This screening is a fundraiser event organised by the Friends of Merri Creek in support of the NAIDOC week theme ‘Heal Country’. All proceeds will go to Wuurn of Kanak; a First Nations led land back initiative to regenerate land and waters through native plants and bush medicine gardens and will be preceded by a Welcome To Country.

Film synopsis:
Essie Coffey (1941-1998) was a Muruwari woman born near Goodooga, NSW. She was the co-founder of the Western Aboriginal Legal Service, an inaugural member of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, a musician, activist and the first Indigenous woman to direct a feature documentary.
In ‘My Survival as an Aboriginal’ (1978) Essie Coffey invites the audience into her community. While she brings to the fore the hardships endured by her people, she is continually focused on the power and richness of traditional knowledge and her cultural connection to land. Coffey not only raises issues of the impact of colonisation on Indigenous peoples, but also offers a solution by way of continuing cultural practice.

Goodgaban Productions
Production: Martha Ansara, Alec Morgan, Kimble Rendall, Rosalie Higson, Kit Guyatt, Ann Marie Chandler, Essie Coffey
Director: Essie Coffey
Film run Time 50 minutes

Rating

CTC

Duration

80 MINS