Viewer Advice: Strong impact themes.

A haunting revisionist western inspired by the family history of poet/author Judith Wright – the first narrative work to feature the Barada and Darumbal languages.

May Downs, 1859. A white family making an overland journey to Rockhampton, with the assistance of Aboriginal staff, is stalled when the mother goes into labour. This loose adaptation of Wright’s eponymous historical account focuses on the female experience of colonisation, revealing the human costs of masculine avarice.

Director Joanna Joy made her film in collaboration with the Barada and Darumbal peoples – the traditional owners of the land where it was shot – who advised on language and cultural protocols, and perform as crucial characters. Majestic cinematography highlights their Country’s beauty, which the white family are seemingly wilfully blind to.