Still Our Country: Our country

An excerpt from the Still Our Country online installation - a poetic celebration of the contemporary Yolngu people of North East Arnhem Land, Australia. This excerpt has David Gulpilil speaking in voice-over about his country along with stills of his country in North East Arnhem Land.

He says: 'We're going now to my country. My mother country. This is my place. My country. My father's country. My grandfather country. My country. No one will take my land. I live in my land and land lives with me. We live together. This is my home. This land and me … together. I belong here.' 

Still Our Country documents the swiftly morphing lives of the Yolngu people of Ramingining in the Northern Territory. The online installation is built on fragments and parts presenting a carnival of contemporary ways, the sum of which makes for a bold declaration of identity and a hopeful promise of a future. The online installation and the accompanying documentary film, Another Country, are part of the Country suite of projects made by Molly Reynolds and Rolf de Heer about contemporary Aboriginal culture.

Charlie’s Country, a feature film starring David Gulpilil, was screened to critical acclaim at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival and later in Australia. Gulpilil won a best actor award in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival for his performance in the film. He also appears in the other projects in the Country suite as himself — a proud Yolngu man.

Notes by Beth Taylor