David Gulpilil in Another Country.
Australian documentary Another Country has been selected to screen at the Cannes Film Festival in May.
The film, directed by Molly Reynolds and starring David Gulpilil, will screen as part of Cannes Cinéphiles, one of four sidebar sections of the festival along with Critic’s Week and Director’s Fortnight, in the Cinéma des Antipodes strand programmed by Bernard Bories.
The selection comes two years after David Gulpilil won Best Actor (Un Certain Regard) at the festival for Charlie’s Country, a film from the same suite of projects.
Gulpilil is also a writer on the film along with Reynolds and Rolf de Heer.
Cannes Cinéphiles is an event organised by Cannes Cinéma and the Festival de Cannes to provide public screenings from the Official Selection, as well as films from the parallel sections.
In Another Country, Gulpilil (Walkabout, Storm Boy, Crocodile Dundee, Australia, Rabbit Proof Fence, The Tracker) tells the tale of when his people’s way of life was interrupted by a new culture.
This documentary film speaks to the havoc caused by superimposing a new culture over an old culture and the consequent clashes with all manner of things, such as time, money, garbage and errant kangaroos.
Reynolds, currently in Toronto where the film is screening at North America’s largest documentary festival Hot Docs, said the audience reception to Charlie’s Country at Cannes was overwhelming to witness.
"It’s incredibly exciting that the City of Cannes and the Festival together are providing the opportunity for audiences to learn more about the Yolngu people at these free and accessible screenings of Another Country, so very far from Arnhem Land," she said.
Following the 2015 Melbourne International Film Festival world premiere, Another Country has screened at festivals around the country and all over the world and, distributed by ABCG Film, has so far grossed more than $70,000 at the Australian box office.
Another Country was the only Australian documentary to be nominated for an Asia Pacific Screen Award in 2015, was nominated for a UN Media Peace Award, won the Grand Prix at the 2016 FIFO Pacific International Film Festival where Abderrahmane Sissako (Timbuktu) was head of the jury, and was ranked fourth in The Guardian’s 10 Best Australian Films of 2015.
Rated G and accompanied by a study guide, the film has also been engaging students across Australia.
Another Country is produced by de Heer, Peter Djigirr and Reynolds, written by Gulpilil, de Heer and Reynolds and made in collaboration with the Yolngu of Ramingining.