Ten Canoes was shot on location in the breathtaking Arnhem land of Northern Australia and recounts an aboriginal myth as told by one brother to another. Inspired by the black-and-white photos of anthropologist Donald Thompson taken in the 1930’s, the “recent past” of the storyteller intermingles with the lush and colorful dreamtime past of ancient myth, depicting a story of wrong love, kidnapping, sorcery, bungling mayhem and revenge gone wrong.

Dutch-born director Rolf de Heer, who has been chronicling Aboriginal life for over twenty years, used an indigenous cast consisting entirely of native peoples who speak only Ganalbingu. That cast also served as crew, creating most of the traditional artifacts used in the film, such as the bark canoes, the weapononry, and the dwellings. The film is sub-titled in English, and English narration is provided by the great David Gulpilil. (Festival patrons may remember Gulpilil’s visit to Charlottesville in 2002 to accompany the release of Rabbit-Proof Fence.)

Ten Canoes reveres nature and the land in the same way the Aboriginals do: not as backdrop or resource, but as a living entity. Framed by glorious aerial shots of unspoiled landscape, this story and story-within-a-story eloquently depicts the deep spiritual connection between a land and its people and shows us the forgotten wisdom and humor of a lost culture.