AustLit

'In 2000, maverick Australian director Rolf de Heer began a collaboration with Australian Aboriginal screen legend David Gulpilil to make a film set in Gulpilil's traditional lands in North Eastern Arnhem Land. The result of the collaboration is the new feature Ten Canoes (2006). For Gulpilil the project represented an opportunity to launch careers in film for members of his community, including his son Jamie Gulpilil (who plays the lead role). He has also stated that "the film will allow people from the community and around the world to know how our ancestors lived and to understand them". In order to try to achieve this, de Heer took on the challenging task he describes as "fusing two very different storytelling traditions". Drawing on the documentary Balanda and the Bark Canoes (2006) (also known as Making Ten Canoes) and other sources, this article goes behind the scenes to examine processes of cross-cultural collaboration and intercultural fusion. It argues the film shows that while stories have different forms and functions in different societies, one story can be made to serve two different cultural requirements and, further, in doing so can expand possibilities for both cross-cultural recognition and cinema.' Source: Studies in Australasian Cinema 1.1 (2007): 5.