The Yirrkala Film Project
Ian Dunlop, 2007

A limited edition DVD collection of 22 films made by Ian Dunlop over a 30 year period with the Yolngu, the Aboriginal people of northeast Arnhem Land. Yirrkala was an isolated mission station until the coming of a huge bauxite mine in the late 1960s. The impact of the mine on the Yolngu and their response is a major theme of this long-term film project. Each film stands on its own but each is also part of a rich mosaic. The relationship between people and their clans, ritual, art and land is an intertwining theme. Several major ceremonies are documented. The importance of the land is ever-present. Despite enormous disruption to their lives, the resilience of the Yolngu and their culture shines through. Includes "Ceremony - The Djungguwan of Northeast Arnhem Land", a two-DVD set.

Format: DVD PAL and DVD NTSC. 18 x single layer single-sided discs in a beautifully presented boxed set.

Length: 1040 minutes + 366 minutes ("Ceremony" double DVD)

Reference: yirrkala_dvd

AUD$380

Gunbarrk Garra, Nigel 'Bolda' Hunter, Didjeridoo Lessons

Allow Bolda to take you through the Traditional process of learning Gunbarrk (Didjeridoo) in Jawoyn Country. This DVD is unique in its ways of allowing the viewer to journey through the rituals of going into Sacred Country, the painting of Ochre for protection, singing to the Ancestors - letting them know of your presence, and a breakdown of the lessons in the art of playing the Gunbarrk using Traditional rhythms. Accompanying this DVD is an 8 page removable Booklet describing the Lessons - description from cover notes.

Format: zone free, playable on all DVD players worldwide

Length: 125 minutes

Reference: gunbarrk_dvd

AUD$20

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The Tracker & Walkabout double pack
Rolf de Heer, 2002 & Nicolas Roeg, 1971

This is a double DVD pack comprising of 2 Australian classics starring iconic Aboriginal actor David Gulpilil: The Tracker and Walkabout.

The Tracker is set in the Australian outback in 1922, with 4 men tracking an Aboriginal fugitive accused of murder. Three white men are dependent on the mysterious figure of the black Tracker (David Gulpilil)... the story reminds us of Australia's history and colonial relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, as well as who is leading whom...

Walkabout is about 2 white children lost in the Australian outback who join an Aboriginal teenager on his walkabout - his tribal initiation into manhood. They pass from innocence into experience as they are thrust from the comforts of civilisation into the savagery of the natural world.

Format: DVD PAL (playable on multi-region DVD players also).

Length: The Tracker - 98 minutes, Walkabout - 100 minutes

Reference: trackerwalkabout

AUD$39.95

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Going Bush, Series 2
Lonely Plant, 2007

Roll up your swags, pack your sense of adventure and hit the road with Olympic Champion Cathy Freeman and actor Luke Carroll as the two city slickers embark on a road trip through remote Indigenous Australia.

Setting out from Australia's central deserts, Cathy & Luke embark on a 3000 kilometre odyssey to the country's outermost edge - on a journey that takes them from Uluru, to Cape York and onto the islands of the Torres Strait. They introduce us to places we've never seen, people we've never met and reveal the stories behind Australia's rich cultural heritage.

Format: DVD PAL Region 4 (playable on multi-region DVD players also).

Length: 125 minutes

Reference: goingbush2_dvd

AUD$24.95

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Ten Canoes
Rolf de Heer, 2005

One hundred and fifty spears, ten canoes, three wives...trouble.

A parable of forbidden love from Australia's mythical past, narrated by Australian icon David Gulpilil and starring his son Jamie as the covetous youth Dayindi, TEN CANOES is a ground-breaking glimpse into Aboriginal life centuries before European settlement. Shot in and around the Arafura Wetlands of Central Arnhem Land, Rolf de Heer and the people of Ramingining have created a pioneering and timeless tale for all people and all cultures.

Includes interviews with cast and short documentaries by Ramingining community members.

Format: DVD PAL Region 'all' (playable on all DVD players).

Length: 90 minutes

Reference: tencanoes_dvd

AUD$34.95

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Ceremony: The Djungguwan of Northeast Arnhem Land
Denise Haslem, 2006

Through song, dance, art and ritual, the Yolngu people of northeast Arnhem Land pass on their sacred knowledge. The Djungguwan is one of their most important ceremonies. Now, at the request of Yolngu leaders, this two-DVD set brings together three rare films of the Djungguwan from 1966, 1976 and 2002 - including, for the first time, secret and sacred scenes - plus an introductory film and five mini-documentaries. It explores the role of ceremony in Indigenous Australia and provides an extraordinary cultural record for future generations.

