Murwillumbah film screening marks 19 years since NT Intervention

ON 21 June, Northern Rivers-based filmmaker Sinem Saban will bring more than two decades of storytelling to The Regent Theatre in Murwillumbah, screening Our Generation (2010) and Ḻuku Ngärra: The Law of the Land (2024) in a special double bill marking 19 years since the Northern Territory Intervention.

Saban said themes explored in the films also resonate with conversations around reconciliation and truth-telling.

“In the context of these films, it (reconciliation) means going deep into contextualising, into history, into voices that may make people feel uncomfortable,” she said.

“And also seeing that when you go all-in and then go into uncomfortable and confronting spaces and allow yourself to stay there, that you’ll find, particularly with these films, the journey through those dark places and uncomfortable places come out to a better understanding.”

That openness reflects a filmmaking practice shaped by long-term immersion rather than short-term observation.

Saban first went to Elcho Island 25 years ago as a schoolteacher, a period that set the foundation for her transition into documentary work and her ongoing collaboration with Yolngu communities in north-east Arnhem Land.

What began as teaching evolved into a sustained creative practice built on relationships and trust, and on being present through change over decades rather than years.

Saban was careful to frame her observations within the specific community relationships that have informed her work over the past 25 years.

“I can only ever speak in relation to what I have been taught by the Yolngu people of North East Arnhem Land,” she said.

“I can never speak about what is happening elsewhere with other nations.”

Filmed while Saban was teaching on Elcho Island, Our Generation documents the impacts of the Northern Territory Intervention on the community.

“When I first went out there on Elcho Island, it was like… My Island Home,” she said.

“That song, famous song, is written about Elcho Island.”

“It’s paradise. It was amazing. And the culture’s strong. Leadership was strong.”

The second film, Ḻuku Ngärra: The Law of the Land, extends that journey into questions of cultural law, leadership and continuity, centring on late Elcho Island elder and lawman Rev Dr Gondarra and Yolngu MP Yingiya Guyula, whose perspectives open up broader questions about governance, Country and authority.

Saban said the films challenge common narratives about Indigenous communities by placing contemporary social issues within a broader historical and cultural context.

Across both works, Saban frames filmmaking as a process of staying close to lived experience rather than interpreting it from a distance.

“I think that journalism and storytelling requires relationship building,” she said.

The films will be screened at The Regent Theatre in Murwillumbah on 21 June from 4pm–7.30pm, with tickets available through Humanitix.