
Footage of David, Robyn – David’s traditional law wife – and their children in Ramingining. Sweeping aerial views of the ever-widening river that David needs to cross to reach David’s father’s country. Archival footage of Aboriginal people in a mission with David’s voice-over narrating about the first time he saw a white person. Summary by Romaine Moreton.
A generous film that is the result of a collaboration between the subject (David Gulpilil) and the filmmaker (Darlene Johnson). Gulpilil invites us into his world, and offers a narrative that attempts to translate between Indigenous world view and Western sensibility. The title of the film One Red Blood is Gulpilil’s declaration of connectedness, of the world beyond the human experience, of all creatures belonging to the same inhabitable world of the Dreaming.
This film is important in that it speaks about Indigenous philosophy expressed by Gulpilil as being of 'one red blood’ and is comparable to the Eastern philosophical tradition of the presence of the Divine in all things. Such insight into Indigenous world view is seldom expressed, and his capacity to do so ensures that David Gulpilil continues to be a person – culturally and creatively – of incredible artistic significance to Indigenous peoples and Australian society alike. One Red Blood is Gulpilil’s story, a time for Gulpilil – after extensive filmic experience – to speak directly to the world as himself, rather than through the characters through which he has become known locally and internationally. Gulpilil’s filmography includes films such as Walkabout, Stormboy, Tracker and The Proposition.
This program has also screened on NITV, National Indigenous Television.
A documentary about the career of Indigenous actor, dancer, and cultural delegate, David Gulpilil, using interview as well as archival footage.
Notes by Romaine Moreton
This clip shows Indigenous actor David Gulpilil with his family at Ramingining in north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. Gulpilil describes his father’s country, growing up in the bush, his first encounter with white people, being educated at the Maningrida mission school, and the effect that contact with non-Indigenous people has had on the Indigenous community in this area. The clip includes sweeping aerial shots of north-eastern Arnhem Land, archival footage of the mission, Gulpilil’s narration and evocative music featuring Indigenous chants.
Education notes provided by The Learning Federation and Education Services Australia
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia acknowledges Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and live and gives respect to their Elders both past and present.