Film directors often have a high level of control over their films, in translating the vision that they have onto the screen. But when the stories you're putting onscreen are from a culture that's not your own, a new approach is required.

In this final episode of Future Self for 2021, filmmaker and ANU student Emma Hudson speaks to director and producer Rolf de Heer, whose storied career in film spans over three decades. Both are graduates of the Australian Film Television and Radio School, and both are steeped in cross-cultural storytelling. In this conversation, they discuss the care and collaboration that's necessary in helping to tell indigenous stories as non-Indigenous storytellers, and Rolf shares experiences and lessons from the making of some of his best known films.

Emma Hudson is a filmmaker who is currently studying a Master of Anthropology at the Australian National University. She previously graduated from the Australian Film Television and Radio School. Her recent films have told stories of people’s involvement in extinction and ecology, as well as indigenous knowledge and embodiment of an ancestral world.

Rolf de Heer is a Dutch-Australian filmmaker whose films have been awarded at Cannes and by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts. His films are largely focused on Indigenous Australian culture and stories, and they include The Tracker (2002), Ten Canoes (2006), and Charlie's Country (2015). His production company is Vertigo Productions. Its latest release is My Name is Gulpilil (2021).

…

Music: "Found You" by Atch
SoundCloud: bit.ly/AtchSoundCloud
Spotify: bit.ly/AtchSpotify
Instagram: www.instagram.com/atchmusic

Future Self is a production of the ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences. It’s produced by Evana Ho.

You can find us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @ANUCASS.