Teachers notes and background material also included on DVD.

Format: DVD PAL Region 0. Two dual-layer single-sided discs

Length: 366 minutes

Reference: mov_djungguwan

AUD$58

Yidaki: The Sound of the Didgeridoo
SacredOz Productions, 2000

Narrated by Jack Thomson, this documentary was produced for the Discovery Channel in 2000 and is now finally available on DVD. Features famed yidaki master Djalu Gurruwiwi, his son Larry Winiwini, little Vernon, Mandawuy Yunupingu, and lots of other family members from Djalu's Ski Beach community. Of special interest are segments showing the vibration of Winiwini's lips from inside the yidaki. A miniture camera and light were used for this to good effect. Now available in DVD NTSC!

Format: DVD PAL, DVD NTSC

Length: 25 minutes

Reference: yidaki2000

AUD$35

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Yidaki Festa 2005 with Djalu Gurruwiwi and family
Dinkum Music, 2005

This DVD consists of almost 1 hour of live performance, with Djalu on yidaki, Alfred Gurritjiri as singer, and Sylvester Liyakindirr and Dopiya Yunupingu dancing. Full traditional body painting and feather ornamentation. Good example of bunggul and manikay, and how yidaki is integrated with vocals, bilma, and dancing. Multi-angle camera work and stage lighting brings this DVD alive.

Format: DVD NTSC

Length: 59 minutes

Reference: festa05

AUD$40

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Aboriginal Dance: Record of Aboriginal Dancing
Tom Manefield & John Martin Jones, 1978

Australia's Aboriginal people have no written language. The legends and the stories of their past have been kept alive in song and dance. This video contains two films that provide a beautiful and valuable record of Australian Aboriginal dance. Three Dances by Gulpilil features dances by one of the best-known exponents of Australian Aboriginal dance, David Gulpilil, accompanied by David Blanasi on the didgeridoo . Five Aboriginal Dances from Cape York is a record of Aboriginal dancing at the Aurukun Mission Station in far north Queensland.

Format: VHS PAL, VHS NTSC

Length: 2 x 8 minutes

Reference: mov_dance

AUD$29.95

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The Change at Groote
Richard Mason, 1968

This award-winning film was designed to show how the Aboriginal people of Groote Eylandt in the Gulf of Carpentaria adjusted to the new life brought about by the discovery of manganese on their land. The director and writer of the film described it as a fragmented collage of images and sounds, intended to produce a direct emotional response. The result is a flood of images, some of them flicking past almost too quickly to be grasped, others repeated over and over again to induce special effects.

Format: VHS PAL, VHS NTSC

Length: 27 minutes

Reference: mov_groote

AUD$29.95

Dhakiyarr vs The King
Graeme Isaac , 2004

The family of the great Yolngu leader Dhakiyarr Wirrpanda is searching for answers. Seventy years after his controversial murder trial and subsequent disappearance, Dhakiyarr's body has still not been found. His descendants know that justice was not served. They want to restore what was denied to him: his honour. This is their story, told in their own words - of two laws, two cultures and two families coming to terms with the past.

Contains yidaki playing and ceremonial scenes.

Format: DVD PAL, DVD NTSC, VHS PAL, VHS NTSC

Length: 56 minutes

Reference: mov_dhakiyarr

AUD$34.50

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DIDJERIDU
Jenni Kendal and Paul Tait, no date

DIDJERIDU is a journey with Charlie McMahon to discover the roots of didjeridu playing in Aboriginal Arnhem Land. An independent production for the Australian Broadcasting Commission's A Big Country series, DIDJERIDU was made on 16 mm film to give the true, rich colours of Arnhem Land.

Smoking the Spirit and Morning Star ceremonies on DIDJERIDU are real events in the cultural life of Aboriginal communities. Ceremonial leaders David Blanasi and Bobby Bununggurr are Charlie's guides for the journey and receive royalties from DIDJERIDU.

