Australians are invited to find their bearings with You Are Here, a series of powerful documentaries premiering in the month of July.
You Are Here explores the place of Indigenous people in Australia today through documentary films, which all capture moments in time that have the power to shape our history. From national issues, to personal battles and triumphs, each story inspires a sense of place and allows viewers to discover new perspectives on the Australian spirit through Indigenous storytelling.
The series, presented by Aboriginal actress, Miranda Tapsell, will see films such as Warwick Thornton’s We Don’t Need a Map, Erica Glynn’s In My Own Words, Tyson Mowarin’s Connection to Country and Trisha Morton-Thomas’ Occupation Native.
NITV Channel Manager, Tanya Orman says at the core of NITVis Indigenous storytelling and investment in creative excellence.
"You Are Here encapsulates the reason NITV exists, to create stories by, for and about Indigenous Australians, and through us these stories are for all Australians.”
Commissioned under NITV and Screen Australia’s Moment in History initiative, with funding support from Screen West, Create NSW and Screen Territory, these documentaries will inform discussion and inspire change, reminding audiences why these topics matter to all Australians.
“The Moment in History initiative has brought together Australia’s leading Indigenous filmmakers who have created an ambitious series of landmark documentaries."
Head of Screen Australia’s Indigenous Department, Penny Smallacombe said it's great to see Indigenous leading filmmakers sharing their content with the whole country.
“The Moment in History initiative has brought together Australia’s leading Indigenous filmmakers who have created an ambitious series of landmark documentaries. Several of these outstanding films were showcased at Sydney Film Festival receiving an overwhelmingly positive response and we’re thrilled that audiences from around the country can now view the whole series.”
We Don’t Need a Map
Sunday 23 July at 8.30pm on NITV and SBS
Filmmaker Warwick Thornton's film We Don't Need A Map takes a journey through Australia's cultural and political landscape. Source: Sydney Film Festival
We Don’t Need a Map is a feature length documentary about Australia’s complex relationship to the Southern Cross. It is the most famous constellation in the southern hemisphere and ever since colonisation it’s been claimed, appropriated and hotly-contested for ownership by a radical range of Australian groups. But for Aboriginal people the meaning of this heavenly body is deeply spiritual, and just about completely unknown. Warwick Thornton, one of Australia’s leading film-makers, tackles this fiery subject head on in a bold, provocative and poetic essay-film. Produced by Barefoot Films.
In My Own Words
Sunday 30 July at 8.30pm on NITV and SBS
Erica Glynn’s In My Own Words explores the importance of education for Indigenous adults. Source: NITV News
In My Own Words follows the journey of Aboriginal students and their teachers as they discover the transformative power of reading and writing for the first time. The documentary focusses on a classroom in Brewarrina, a rural northwest NSW town with a majority Aboriginal population. Research reveals that 45-65% of Aboriginal adults are functionally illiterate. Filming every day of the 13-week Literacy for Life Foundation course, Erica Glynn captures the women and men, the poverty and hardship, behind the sobering statistic. Produced by Blackfella Films.
Connection to Country
Sunday 6 August at 8.30pm on NITV and 9.30pm on SBS
Tyson Mowarin’s Connection to Country allows viewers to discover new perspectives on the Australian spirit Source: NITV News
Connection to Country follows the Indigenous people of the Western Australian Pilbara’s battle to preserve Australia's 50,000-year-old cultural heritage from the ravages of a booming mining industry. The Pilbara region sits in the Burrup Peninsula (or Murujuga) and is host to the largest concentration of rock art in the world, dating back over 50,000 years. It's a dramatic and ancient landscape so sacred that some parts shouldn't be looked upon at all, except by Traditional Owners. Tyson Mowarin shows the waves of industrialisation and development that threaten sites all over the region, and how he and the people of the Pilbara are fighting back by documenting the rock art, recording sacred sites and battling to get their unique cultural heritage recognised, recorded and celebrated. Produced by Weerianna Street Media.
Occupation Native
Sunday 13 August at 8.30pm on NITV and 9.30pm on SBS
Trisha Morton-Thomas’ Occupation Native captures moments in time that have the power to shape our history Source: NITV News
Filmmaker Trisha Morton-Thomas dishes up a fresh look at our colonial past. Exploring everything they never taught you at school but should have. It’s Australian history, but not like you have you ever seen or heard before. Trisha decides it’s time to go looking for answers, and along with actor Steven Oliver and several historians the film is a satirical recount of our untold history. Produced by Brindle Films.
