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On recently finishing his lead role in The Tracker (MIFF Opening Night film), David Gulpilil returned to the Yolgnu clan in Arnhem Land in Northern Australia, where his tribal status necessitates social obligations. Charting Guipilil's life between these two very different worlds, this fascinating documentary follows Guipilil's offstage life, punctuated by interviews with numerous colleagues and mentors.
Growing up on an Aboriginal reserve, at 14 years old he was chosen to play the lead in the film Walkabout. Since then he has acted in major films including Mad Dog Morgan (1976), Storm Boy (1977), The Last Wave (1977), Crocodile Dundee (1986) and Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002).
Directed by Darlene Johnson and produced by renowned film producer Tom Zubrycki (whose vast credits include Exile in Sarajevo, MIFF 1997, Whiteys Like Us, MIFF 1999 and Stolen Generations, 2000), Gulpilil: One Red Blood is a perfectly rendered portrait of one of Australia's most respected living actors.
Tom Zubrycki is a guest of the Festival
Darlene Johnson is from the Dunghutti tribe of the East coast of NSW. Her first drama, Two-Bob Mermaid, was part of an Aboriginal anthology From Sand to Celluloid. The film won the Australian Film Ciritics Circle Award for Best Australian Short Film. Stolen Generations (2000) received nominations for an Emmy as well as for Best Documentary at the AFI awards. She recently completed a documentary, The Making of Rabbit-Proof Fence.