Format: VHS PAL, VHS NTSC

Length: 28 minutes

Reference: mov_didjeridu

AUD$24

Thomson of Arnhem Land
John Moore, Michael McMahon, 2000

In the 1930s tensions between the government and the Indigenous peoples of Australia's north were on a knife-edge. Donald Thomson, an anthropologist, volunteered to go to Arnhem Land to make peace. For over two years, he lived with the Aboriginal people, forging strong bonds, learning and recording their way of life. His report to the government outlined a vision of land rights and other measures to protect a unique yet fragile culture - it was ignored. Ostracised by politicians and fellow academics, Thomson never gave up the struggle for Aboriginal rights. Now, his extraordinary photographs, field notes and artefacts are considered one of the most significant ethnographic collections in the world.

Format: VHS PAL, VHS NTSC

Length: 55 minutes

Reference: mov_thomson

AUD$29.95

Galiwin'ku Japan Tour 2003: Songs from Elcho Island
ACSP Japan, 2003

Featuring Dhaymutha Gurruwiwi (dance, vocals), Datjin Burarrwanga (dance, vocals) and Dhakaliny Wunungmurra (yidaki, dance). Acceptable quality DVD. A major proportion of sales proceeds goes back to the Yolngu performers.

iDIDJ Australia is the exclusive distributor of this movies in Australia, Europe and the USA.

Format: DVD

Length: 54.16 minutes

Reference: mov_elcho

AUD$60

SOLD OUT

Yidaki Festa 2003
ACSP Japan, 2003

Featuring Mirrwatnga Munyarryun (dance, yidaki), Ngongu Ganambarr (vocals, yidaki) and Yirryirrngu Ganambarr (vocals, dance). Good quality DVD. A major proportion of sales proceeds goes back to the Yolngu performers.

iDIDJ Australia is the exclusive distributor of this movies in Australia, Europe and the USA.

Format: DVD

Length: 46.08 minutes

Reference: mov_festa

AUD$60

SOLD OUT

The Pilot's Funeral
Denise Haslem, 2005

When Adrian Wagg arrived in Arnhem Land in the 1970s, he fell in love with the place and its people, helping the Yolngu to build homes on their ancestral lands and establish their own airline. This moving documentary recounts the life of this gentle giant of a man. But more than this, it tells of the extraordinary ten-day funeral that followed his tragic death in a helicopter accident. Not performed since the arrival of missionaries in the 1930s, the traditional Yolngu ceremony celebrates a remarkable bond, connecting black and white, people and land, past and future.

Format: VHS PAL, VHS NTSC

Length: 27 minutes

Reference: mov_pilot

AUD$29.95

Aborigines of the Seacoast: A look at the lifestyle of the Aboriginal people living in Arnhem Land in 1948
Charles Mountford and Frank Bagnall, 1948

The coast of Arnhem Land in Australia's Northern Territory has for centuries been the home of Aboriginal people, some of whom still live in ancient ways. This film is a record of a 1948 expedition to Arnhem Land sponsored by National Geographic, the Smithsonian Institute of America and the Commonwealth of Australia. It preserves very valuable ethnographic material portraying the Aboriginal people of the region.

Format: VHS PAL, VHS NTSC

Length: 19 minutes

Reference: mov_seacoast

AUD$29.95

Northern Territory Contact: Aboriginal Education
Malcolm Otton, 1981

Beulah Lowe is a teacher at Milingimbi in the Northern Territory. She has been developing a dictionary of the Gupapuyngu language as a basis for a bilingual education program where children are taught to read first in their own language, then in English.

Format: VHS PAL, VHS NTSC

Length: 6 minutes

Reference: mov_education

AUD$23.00

Tumanu's People
Frank Bagnall , 1960

Tumanu's People documents the life of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory in the mid 20th century, from schoolchildren to stockmen, carpenters, a painter and a health officer. Featuring scenes from Melville Island, Hermannsburg, Beswick, Darwin and Maningrida, it shows life as it was before "the coming of the white man" as well as life in towns, missions and government settlements.

Format: VHS PAL, VHS NTSC

Length: 29 minutes

Reference: mov_tumanu

AUD$29.95

Lonely Boy Richard
Denise Haslem and Rose Hesp, 2003

Richard Wanambi is about to go to prison for a long time. He knows what it's like. He's been there before... In Australia's Northern Territory three-quarters of the people behind bars are Indigenous men. Lonely Boy Richard is an intimate account of one man's journey to jail. In Richard's home of Yirrkala, like elsewhere, alcohol abuse and violence are threatening family and community life. Although his people are doing what they can, it's not enough to save Richard from himself or his community from him.

Format: VHS PAL, VHS NTSC

Length: 55 minutes

Reference: mov_richard

AUD$29.95