There are many things to do during Naidoc Week, which runs across the country from 6 July. If you’re not up for venturing outside, you can still celebrate the culture and history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from the comfort of your couch. Here are seven excellent documentaries available to stream.
Another Country (2015)
Available on: SBS on Demand
David Gulpilil provided extensive narration for this film about his home community of Ramingining in the Northern Territory, making it feel more like an audio-video essay than a standard doco. With his trademark playfulness and pluck, the Yolŋu actor recounts the history of this “strange town”, which was built by white people in a remote, illogical place, with the patronising belief by various governments that they knew what was best for his people. Ramingining becomes a microcosm for broader Indigenous experience and a springboard into various fascinating insights.
Firestarter: The Story of Bangarra (2020)
Available on: SBS on Demand, rent/buy
A dance movie; a celebration of Indigenous Australian art and culture; a history lesson written in light, smoke and spectacle. Wayne Blair and Nel Minchin’s spiritually invigorating doco about the titular dance company, which was founded in 1989, touches on many subjects including intergenerational trauma, creative tensions between old and new, and brotherhood. The latter is reflected through the story of David, Russell and Stephen Page, who were crucial figures in the company’s development.
The Final Quarter (2019)
Available on: DocPlay, rent/buy
This pacy portrait of the last chapter in AFL star Adam Goodes’ football career deploys the style synonymous with the film-maker Asif Kapadia, being entirely composed of archival footage and pre-existing material. It’s a viscerally charged, shame-inducing account of Australian racism and an uncomfortable exposé of the media, weaving in queasy moments involving commentators including Andrew Bolt, Alan Jones and Sam Newman. They may not like how they’re represented but it’s their words and actions on display, no voiceover or talking heads needed. The film is electrically powerful.
Gurrumul (2017)
Available on: DocPlay, rent/buy
There are no words to explain the exquisite power of Gurrumul’s music, which paradoxically feels both otherworldly and profoundly human: sourced from another cosmos but rising from somewhere deep inside ourselves. Paul Williams did justice to the late singer and guitarist (whose full name was Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu), a blind Gumatj man from Arnhem Land described by Rolling Stone as “Australia’s most important voice”. He gave his approval to the film just three days before he died, in July 2017, though it’s far from a standard authorised doco, which are often fawning and unadventurous talking head fests. It’s a must-see for fans and a great place to start for the uninitiated.
The Last Daughter (2022)
Available on: Netflix, ABC iview, rent/buy
Brenda Matthews, a Wiradjuri woman and member of the Stolen Generations, co-directed this tenderly crafted adaptation of her memoir of the same name. Matthews’ first memories were of growing up in a white family before they suddenly disappeared from her life; for a long time she assumed they abandoned her. Matthews sets out to discover the truth, triggering a personal kind of detective story, unpacking mysteries of her past and trying to find closure. Fragmentary introductory images have a dreamy residue and establish an ajar door as a key visual motif, symbolising a desire to see what lies beyond.
Ningla-A’na (1972)
Available on: SBS on Demand, DocPlay
Centred around the formation of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in 1972, Australia’s greatest protest movie has a bright, burning fire in its belly, capturing the indefatigable spirit of resistance and justice synonymous with the protest and the ongoing fight for Aboriginal land rights and sovereignty. Some scenes carry a gooseflesh-raising visceral charge, such as footage of protesters encountering police brutality, which made its way around the globe and, in the words of a National Film and Sound Archive of Australia curator, Liz McNiven, “fundamentally changed the way the world saw Australia”.
You Can Go Now (2022)
Available on: SBS on Demand, DocPlay, rent/buy
Larissa Behrendt’s film about the always compelling and often provocative artist Richard Bell bubbles with liveliness and exuberance, while also being pointed and polemical – suiting its subject to a tee. Bell is not a man who minces his words or pulls punches. “You can say and do stuff in art and not get arrested,” he says at one point – a line that’s inspiring in some senses and dreadfully sad in others. Broken up with short excerpts, performed by Bell, from his manifesto-like 2002 essay Bell’s Theorem, the film does a great job feeding the qualities of the artist into the form and shape of the film.
