UNDERMINED: TALES FROM THE KIMBERLEY
(directed by Nicholas Wrathall, 2018)

+ LIVE Q&A

The 2021-2 Menzies Screening Series opens with Undermined: Tales from the Kimberley, a vital documentary about the ongoing fight to save the vast Kimberley region of northwest Australia from an unprecedented land grab. After the film, we will be joined by the film’s director, Nicholas Wrathall, for a live Q&A.

Undermined: Tales from the Kimberley investigates the politics of an area now branded ‘the future economic powerhouse of Australia’, and what this means for First People and their unique cultural landscapes. As pressure from industry exposes the limits of Indigenous land rights, what will remain for the 200-plus Aboriginal communities in the region? The film follows young leader Albert Wiggan, veteran cattleman Kevin Oscar, and Senior Elder June Davis through David-and-Goliath battles to preserve their homelands, asking the question: what is the true cost of doing business?

This online screening is free and open to all (including audiences outside the UK), and will take place live and online via Eventive. It will be followed by a live Q&A with the film's director, Nicholas Wrathall, chaired by Menzies Screenings curator, Stephen Morgan. If you miss the live session, there will also be an opportunity to watch the film and recorded Q&A for fourteen days after the event.

 

This screening is presented in partnership with Flourishing Diversity, Invisible Dust, and Border Crossings Origins Festival of First Nations.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Nicholas Wrathall is an award-winning director and producer known for Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia which opened to acclaim at Tribeca Film Festival and was distributed theatrically by IFC. He was first recognized for Abandoned: The Betrayal of America's Immigrants, featured on PBS Independent Lens and winner of the 2001 Alfred I. duPont Columbia Award for Broadcast Journalism. Other documentaries include Endless Caravan, Haitian Eksperyans, and The Modern Gulag.
nicwrathall.com

 

Stephen Morgan is a film programmer and academic whose research focuses on the cultural history of British and Australian cinema and the broader intersections of Empire and nation within settler and Indigenous cinemas. As well as serving as the Screenings Coordinator for the Menzies Australia Institute, he is also the Co-Programmer of the London Australian Film Society & Festival.
drsmorgan.com

 

Attendees may also be interested in Indigenous Science and the Fitzroy River, an online discussion event featuring key participants from Undermined. The event takes place at 11am (UK time) on Wednesday October 27 and is organised by our partners at Flourishing Diversity and Invisible Dust, as part of their Living Nature series (26-28 October).