Three stories by three First Nations storytellers from around the Country, telling Blak stories on Blak terms.
In active conversations with ancestors, community and Country, these films are a living engagement with the spiritual, physical, cultural and political realms.
Dr Romaine Moreton curates three generations of First Nations films and moderates a panel discussion, exploring and sharing the lived experiences of Blak filmmakers. A rare opportunity for the Narrm film and arts community to gain insight and hear these yarns firsthand, learning more about our cultural nuances, industry challenges and the incredible resilience of these talented First Nations filmmakers in the BLAKTIVISM is Film panel discussion.
65,000 Years Strong
Dir. Laura Thompson, Australia, 2023, 2 mins.
Focusing overtly on community and Country as co-teachers, the short work follows a young girl “walking in the footprints of giants” and using images of landscape, mural, family and protest to show that everyday life is always underwritten by 65,000 years of story and responsibility.
Echoes of Dissent
Dir. Dylan Nicholls, Australia, 2025, 8 mins.
Rooted in dissent formed on Country, Anthony Martin Fernando took his protests abroad to Europe, his warnings about injustice are guided by law, memory and spirit carried from home. Director Dylan Nicholl's decision to re-embody the man through his own father re-knits that story back into community.
The Moogai
Dir. Jon Bell, Australia, 2024, 86 mins.
Jon Bell’s love letter to the Aboriginal women in his family, The Moogai immerses us in the world of Bundjalung storytelling, where everyday realities merge with the enduring spiritual presence of Country. In this world, the real and the imagined cross-inform each other, and the systemic removal of children in the Stolen Generations is conveyed through the presence of an ancient spirit known as the Moogai, who, in Bundjalung lore, steals children. This is a film that delves into the supernatural to communicate the horror of colonialism in an unsettled Australian landscape.
– Dr Romaine Moreton, Guest Curator
About BLAKTIVISM
BLAKTIVISM began as a concert series that has been co-presented with Gaba Musik and the Arts Centre Melbourne for the last five years since 2021. A vision led by Artistic Director and Yalanji Woman of Song, Deline Briscoe.
BLAK Artivism has been extremely influential in the advancement of Blak communities since we have faced the on-going genocide of our people, by using the arts to tell our stories, our way. The BLAKTIVISM program always includes intergenerational collaborations, as Deline believes that Blak Mob learn best by practising with their elders in every aspect of life, absorbing knowledge and gaining wisdom through these interactions.