Latest news with #WAFirstNations
West Australian
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- West Australian
Broome filmmaker Brooke Collard to bring First Nations ‘truth-telling' to life in virtual reality
Harnessing the immersive power of virtual reality, Broome filmmaker Brooke Collard and her partner Kylie Bracknell will bring to life Walbreninj — the story of Noongar women seeking to heal both land and spirit — after being named one of two successful teams in the inaugural First Nations VR Documentary Initiative. Walbreninj, which translates to 'healing' in the Noongar language, is about Country holding on to memories and passing those memories on to people through bodily sensations or visions. It explores a group of Noongar women who have held on to a haunting truth about a local parkland for 30 years, and strange events that have drawn people back there. Now, these Noongar women want to bring healing to the spirits of ancestors left behind and return the park to Walbreninj. Brooke Collard said using VR to tell the story allows them to tap into the immersive qualities of the technology that aren't present in other mediums. 'VR has this special extra layer of immersion that you don't get in film,' she said. 'Previously working in narrative design for games really opened my eyes to how far you can push stories and audiences with VR, and with Walbreninj, it brings this extra level of understanding and compassion when you make your audience directly a part of the story. 'I've used VR, and the first time was experiencing Tyson Mowarin's Thalu. I remember sinking into the ground and being awed by the possibilities of storytelling.' The First Nations VR Documentary Initiative, made possible with financial support from Lotterywest, is a special initiative designed to uncover distinctive WA First Nations voices, support their career progressions and enable practitioners to explore new storytelling mediums and markets. Screenwest chief executive Rikki Lea Bestall said virtual reality offered a powerful new way to bring First Nations stories to life. 'Virtual reality doesn't just convey a story, it immerses audiences right into the heart of the film,' she said. 'In Western Australia, we have a wealth of First Nations creatives with incredible stories to tell. No doubt these projects will make important contributions to the national conversation.' Filmmaking brothers Luke and Daniel Riches is the other successful team that will explore First Nations 'truth-telling' through Tiger Shark Dreaming, which tells the story of two young, emerging Bardi leaders as they search of one of Australia's most elusive predators — the tiger shark or Gundarr. 'This opportunity presented itself and we were gripped by the abundant possibilities that will expand our storytelling capability,' Luke and Daniel Riches said. 'We believe this industry will continue to grow each year and as it becomes more accessible to audiences, and we hope to make First Nations stories a contributing part.' The First Nations VR Documentary Initiative is designed to uncover distinctive WA First Nations voices, support their career progression and enable practitioners to explore new storytelling mediums and markets.
West Australian
27-05-2025
- Politics
- West Australian
Tremane Baxter-Edwards is ready to pick up the baton and fight for reconciliation
WA First Nations youth leader Tremane Baxter-Edwards can see the future of reconciliation and it looks like economic empowerment, education and the respect. It is a future free from culture wars and a world in which more Indigenous Australians learn to 'walk in two worlds', as Mr Baxter-Edwards has done as a Kimberley ranger at El Questro Wilderness Park, student and youth political adviser. And at just 18, the Ngarinyin-Walmajarri man thinks the future of reconciliation also means that young leaders like himself must be prepared to take the baton from the generation of Indigenous elders who have spent their lives fighting for it. Speaking to The West Australian, Mr Baxter-Edwards said he was immensely grateful for the work of elders like Patrick Dodson, who urged him to step into the spotlight for this year's National Reconciliation Week, the theme of which is Bridging Now to Next. 'Our elders and Aboriginal leaders like Noel Pearson and Marcia Langton and Patrick Dodson, we're now in this phase where these people who have been fighting their whole life for Aboriginal people and the reconciliation movement need to pass the baton on to the next generation,' he said. 'Because they grew up in a generation where it was really difficult to be an Aboriginal person, and let me please use this as an opportunity to thank these leaders. 'But now we're in a phase where we operate differently. The young people of today are becoming a bit more progressive so they're not going to have to fight tooth and nail with this particular subject. I think people today. . . their spirit is switched on and I think with the right practical view we will be able to advance the reconciliation movement a bit more.' Mr Baxter-Edwards, who grew up in the Kimberley town of Wyndham, said the failure of the Voice to Parliament referendum had 'changed the course of the reconciliation journey' but had not defeated it. He said empowering Aboriginal people to have economic power, equal access to education and work and the potential for intergenerational wealth were key to achieving reconciliation. 'My grandmother was paid in rations for her hard work for 30 years,' he said. 'I don't think a lot of people know how disheartening that is for me, as a young person, to hear my grandmother say that. 'Reconciliation in 2025, for me personally, I would like to see young people and their families put in the best position possible and what does that mean? Essentially self-determination: economic empowerment, economic development. 'How do we, as the next generation, work with our elders to empower us and simultaneously empower our elders to walk in two worlds? 'To walk in those two worlds successfully is a fine line: to be able to negotiate at the table with, for example, politicians and business people you're successfully walking in the western world, but to be able to go back to country and talk about country and culture as I have the opportunity to do, it's incredible.' He said he believed most people wanted Indigenous people to succeed but did not know how to make that happen. 'It's economic empowerment — how do we put the Aboriginal people in the driver's seat is something people should be talking about today and every day,' he said. 'It's things like, for example, how do we utilise and sell carbon credits to companies who want to buy carbon credits? That's economic empowerment: we are using our country and our knowledge of the country… so when we sell carbon credits we're making the most of those carbon credits. 'Also a big one for me is jobs in education. Young people, no matter who they are, should have the same opportunities afforded to them — doesn't matter if they're from the bush, like myself, or the city. 'For people to be able to have the opportunity to work so that government and communities invest in remote communities — there are people who lived off the stations 50 years ago, they moved into town and haven't had a job since — to make sure everyone wakes up having something to do. . . and having hope, for people in government and business to entrust in these people.' Julianne Wade is the Whadjuk Nyungar woman behind The West Australian's front page, reconciliation-inspired artwork, which uses the colours of the changing season to represent 'change and growth'. 'The blue resembles our places of water stemming from the swampland,' she said. 'The white represents the paths that people take with integrity, into reconciliation, with their own stories and knowledge and actions in the people symbols. 'I have taken inspiration with the hands holding plant materials to emphasise the movement of people coming together to dance and move around on country, and the boomerangs to emphasise the movement of sound and vibrations as we make change.' She said reconciliation 'means more than words' and was 'more than an apology or promises that fall short to bridge a gap'. 'It's about truth, respect, actions and integrity,' she said.
