melbourne from 9–12 July. [24] The conference included a session on Studying Contemporary Indigenous Issues featuring Yolngu Boy and Australian Rules. Lee Burton also presented a session on teaching social education issues through ACTF programs. [24] At the MIPCOM television market held in Cannes in October 2003, the ACTF sold Yolngu Boy to YLE Finland. [25]
In 2004, Yolngu Boy was sold to the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Finland). [26]
Yolngu Boy grossed A$645,700 at the box office in Australia. [27]
"Yolngu Boy is a sensitive but dramatic treatment of the search for identity in modern Australia by three indigenous boys. This is a long overdue film about what it means to be a young indigenous person in Australia today. I hope very many Australians go to see it". Dr David Kemp, Federal Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs [19]
"...probably the most important Australian film of the year...I wish I could compel every Australian to see it". Peter Thompson, Sunday, Channel 9 [19]
"This is a terrific contribution to the reconciliation process...The film has great honesty, but will also provide greater understanding of indigenous spirituality and culture. There were some images in the film that will stay with me for some time". Michael Gorton, Co-Chair, Australians for Reconciliation [19]
"I could personally relate to it myself. The dream is stronger than the goal". Michael Long, Essendon Football Club [19]
"Yolngu Boy is a movie with heart and integrity, but is also insightful, original and intensely compelling". The Hon Peter McGauran MP, Federal Minister for the Arts and the Centenary of Federation [19]
"Yolngu Boy is one of the most rewarding films that you are likely to see...This is truly a masterpiece of community spirit and a gift to the world. Don't miss this film, a remarkable insight into contemporary Australia. Five out of five". James Brandis, WA Post [19]
"The film, about three teenagers caught between the modern world and their traditional culture, is a visual feast". FOCUS, autumn markets [21]
"An edifying film that was both confronting and humbling – a presentation for all Australians to see". The Hon. Philip Ruddock, Minister for Reconciliation and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs [10]
"A really impressive film with incredible energy. I think it showed great insight into a culture that white Australians know nothing about". Deb Cox, CoxKnight Productions, Creator SeaChange [10]
"Yolngu Boy is realistic and, at times, confronting. It is also an original, beautiful and moving film. It should be seen by all Australians – because it gives us a deeper understanding of indigenous culture and experiences, while still telling a great story". The Hon. Steve Bracks MP, Premier of Victoria. [10]
"...this estimable fable for the 21st century deserves as wide an audience as possible. A moving drama about lives in the making and battles against the odds, it is also a compelling adventure yarn with a brain". Tom Ryan, Sunday Age [23]
"...such an impressive film...you're being presented with parts of Australian life you've never seen before..." Margaret Pomeranz, SBS Movie Show [23]
The Yolngu Boy website was completed in anticipation of the release of the film in Australia in March 2001. The site included a flash trailer, electronic postcards, behind-the-scenes clips, information about Yolngu culture and language, [19] a downloadable press kit [28] and a downloadable study guide for educators. [19]
Two painted panels that feature in Yolngu Boy are on permanent display at Melbourne Museum. [10] The copies of the Yirrkala Church Panels, painted by Yirrkala artists Gaymala Yunupingu, her sister Gulumbu Yunupingu, and Dhuwarrwarr Marika, [29] are 4 m (13 ft) high and feature images of strong ancestral significance to the people of Arnhem Land in northern Australia. Following the completion of the film, the ACTF donated the panels to Melbourne Museum to ensure their preservation and public exhibition. [10]
The panels were unveiled by Janet Holmes a Court, Chairman of the ACTF, at Melbourne Museum on 9 February.[ when? ] [10]
Ceremony | Category | Year | Result |
---|---|---|---|
Zanzibar International Film Festival | People's Choice Award | 2001 | Won [7] [21] |
Giffoni Film Festival Italy | Bronze Gryphon Award | 2001 | Won [7] [21] |
John Sebastian Pilakui won the Young Actors’ Award for the 2001 AFI Awards in Melbourne on 16 November for his performance as Lorrpu. [21]
Yothu Yindi are an Australian musical group with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal members, formed in 1986 as a merger of two bands formed in 1985 – a white rock group called the Swamp Jockeys, and an unnamed Aboriginal folk group consisting of Mandawuy Yunupingu, Witiyana Marika, and Milkayngu Mununggur. The Aboriginal members came from Yolngu homelands near Yirrkala on the Gove Peninsula in Northern Territory's Arnhem Land. Founding members included Stuart Kellaway on bass guitar, Cal Williams on lead guitar, Andrew Belletty on drums, Witiyana Marika on manikay, bilma and dance, Milkayngu Mununggurr on yidaki, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu on keyboards, guitar, and percussion, past lead singer Mandawuy Yunupingu and present Yirrnga Yunupingu on vocals and guitar.
