PRESS RELEASE
Australian writers/directors/change-makers Jack Manning Bancroft and Tyson Yunkaporta’s pioneering new animated feature film IMAGINE heads into cinemas nationwide for screenings from January 26.
“Imagine can sit with policymakers, can sit with their children, and can bring Indigenous communities together with people that might’ve voted differently in a referendum,” says Jack Manning Bancroft. “It is a very interesting tool, and I’m really interested to see how it moves through the world.”
Literally a film like no other, IMAGINE is a ground-breaking, co-created animated film blending Indigenous knowledge with cutting-edge technology. IMAGINE follows Kim, a 15-year-old non-binary kid drowning in the noise of the attention economy. Their life is push notifications, endless scrolling, and a nagging sense that something is deeply off. Then, one night, a clawed creature rips open the bedroom wall and drags Kim into a wild 24-hour journey across five surreal islands, a sentient library, an ideological battlefield, an ocean of memory and more. Guided by Jeff, a sarcastic alien dog, and the steady voices of Aboriginal Elders, Kim is forced to face the big questions that we’ve all been dodging: What are we doing to the planet? Who are we listening to? What kind of ancestors do we want to be?
Led by Indigenous Australian storytellers Jack Manning Bancroft and Tyson Yunkaporta (acclaimed writer and Senior Lecturer in Indigenous Knowledges at Deakin University), IMAGINE transcends boundaries, bringing ancient wisdom to life with cutting-edge animation, and modern storytelling. “Every now and again, we have some stories that allow us to watch them together across generations and demographics,” says Jack Manning Bancroft. “IMAGINE does that. A twelve-year-old can sit with their dad and they can meet in the middle… it reaches that expanse.”
Created during the pandemic through a live Google Doc, IMAGINE began in a true sense of collaboration on IMAGI-NATION {TV}, with over 150 young people, 18 partner schools, and more than 200 guests from across 17 countries contributing to the script via a live audience. Guests on IMAGI-NATION{TV} who contributed to IMAGINE include former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Nelson Mandela’s granddaughter Ndileka Mandela, artists Cloudy Rhodes, Wesley Enoch, Bec Bignall, Ned Benson, Wayne Blair, Simon Taylor, Ritza Bloom, Randy Feltface, Yael Stone, Emma Watts, Meyne Wyatt, Benjamin Law, Michelle Law, and Rob Carlton. IMAGINE is a transformative journey that redefines the possibilities of animated storytelling. No film project has come out of Australia like this before.
“This film is a love letter to human kind,” says Jack Manning Bancroft. “It’s a plea to reach for our potential to design systems where nature is included, to find a vision for this nation that includes all nations, all living creatures, the 8 billion+ on this rock. It’s a chance for us to take this obstacle of where we are stuck, and with our collective cooperation to imagine what’s possible and make it real.”
Voice talent in the film includes Taika Waititi, Yolande Brown, Radical Son, Yael Stone, Taylor Schilling, Wayne Blair, Ian Thorpe, Kate Mulgrew and many more.
IMAGINE premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) in 2025, with a follow-up screening for the community at Parliament House in Sydney. The film has been recognised at several international events, including Official Selection at the Native Spirit Film Festival in Cambridge, the Garifuna International Indigenous Film Festival in California, and at the Digiart Fest in Uganda. It is also set to be screened at the World Economic Forum in Davis, Switzerland and has already had a screening in COP30 in Belem, Brazil.
IMAGINE will release in cinemas nationally for one day only on January 26. In Western Australia, IMAGINE will play at Cine Wonders at Perth Arts Festival on Friday January 30.