Screen Australia’s First Nations Department announced its latest funding slate this week, including Wolfram, a sequel to Sweet Country, directed by Warwick Thornton and set three years after the first film, which was a breakthrough Western released in 2018.
The official synopsis for Wolfram: In 1930s Australia, a group of Aboriginal Kids escape their cruel white masters and journey across the sweet country of Central Australia to reunite with their estranged mother Pansy.
‘Wolfram continues the story of Philomac, now 17 and still living under the watchful eye of his ill-tempered master Mick Kennedy. After meeting Max and Kid, Philomac decides to free himself and the siblings from the white men’s brutality by running away into desert country. Along the way they are assisted by a pioneering family of Chinese Australian miners Jimmi and Wang Wei, who help reunite the children with their estranged mother Pansy.’
Warwick Thornton’s Wolfram begins production
In the announcement, director Warwick Thornton said, ‘This is my family’s story. My great grandmother and her daughters worked the Hatches Creek mines for whitefellas. Now a truth will come out and it’s called Wolfram.’
Wolfram is written by Steven McGregor and David Tranter, whose credits include Sweet Country. Producing alongside Tranter are David Jowsey and Greer Simpkin and Cecilia Ritchie (Limbo) and the film is financed with support from Screen NSW and the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund. Distributing Wolfram is Dark Matter Distribution, with international sales managed by Memento.
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NITV documentaries: Dreaming Big and One Mind, One Heart
Also announced by Screen Australia were two documentaries for NITV spanning sport and politics, the six part series following Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sports hopefuls, Dreaming Big directed by Andrew Dillon and Abraham Byrne Jameson; and feature-length documentary One Mind, One Heart from writer-director Larissa Behrendt (After the Apology, Maralinga Tjarutja).
Dreaming Big: This six-part series for NITV takes an intimate look into the lives of gifted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australian youths on the cusp of becoming the nation’s next generation of sports stars. Each episode highlights two young elite athletes, showcasing their relentless pursuit to reach the pinnacle of their chosen field as they navigate family and cultural obligations while remaining focused on their goals. The series will be directed by Andrew Dillon (Le Champion) and Abraham Byrne Jameson (One by One), with writer/producer Richard Jameson (Strait to the Plate season 2) and producer Veronica Fury (And We Danced) also attached. It is financed in association with Screen Queensland.
One Mind, One Heart: In this feature-length documentary for NITV, a historic political Yirrkala bark petition is discovered and makes its way home to Yolgnu country, evoking the spirit of decades of activism for change. The repatriation provides the opportunity to track the long political campaign – through petition, song, dance, campaigning – to keep culture strong and to have a voice for country. One Mind, One Heart is from writer/director Larissa Behrendt (The First Inventors) and producer Michaela Perske (Larapinta). It is financed in association with Screen NSW, with support from the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund, Spectrum Entertainment, Documentary Australia and Philanthropy via the Shark Island Institute.
Other screen projects funded
As announced by Screen Australia, in total 19 new projects, including 16 funded for development, will receive over $3 million in funding.
Angela Bates, Screen Australia’s Head of First Nations, said, ‘Our First Nations creatives are at the forefront of Australian storytelling, with many incredible projects being celebrated on the world stage and even more in development. The demand for our funding has never been higher, which is a positive sign for the industry.
‘Across the 23/24FY, our Department invested over $7.1 million of funding including 105 opportunities across development, production, initiatives, attachments and market support – highlighting the incredible talent and rich narratives within Indigenous communities. With films like Wolfram and documentaries Dreaming Big and One Mind, One Heart, I’m inspired by the depth of powerful screen stories authored by First Nations Australians.’
As noted in the release, it’s been another strong year for First Nations stories and creatives, with feature films including Thornton’s The New Boy and Jon Bell’s The Moogai garnering international acclaim, and the third season of ABC’s Total Control being the most watched First Nations series in 23/24.
Also announced were three television dramas, 11 feature films and two documentaries that will share in over $540,000 of development funding. The projects include feature film Native Gods from 2024 Enterprise Business recipient Djali House; comedy series Long Story Short from writer/director Tanith Glynn-Maloney (Windcatcher); documentary Fire Country, a transformative exploration of Indigenous fire knowledge and wisdom; and feature film RED, about eight Western Australian First Nations women who share the ugly secret of being surrounded by the missing.
More information on the projects funded for Production and Development by the First Nations Department throughout the 2023/24 financial year can be found on the Screen Australia website.