Round the Twist is an Australian children's comedy drama television series which follows the supernatural adventures of the Twist family, who leave their conventional residence to live in a lighthouse, in the fictional coastal town of Port Niranda.
Mandawuy Djarrtjuntjun Yunupingu, formerly Tom Djambayang Bakamana Yunupingu, and also known as Dr Yunupingu, was a teacher and musician, and frontman of the Aboriginal rock group Yothu Yindi from 1986. He was an Aboriginal Australian man of the Yolŋu people, with a skin name of Gudjuk.
Noah and Saskia is a 13-episode TV program initiated, developed and produced by Patricia Edgar for the Australian Children's Television Foundation (ACTF) and the BBC as she stepped down after 20 years as Founding Director of the ACTF. The 13 x 24-minute drama series involves an Australian teenage girl, Saskia, and her internet-based relationship with Noah, a teenage boy living in the United Kingdom. The two characters project their ideal selves to each other in a virtual world, and in the process get a little closer to reaching their ideals in the real one. The show is about the power of someone's essence and how someone can touch you from 10,000 miles away, and change your whole life. Noah & Saskia speaks directly to today's young people about the technologies which are changing the way we communicate.
"I wanted one more crack at producing the type of television I had always believed in; not a formulaic soap-style series; not a co-produced mid-Pacific blancmange, but something that really spoke to adolescents about the issues that were on their minds," Patricia Edgar, Bloodbath: a memoir of Australian Television, pg.399. "The Internet was the place to set much of the action as this allowed for a modern, contemporary story, which would be new territory for drama. The other appeal of online chat spaces was that they give the characters opportunities to express themselves in multiple ways. The Net is a space where young people are much more at home than their parents and increasingly it will be their world", Patricia Edgar.
Yirrkala is a small community in East Arnhem Region, Northern Territory, Australia, 18 kilometres (11 mi) southeast of the large mining town of Nhulunbuy, on the Gove Peninsula in Arnhem Land.
The Yirrkala bark petitions, sent by the Yolngu people, an Aboriginal Australian people of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, to the Australian Parliament in 1963, were the first traditional documents prepared by Indigenous Australians that were recognised by the Australian Parliament, and the first documentary recognition of Indigenous people in Australian law. The petitions asserted that the Yolngu people owned land over which the federal government had granted mining rights to a private company, Nabalco.
Yolŋu Matha, meaning the 'Yolŋu tongue', is a linguistic family that includes the languages of the Yolngu, the indigenous people of northeast Arnhem Land in northern Australia. The ŋ in Yolŋu is pronounced as the ng in singing.
Yunupingu, also spelt Yunupiŋu, is the family name of a number of notable Aboriginal Australians from the Yolŋu people of Arnhem Land, who are closely connected with the Marika and Gurruwiwi families.
Raymattja Marika, also known as Gunutjpitt Gunuwanga, was a Yolngu leader, scholar, educator, translator, linguist and cultural advocate for Aboriginal Australians. She was a Director of Reconciliation Australia and a member of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. She was also a director of the Yothu Yindi Foundation and a participant in the 2020 Summit, which was held in April 2008. Marika advocated understanding and reconciliation between Indigenous Australian and Western cultures.
