Kala Marra! Palya! Thank you everyone for all the love you’ve been showing our film. 🖤💛❤️
We can’t wait to see it on the big screen at
@sydfilmfest and we wanted to share a behind-the-scenes look into how it all came together.
This project started a long time ago, and importantly is the first First Nations chorister-led project to map the intergenerational impact and international legacy of the choirs.
It began with 6 artist-choristers; Judith Pungarta Inkamala and Anita Mbitjana Ratara of Hermannsburg Potters and Marjorie Nunga Williams, Kunmanara Donald, Betty Conway, and Lizzie Jako of Tangentyere Artists. For years they had each been creating ceramics and paintings telling stories of choir life, travel, and singing together, with these works featured in major exhibitions and acquired into public collections.
After many conversations together the idea for a short film began to grow. As many of the artists were getting older, and some no longer able to travel and sing with the choir like they once did, the project became a powerful and timely way to capture these memories, stories, and experiences for future generations.
Not long after the scriptwriting workshops we sadly lost Kunmanara Donald. We feel incredibly lucky that we were able to sit together, record her stories, and have her memories become part of the film.
From researching old photographs and scribbling handwritten notes, to selecting and recording songs, developing the script and story boarding, and the mammoth task of creating so many new ceramics and paintings to be animated, every part of this film was shaped by the 6 artist-choristers with care, memory, and a deep love for the community.
