ABOUT
The year is 2057.
For six years the extraterrestrial invaders have occupied our world. The harvest of humankind has begun.
When they arrived, everything was lost. The people, the land the system ... gone. Those who survive, remain in hiding and live by one rule: avoid all contact.
Tjarra, a strong Aboriginal warrior, fears she is the last of her people, the traditional custodians of the southern nations. Reo, an Australian/Vietnamese cyber hacker, struggles with his paraplegic condition and ill health.
Together they survive in the outer regions within the confines of a hidden military bunker. Reo assists Tjarra by utilising an old military satellite technology from within the bunker, allowing him to keep eyes on her from the sky, carefully tracking her in reconnaissance missions above ground.
Hope it seems is hard to find in the midst of a storm.
Acknowledgement of country
We would like to acknowledge and pay respect to the traditional owners of the land the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains. We pay respect to Elders past and present. We respect their spiritual beliefs and connections to land which are of continuing importance to the living Kaurna people of today. We further acknowledge the contributions and important role that Aboriginal people continue to play within our community.
The filming, story and content of Aboriginal people in this fictional film would not have been possible without the support and permission of our Elders, Fred Agius, Katrina Karlapina Power and our community of volunteers and cultural advisor, Natasha Wanganeen.
These elders and peoples represent the survivors of this story and through their powerful performances encourage us to stay connected to culture.
Language & Protocol
Aboriginal Australia is comprised of more than 250 nations, with different languages, cultural traditions and practices. Tjarra, a Nunga warrior woman, must survive alien colonisation in her region. This futuristic concept set in the year 2057 draws historic parallels to that of British settlement in 1788 and the effects colonisation had on all Aboriginal people across Australia.
As a writing team we wanted our audience to relate to Tjarra on a human level surviving invasion while also telling her unique story as an Aboriginal character. The challenge in our writing phase began with the question:
How do we show inclusivity and diversity of Aboriginal Australians and Non-Aboriginal Australians while at the same time maintaining authentic language and respecting protocols of our first nations audience?
Language & Protocol
To address this challenge we designed the dream world, this is a space where the Spirit Elder explains to Tjarra that the fire represents culture and spirit and only when she uses the power of her spirit will she be able to defeat the oppression of the Aliens telepathic mind control.
Also to address language and protocol the Spirit Elder teaches Tjarra that he looks after the fire on his side, the way of his people and she looks after the fire on her side the way of her people, all mobs in Aboriginal Australia sit around this fire they are the keepers.
Our message is that to learn from our past is to survive our future.