"Treaty" is a protest song by Australian musical group Yothu Yindi, which is made up of Aboriginal and balanda (non-Aboriginal) members. Released in June 1991, "Treaty" was the first song by a predominantly Aboriginal band to chart in Australia and was the first song partly in any Aboriginal Australian language to gain extensive international recognition, peaking at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play singles charts. The song contains lyrics in Gumatj, one of the Yolngu Matha dialects and a language of the Yolngu people of Arnhem Land in northern Australia.
Kaboodle is a 13-part anthology television series which includes animation, puppetry, and live action and was produced by the Australian Children's Television Foundation (ACTF) that ran on ABC Television from 1987 to 1990. Kaboodle 2 was a follow-on series which provided another six half-hour episodes of innovative television drama for the under-tens. Kaboodle 2, however, was fully animated and instead of being an ‘anthology’ series of many short dramas, all of which are different, this season had regular characters in every episode. The show commenced screening on the Seven Network across Australia in April 1990.
Winners is an Australian children's television anthology series conceived and produced for the ACTF by its founding director, Patricia Edgar. It first screened on Network 10 in 1985 as part of the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal's newly implemented C classified drama quota. It featured eight self-contained telemovies and stories. Patricia Edgar was confident that Winners would be a landmark in the development of quality children's television and that it would go on to set the standard nationally and internationally for future children's productions. More Winners is the second season of the series, first screened on ABC in 1990. It featured six self-contained telemovies and stories.
Nyapanyapa Yunupingu was an Australian Yolngu painter and printmaker who lived and worked in the community at Yirrkala, Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory. Yunupingu created works of art that drastically diverge from the customs of the Yolngu people and made waves within the art world as a result. Due to this departure from tradition within her oeuvre, Yunupingu's work had varying receptions from within her community and the broader art world.
Wonggu Mununggurr (c.1880–1959) was an Aboriginal Australian artist and leader of the Djapu clan of the Yolngu people of northeast Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Dhuwarrwarr Marika, also known as Banuminy, a female contemporary Aboriginal artist. She is a Yolngu artist and community leader from East Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. She belongs to the Dhuwa moiety of the Rirratjingu clan in the homeland of Yalangbara, daughter of Mawalan Marika. Marika is an active bark painter, carver, mat maker, and printmaker.
Mungurrawuy Yunupingu (c.1905–1979) was a prominent Aboriginal Australian artist and leader of the Gumatj clan of the Yolngu people of northeastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. He was known for his bark paintings.
Rerrkirrwanga Mununggurr is an Australian artist renowned for her finely detailed paintings on bark. In some publications Rerrkirrwanga is referred to as Rerrki, which appears to be a nickname from her older sister Marrnyula Mununggurr. She is the youngest daughter of the artist Djutjadjutja Munungurr. Her husband, Yalpi Yunupinu, helped train Rerrkirrwanga in the traditions that he painted in addition to what she learned from her father. In the 1990s, Rerrkirrwanga finished many of his works even though they are attributed to her father. She now has authority to paint her own stories and her large-scale works on bark are in Australian and international collections.
Dhambit Mununggurr is a Yolngu artist of the Gupa-Djapu clan known for her unique ultramarine blue bark paintings inspired by natural landscapes and Yolngu stories and legends. In 2005, Mungunggurr was hit by a truck, leaving her wheelchair bound and stopping her from painting for five years. The incident affected her painting by limiting her use of her right hand.
Stephen Maxwell Johnson is an Australian filmmaker, best known for his films Yolngu Boy (2001) and High Ground (2020). He is also known for directing Yothu Yindi's music videos in the late 1980s to early 1990s.
Nancy Gaymala Yunupingu was a senior Yolngu artist and matriarch, who lived in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, Australia. She worked at the Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre in Yirrkala, where her work is still held, and is known for her graphic art style, bark paintings and printmaking.