[Release by NT Dept of Natural Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sport]
The home grown documentary series Yarning Up continues to make a splash at film festivals internationally with two of the series’ films being chosen to screen at the prestigious 9th Annual imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, which runs in Toronto, Canada from Wednesday 15 October to Sunday 19 October 2008.
Northern Territory Film Office (NTFO) Director Penelope McDonald said One River, All Rivers by Tom E. Lewis and Yolgnu Guya Djamamirr by Frank Djirrimbilpilwuy will premiere in Canada at the festival, which will be attended by Yarning Up producer Penny Smallacombe.
“The imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival is an international festival that celebrates the latest works of Indigenous people worldwide, from film, video, radio and new media,” Ms McDonald said.
“Both films have already screened at Message Sticks Film Festival, Sydney, Fist Full of Films, Darwin, a special screening at the United Nations headquarters and the National History Museum in New York, and at the Planet Honest Film Festival, the first international film festival on biodiversity and Indigenous cultures, Cadenet, France.
“Yolgnu Guya Djamamirr has also been selected to screen at the 7th annual Winnipeg Aboriginal Film Festival in November 2008, which showcases the best in Indigenous film and video.”
The ABC Television documentary series Yarning Up is an initiative developed by the Northern Territory Film Office in partnership with Top End Aboriginal Bush Broadcasting (TEABBA). Will Tinapple and Danielle Green from Formation Studios in Darwin developed and ran the workshops that developed the scripts for the Yarning Up documentaries.
The second series of Yarning Up is in development. TEABBA is calling on Territory Indigenous filmmakers to submit their ideas for short documentaries by Saturday 1 November 2008.
“Yarning Up is a great opportunity for indigenous Territorians with a story to tell, to get it developed and made. It also provides employment opportunities for Territorians, including in remote communities.” Ms McDonald said.