Luku Ngarra: The Law of the Land (30-Day Rental)

PLEASE NOTE: If paying via purchase order, your 30-day rental period will begin when we approve your order. (Approvals are usually processed regularly during trading hours, but please allow up to two business days.) If paying up-front via credit card or PayPal, you will have access to stream the file in a matter of minutes, and your 30-day rental period will begin straight away.

You will receive an email (separate to your tax invoice) with a link to watch this video once your payment is received (or when we approve your purchase order).

Filmed over five years in North-east Arnhem Land and as a result of a sixteen-year friendship, Luku Ngärra: The Law of the Land is a confronting and intimate journey into the world of the Yolŋu First Nations of Australia.

At its centre is a remarkable man, Reverend Dr D Gondarra, who has been a tireless beacon for freedom and justice for Indigenous Australians for over forty-five years, as well as a highly respected clan leader, traditional lawman, spiritual leader and civil rights activist.

The film deeply challenges audiences' understanding of the Yolŋu world, the crisis' facing remote Indigenous communities today, and offers a better way forward that upholds the dignity, respect and sovereignty of the oldest living culture in the world.

It offers viewers a fascinating exploration of their customary law and how it has kept Yolŋu people in balance with the environment and with each other for tens of thousands of years. Following true to Dr Gondarra's well-known straight talk, he and many other Yolŋu present how their law has been completely at odds with the dominant mainstream paradigm which has in effect created chaos to both their lives and to the environment.

By opening big questions that require a humanitarian response, audiences will be compelled to question their own world and the views and structures that come with it.

The film is a timely vehicle of wisdom from one of Australia's most respected Indigenous Elders, that addresses the challenges of our times with soul and compassion.

Its director, Sinem Saban has been closely interwoven with the Yolŋu of North-east Arnhem Land for more than twenty years, having previously directed the award-winning and groundbreaking documentary on Indigenous rights, Our Generation (2010).

Running time: 95 mins

ATOM has also produced a study guide for Luku Ngärra: The Law of the Land. This study guide is available for download here.

More information about the project can be found here.