Wirritt Wirritt

The aboriginal legend of how fire came under man’s control, illustrated by aboriginal cave painting. The musical background was recorded in Arnhem Land by Professor Elkin. The story is that at first only one man could make fire, and jealously guarded it. However, by a trick Wirritt Wirritt (an ancestral hero) stole the secret for all men’s use. Narrated by Ray Barrett.

How to watch

This work has not been digitised and is currently unavailable to view online. It may be possible for approved reseachers to view onsite at ACMI.

Learn more about accessing our collection

Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

production company

Australian National Film Board

Australian news and Information Bureau

director

Malcolm Otton

Duration

00:07:00:00

Production places

Australia

Production dates

1957

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

323134

Language

English

Subject categories

Aboriginal Australia → Aboriginal Australians - Legends

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Aboriginal Australians - Legends

Crafts & Visual Arts → Rock paintings

History → Aboriginal Australians - Legends

Short films

Short films → Short films - Australia

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Holdings

16mm film; Preservation Print (Section 5)

16mm film; Limited Access Print (Section 2)

16mm film; Access Print (Section 1)

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/74813--wirritt-wirritt/ |title=Wirritt Wirritt |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=7 February 2023 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}

Australia, 1957

Please note