CULTURE SMART THINKING

Simon Baker and newcomer Jacob Junior Nayinggul star in redemption tale, High Ground.

Simon Baker and Jacob Junior Nayinggul star in redemption tale, High Ground.

In a year when an untold number of cultural events have been cancelled or postponed due to COVID-19, the third Brisbane International Film Festival will be held from 1 to 11 October. The festival will showcase more than 70 films including documentaries, feature films and a short film competition.

Kicking off opening night is High Ground, a new drama from Australian director, Stephen Maxwell Johnson. Johnson, who grew up in Arnhem Land, says, “My inspiration for the film was the many stories I had heard over the years about powerful warriors and people who had fought for their culture back in the day.” Set in the first half of the 20th century, it stars Simon Baker as Travis, a former WW1 sniper and now Arnhem Land policeman who becomes disillusioned with his job and his role as oppressor of the local Indigenous communities. Jack Thompson, Aaron Pedersen and Caren Pistorius co-star, as well as a cast of Indigenous artists who have mostly never acted before but who do an extraordinary job.

Johnson, who directed Yolngu Boy in 2001, has spent 20 years getting High Ground, his second film, into production. Although the story of an Aboriginal massacre and its dramatic aftermath are fictional, Johnson says, “All accounts in the story were inspired by true events. There are a lot of things about the past that we have never owned.”

Before becoming a feature filmmaker, Johnson made multi-awardwinning video clips for the band Yothu Yindi. But this film features no music – just haunting birdsong and Aboriginal songspirals, accompanied by soaring outback vistas. “I wanted people to be drawn into the film and that period of time,” says Johnson.

• Brisbane International Film Festival. Queensland Art Gallery/ Gallery of Modern Art.

1-11 October 2020. biff.com.au