Every year, thousands of Indigenous children leave their families to attend boarding schools around Australia. Supported through partnerships between scholarship organisations, private schools, and the government, competition for these scholarships is fierce.
Rhian Skirving and John Harvey’s four-part documentary series, Off Country, follows the lives of seven Indigenous students over a year at the prestigious Geelong Grammar School, grappling with family tragedy, mental health and identity issues.
From inside the boarding house, on the sports fields, and in the classroom, Off Country follows the 2020 school year as the boarding school is thrown into chaos as the pandemic hits. Students wrestle with their identities as they move between boarding life and home life, and offer complex portraits of what it is to be an Indigenous child in Australia today.
Off Country is a Brown Cabs Productions, Letterbox Films, and Goodthing Productions production for NITV. Principal production investment from Screen Australia in association with the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) Premiere Fund and VicScreen.
The documentary, which was commissioned by Kyas Hepworth, will air during NAIDOC Week at 8pm on Thursday, July 7 on NITV and weekly thereafter.