Lunchtime film screenings

Join free lunchtime screenings as part of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia's NAIDOC Week programming. Celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with a series of free lunchtime screenings during NAIDOC Week 2023. This event has limited capacity, please arrive early to avoid disappointment. WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that the following program may contain images and voices of deceased persons. Monday 3 July, 12–1.35pm | Wash My Soul in the River’s Flow Wash My Soul in the River’s Flow is a feature documentary about the lives and love story of Ruby Hunter and Archi Roach, as told, in their own songs and spoken word stories in the 2004 concert Kura Tungar – Songs from the River. The country and river Hunter and Roach sing about is the Murray River, and Ngarrindjeri lands in South Australia – Hunter's birthplace and early childhood home, before she was stolen. Wednesday 5 July, 12–1pm | The sea, the feather, and the dance machine: Arrival song & Leaving song Ken Thaiday Snr takes us on a remarkable and personal journey to Erub in the Torres Strait. Home to one of Queensland’s most remote communities, Erub (Darnley Island) is on the edge of Australian territory in the eastern group of Torres Strait islands. KEN’s extraordinary dance machines reflect the importance of the sea and its various symbols and totems. KEN has chosen the Hammerhead Shark as his totem and his most famous works incorporate this shark as a symbol of law and order. Thursday 6 July, 12–1pm | Lousy Little Sixpence In Australia in 1909, in the state of New South Wales, the Aborigines Protection Board planned to break up Aboriginal communities by forcibly removing their children and hiring them out as servants to white employers. The title of this powerful documentary comes from the wages that were to be paid to the children. Many never saw that "lousy little sixpence". In the mid-1930s, Aboriginal people began to organise, and to fight the Aborigines Protection Board. Friday 7 July, 12–1.40pm | My Name is Gulpilil The great Aboriginal actor (and dancer, and singer, and painter) David Dalaithngu has brought his intensity, dignity and authenticity to Australian cinema for half a century. Battling lung cancer and looked after by a full-time carer, Mary, in this documentary he makes his final film testament: “My story of my story”, as he puts it. Saturday 8 July, 1–2.20pm | Ablaze The true story of the first Aboriginal filmmaker William Bill Onus. Ablaze tells the story of Bill Onus, a Yorta Yorta and Wiradjuri man from Victoria, a truly heroic cultural and political figure who revived his peopleʼs culture in the 1940s and ignited a civil rights movement that would, against enormous odds, change the course of history. Access support The MCA welcomes all visitors and is committed to making its programs and services accessible to everyone. Contact the MCA reception for free Access support on +61 2 9245 2400 or email mail@mca.com.au.