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NAIDOC Week 2023: For Our Elders
Join us to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of First Nations peoples.
This year's NAIDOC Week (2–9 July) theme is Elders. Across every generation, our Elders have played, and continue to play, an important role and hold a prominent place in our communities and families. They are cultural knowledge holders, trailblazers, nurturers, advocates, teachers, survivors, leaders, hard workers and our loved ones. Celebrate Elders – and the new generations they have paved the way for – with our program of special events, exhibitions and films; and learn about our new membership offer for First Nations people.
Special events
First Nations Film Club – Honouring Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter
Tue 4 Jul, 6pm
Celebrate the love, lives and creative collaboration of two legendary musicians with a screening of Wash My Soul in the River's Flow. The screening will be followed by a special live performance by Archie's son Amos Roach.
Lee Sonnyboy Morgan live
Friday 7 July, 11am
Raise your hands in the air and whip out your lighters (or phone torches) for the country-rock stylings of Gunditjmara musician Lee Morgan and his fellow band members, including singer/songwriter Gavin Somers (Butchulla/Gubbi Gubbi). Don’t miss the 30-minute acoustic set at ACMI.
Vic NAIDOC March 2023
Friday 7 July, 12pm
Departing from the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service (VAHS) on 186 Nicholson Street, Fitzroy at 12pm, the march will go past Fig Tree on top of Gertrude Street, the Pastor Sir Doug and Lady Nicholls statue, Parliament House, corner of Bourke & Swanston and corner of Flinders & Swanston Street.
Shadow Spirit: Kimberley Moulton In Conversation with Julie Gough
Fri 7 July, 4–5pm
Julie Gough joins curator Kimberley Moulton to discuss the themes, knowledge and processes behind her work Invoke | Inverse which features in the Shadow Spirit exhibition at Flinders Street Station.
Amrita Hepi: Scripture for a smoke screen: Episode 1 – dolphin house
Friday 7 Jul — Sun 13 Aug
If you missed the chance to see Amrita Hepi's video artwork at ACMI in 2022, then you're in luck. Showing at the Samstag Museum of Art in South Australia, Scripture for a smoke screen: Episode 1 – dolphin house is part of Hepi's ongoing body of work that deals with the dilemma of authenticity and how language operates and obscures.
Mirring Yalingwa podcast
In this special episode of the Mirring Yalingwa Podcast, recorded at ACMI, Wurundjeri and Ngurai-Illum-Wurrung man Jasper Cohen-Hunter explores the revolutionary works of Elders to protect, document and sustain Culture and Lore through the camera lens. Produced by Jasper, the Mirring Yalingwa Podcast focuses on Australian cinema and First Nations-led cinema productions.
Blak Membership
Open to Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations people), our Blak Membership unlocks exclusive access to the museum, including FREE tickets to ACMI exhibitions and select events, a 10% discount at the ACMI Shop, special food and beverage offers, and exclusive member-only preview screenings.
Exhibitions
Two Girls from Amoonguna
Open daily 10am–5pm until 20 Aug 2023, FREE entry
Artists Sally M Nangala Mulda and Marlene Rubuntja recount their intertwining journeys of friendship and resilience in the Central Desert through the magic of animation. Curated by Jenna Rain Warwick (Luritja)
Two Girls from Amoonguna – In conversation with Ludo Studio
Thu 13 Jul, 6pm
Hear how the powerhouse animation studio behind Bluey teamed up with the artists to bring to life this poignant and uplifting story.
Making Two Girls from Amoonguna
Find out how Sally M Nangala Mulda and Marlene Rubuntja made their animated work, Arrkutja Tharra, Kungka Kutjara, Two Girls.
Highlights from the exhibition
Read more about the objects and artworks featured in this special exhibition.
The Story of the Moving Image
Open daily 10am–5pm, FREE entry
Drop into our centrepiece exhibition and explore the groundbreaking First Nations programs, films, people and companies that have pushed the boundaries of storytelling, performance and form.
Films
One Night the Moon (2001)
In ACMI Cinemas 7–16 July
A young girl climbs out of her window and disappears into the night in Rachel Perkin's atmospheric follow-up her 1998 film Radiance. Filmed on Adnyamathanha land in South Australia's Flinders Ranges.
Melbourne Women In Film Festival
Rent online for FREE, 2–9 July
Delve into Melbourne Women in Film Festival's archive. Revisit provocative, thought-provoking and hilarious First Nations short films by Brooke Collard and Gary Hamaguchi, Karla Hart, Kiara Milera with Charlotte Rose, Sasha Sarago, Jub Clerc and Dena Curtis.
Available to rent on Cinema 3
Ablaze (2021)
Yorta Yorta/Wiradjuri opera singer Tiriki Onus uncovers the story behind a silent film made by his grandfather, civil rights activist Bill Onus.
Bastardy (2008)
Amiel Courtin-Wilson's intimate documentary follows legendary actor Uncle Jack Charles (1943–2022) as he traverses the worlds of crime and acting.
Radiance (1998)
Sparks fly when three sisters reunite to mark the passing of their mother among the sugar cane plantations of far North Queensland.
Jasper Jones (2017)
Rachel Perkins directs an outstanding cast of young performers in a riveting story that weaves drama, humour, tragedy and a uniquely Australian touch of the gothic.
Samson & Delilah (2009)
A pair of teenaged lovers take flight and search for hope in Warwick Thornton’s unflinching portrait of life in a remote Indigenous community.
The Darkside (2013)
A fresh take on ghost stories, The Darkside brings together an atmospheric collection of supernatural tales in an anthology film by director Warwick Thornton.
Sweet As (2023)
Sweet As follows 16-year-old Murra, who is on the verge of self-destruction. That is, until her policeman uncle secures an unusual lifeline: a “photo-safari for at-risk kids”. Murra isn’t entirely convinced, but she soon joins cantankerous Kylie, uptight Sean, happy-go-lucky Elvis, and team leaders Fernando and Mitch on a transformative bus trip through the Pilbara.
Coming soon (Thu 6 Jul)
Learn more
About NAIDOC Week 2023
National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia in the first week of July each year (Sunday to Sunday), to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth.
