Making Ten Canoes (ATOM Study Guide)

Making Ten Canoes (Molly Reynolds, Tania Nehme, Rolf de Heer, 2006) is a 52-minute film about the making of the ground-breaking feature film, Ten Canoes (Rolf de Heer, 2006).

The film Ten Canoes is a film about traditional Aboriginal culture in northeastern Arnhem Land, around Ramingining near the Arafura Swamp. The film is set in two time periods: the 'present', which is an unspecified time, but before the arrival of Europeans or other foreigners in Australia; and the Dreaming, a period referred back to by the storyteller in the film, who uses it to teach a young man about Law and proper behaviour. The film is ground-breaking in that it uses people from the community, who are non-actors, and who film in their own language. The narration is in English, with sub-titles for dialogue.

The documentary about making Ten Canoes takes us behind the scenes and illustrates the process of making the film.

Ideally, students studying Making Ten Canoes will also have seen Ten Canoes and will have access to the study guide for that film.