In My Father's Country

The village elder reacts somewhat giggly to the Australian government's new policy. "No work, no pay", is the motto from now on. "Whitefella law changes every year, changing stupidly." The subtly ironic amazement in his voice is not surprising: his law and culture have remained unaltered for centuries. Indeed, many claim it is the oldest living culture on the planet. "It's never changed, We can't change it." He says it very decisively, but Tom Murray's In My Father's Country demonstrates that some changes are inevitable. After Dhakiyarr vs. the King, this is Murray's second film with and about the Dhuruputjpi and Gangan communities in Arnhem Land, one of the most isolated regions in northern Australia. The key theme is the transition rite of seven-year-old Ananais and two of his peers, who will become men through circumcision. Murray follows the preparations for the ritual: the life lessons Ananais receives from his father and grandfather, his playing in the swamps that surround the village, the preparation of the special sand flat. But he also shows how modernity almost imperceptibly penetrates their lives, from the Bart Simpson T-shirt Ananais wears to the Australian football matches he watches on television and the computer course they are forced to attend during the two-day ritual. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)