Synopsis: Namarali is a 50min documentary charting artist Donny (Yorna) Woolagoodja’s quest to rekindle deep connections with his traditional ancestral culture. Yorna’s spiritual beliefs revolve around the wandjina – creator beings whose images adorn the caves and rock ledges throughout the Kimberley in Western Australia. Refreshed with new ochre each year by his ancestors the wandjinas are now fading away with the absence of Yorna’s people. But the community’s decision to allow one of Yorna’s designs to appear at the 2000 Sydney Olympics opening ceremony empowers a progressive new perspective. Yorna is compelled to visit the big-boss wandjina NAMARALI in his cave. His mission; to repaint the imposing 4m wandjina image with fresh ochre and restore NAMARALI back to his full glory. On a distant, inaccessible section of the West Kimberley coast, the film is witness to the radical action of a man and his community determined to bring their deity ‘back to life’. NAMARALI was created over 20 years by Tim Mummery and senior knowledge keeper Yorna Woolagoodja (2021 Red Ochre lifetime achievement award).
Submitter Statement: Over the 20 years of this film’s completion my friendship with Yorna has afforded me innumerable ‘ah ha’ moments around his perspective on the world. The key one, I think, centres on how hard it is for Aboriginal people to balance the requirements of non-indigenous culture with their own community needs. At its heart, NAMARALI explores how these tensions play out for Yorna as a community leader. In 2000 he faced a dilemma; bring a sacred culture to the world or let it sit undisturbed in the caves where it could easily fade into obscurity. Following Yorna as he is compelled to visit Namarali’s cave, the film takes us to a world that is very rarely seen. Part lament for things lost and part road map for future cultural rebirth, NAMARALI is a film powered by a radical gesture of cultural reclamation.
Director: Tim Mummery
Writer: Tim Mummery
Producer: Tim Mummery, Yorna (Donny) Woolagoodja
Key Cast: Yorna (Donny) Woolagoodja, Alison Burgu
Country of Origin: Australia
Country of Filming: Australia
Language: English
Subtitles:
Runtime: 00:52:11
