Documentarian Yaara Bou Melhem expands her approach to collaborative documentary storytelling with her latest feature Yurlu | Country. This essential film follows the final year of the life of Aboriginal elder Maitland Parker as he continues his decades long fight to heal his homeland after the scarification from the caustic asbestos mines in Wittenoom which left the area as the largest contaminated site in the Southern Hemisphere.
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Shot with a respectful admiration for the beauty of the land by Tom Bannigan whose camerawork is supported by the immersive and powerful score from Helena Czajka, Yurlu | Country arrives at a time where the history of mining in Western Australia and its relationship to Aboriginal folks from this land is under more scrutiny than ever before with the announcement of caustic mining operations intending to take place on the Burrup Peninsula, home of rock art that is up to 50,000 years old.
For many Western Australians, myself included, we carry an anger and frustration with our governments, with each consecutive one failing people like Maitland by not allowing them to be able to be on Country and connect to their land. Within the film, Yaara and Maitland show us the fight being undertaken to allow remediation to take place so the traditional custodians of the land can return home. Legal action is on the horizon, and to go alongside that, an impact campaign will be launched. To find out more about that campaign, the film, and more, visit YurluCountry.com where you can find out how to host screenings of the film, share it with audiences, and to buy tickets to the many Q&A sessions across Australia. You can also find a link to CleanUpWittenoom.com where you can donate towards the Banjima Native Title Aboriginal Corporation to help with their campaign to clean up Wittenoom.
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