Warlpiri teacher Wanta Jampijinpa Pawu-Kurlpurlurnu and composer Marc “Monkey” Peckham join Wanta’s father Jerry Jangala Patrick OAM in an immersive fusion of film, music, and ceremonial song.

Step into a world of vast desert landscapes and ceremonial knowledge in this groundbreaking First Nations film.

Through striking visuals, ceremonial song, and an immersive soundtrack, audiences are invited into a live cinema experience where ancestral voices and contemporary music converge.

The voice of Wanta Jampijinpa Pawu-Kurlpurlurnu — renowned Warlpiri teacher from the desert community of Lajamanu in the north Tanami — leads the work while his father, First Contact elder Jerry Jangala Patrick OAM - one of the most significant Warlpiri songmen alive today - anchors it in Jukurrpa (Dreaming) songs from traditional ceremony.

The soundtrack emerges from Wanta’s real-life conversations with long-time collaborator, producer Monkey Marc. Their 15-year friendship underpins the film, weaving spoken word with the newly released Crown and Country album — hailed across Australia as “transcendental, reflective and deeply enveloping.” The result is an immersive encounter where story and sound converge, blurring the lines between cinema and sonic ritual.

Filmed on Country by James Gillot, the work unfolds at a pivotal time for desert communities: as the last elders who experienced first contact with colonial Australia reflect on their past, younger generations seek meaning in a shared, contested land.

At its heart, this is a film about legacy. For Wanta, it is an invitation to imagine what Australia could become if we truly listened — not to offer answers, but to open a space for possibility. For Jerry, still active in ranger programs and community life, it offers rare insight into Warlpiri philosophy: a way of knowing grounded in Country, care and connection.

Stay after the screening for a Q&A with co-directors Wanta Jampijinpa, Monkey Marc and cast Keshawn Jampijinpa Patrick.

Doors Open: 4:30 pm | Screening Starts: 5:00 pm