From award-winning First Nations production company GARUWA comes a powerful new documentary anthology, by Kieran Satour and Tyson Perkins.

Facing the Numbers is a genre pushing film anthology that explores First Nations disadvantage in Australia's legal system. Grounded in truth-telling, the series showcases the remarkable strength and resilience of First Nations people who are still here protecting Country, culture and community, despite what the numbers may say.

Australia is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, yet First Nations people remain vastly overrepresented across some of its most devastating statistics — incarceration, deaths in custody and the removal of children from their families.

Through five deeply personal testimonies, this powerful First Nations film anthology explores lived experiences of the Australian legal system, institutionalisation, deaths in custody, child removal and intergenerational trauma. Uncle Widdy Welsh, Kylie Hampton, Geoffrey Johnson, Mark Mason Snr and Matt Coe share stories of family, survival, grief and injustice — alongside remarkable strength, cultural connection, healing and resilience.

Grounded in truth-telling, cultural authority and self-determination, Facing the Numbers‍ ‍was built around consultation and storyteller control, with participants keeping authority over how their stories were told. The result is intimate, cinematic and deeply human: a work that challenges us to look beyond statistics and recognise the lives, families and communities contained within them.

Co-directed by Kieran Satour and Tyson Perkins, Facing the Numbers brings together two distinctive First Nations filmmaking voices. Perkins is an award-winning cinematographer whose credits include Firestarter: The Story of Bangarra, Mystery Road: Origin, Finding Jedda and Went Up the Hill.

“A conversation of healing and justice.” “Behind every statistic is a story”

Contains references to the Stolen Generations, incarceration and removal of children. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that this film contains images and voices of deceased persons.

Accompanying Short: Man Wearing A Helmet

Director: Keinan William McGillivray Pethybridge, Marcus Raymond | Year: 2025 | Rating: Unclassified 18+ | Runtime: 5 mins | Country: Australia | Genre: Documentary, Drama | Language: English

Haunting fragments of colonial violence testify to First Nations trauma and survival in this unflinching short.

As Aboriginal boys are stolen from their families and brought to a rural mission, astonishingly visceral and discomforting truths about our collective past emerge. Sublimely shot on richly textured black-and-white 16mm film with an atmospheric soundscape, this short’s expressionistic, powerfully direct storytelling will linger in memory far beyond its brief running time.

Accompanying Short: CORNWALLIS

Director: Tully Hemsley | Year: 2025 | Rating: Unclassified 15+ | Runtime: 16 mins | Country: Australia | Genre: Drama / Coming-of-Age | Language: English

From the back corners of the Northern Territory, Levi faces a defining crossroads between the life he knows and the future he hopes for. Features Darwin musician Yung Milla (Levi Nichaloff), who plays himself in a story based on his lived experience. Written by Hemsley & Nichaloff and featuring original music by Yung Milla.

Doors Open: 5:30 pm | Screening Starts: 6:00 pm