We Are Still Here

Source: No Coincidence/Marama

‘We Are Still Here’

The world premiere of anthology film We Are Still Here  will open the 69th Sydney Film Festival on June 8. It  comprises eight stories by and about First Nations people.

The Australian-New Zealand co-production includes the work of 10 directors: Australians Beck Cole, Danielle MacLean, Tracey Rigney and Dena Curtis; and New Zealanders Tim Worrall, Richard Curtis, Renae Maihi, Miki Magasiva, Chantelle Burgoyn and Mario Gaoa.

The many First Nations actors involved include Clarence Ryan, Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne, Leonie Whyman and Calvin Tuteao.

No international sales agent is yet attached to the film, which is being released in Australia by Dark Matter Distribution and in New Zealand by Rialto.

The project began as a right of reply to the 250th anniversary celebrations that happened recently in Australia to mark Captain James Cook’s “discovery” of Australia but morphed into the finished film.

The stories span around 1,000 years and range from historical drama and dystopian sci-fi to animation and romantic comedy.

“This film is a testament to the strength and resilience of First Nations people all over the world, and we dedicate this success to our ancestors of the past, and our descendants of the future,” said Mia Henry-Tierney of New Zealand’s Mārama Productions, who produced the film alongside Mitchell Stanley and Toni Stowers of Australia’s No Coincidence Media.

Screen Australia and the New Zealand Film Commission were the key financiers, but support also came from New Zealand’s Te Māngai Pāho, first and foremost a Māori language agency, as well as Australian state agencies VicScreen, Screen Queensland, Screen Territory and the South Australian Film Corporation.

This year’s Sydney Film Festival will run June 8-19 and the full programme, including competition line-up, will be unveiled on May 11.

Already announced is a retrospective of US filmmaker Frederick Wiseman, a programme of titles by filmmakers with disabilities and new Australian features including Macario De Souza’s 6 Festivals, David Easteal’s The Plains and Hannah Barlow and Kane Senes’ Sissy, which screened at SXSW. We Are Still Here will be part of a First Nations strand.

Last year’s opening night film, Here Out West, was also a local anthology film.

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