The Spear in the stone

Australia, 1983

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In 1981 two aboriginal craftsmen invited scientists to accompany them on a journey to Ngilibitji, a renowned stone quarry in their traditional land in eastern Arnhem Land. They wished to visit it to teach three younger men their skills. The film follows their journey and reveals something of their view of the “life within the stone” and their care for their land.

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Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

production company

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies

director

Kim McKenzie

Duration

00:35:15:00

Production places

Australia

Production dates

1983

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

016366

Language

English

Subject categories

Aboriginal Australia → Aboriginal Australians - Ethnic identity

Aboriginal Australia → Aboriginal Australians - Implements

Aboriginal Australia → Aboriginal Australians - Kinship

Aboriginal Australia → Aboriginal Australians - Land tenure

Aboriginal Australia → Aboriginal Australians - Social life and customs

Aboriginal Australia → Archaeology - Australia

Aboriginal Australia → Arnhem Land (N.T.)

Aboriginal Australia → Art, Aboriginal Australian

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Arnhem Land (N.T.)

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Australia - Description and travel

Crafts & Visual Arts → Art, Aboriginal Australian

Crafts & Visual Arts → Stone carving

Documentary

Documentary → Documentary films - Australia

Educational & Instructional

Educational & Instructional → Educational films

History → Archaeology - Australia

Places → Arnhem Land (N.T.)

Short films

Short films → Short films - Australia

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Holdings

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/77947--the-spear-in-the-stone-a/ |title=The Spear in the stone |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=28 May 2023 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}