Wolfram

Prominent First Nations filmmaker Warwick Thornton’s follow up to his acclaimed Sweet Country, Wolfram follows a pair of Aboriginal siblings as they negotiate the punishing and violence-soaked terrain of 1930s Australia.

After a chance encounter with Philomac (Sweet Country's unforgettable young fugitive), the newly formed trio head deep into the forbidding Australian desert to escape menacing outlaws on their trail, while searching for the kids’ mother (Deborah Mailman).

The shadow of the ‘western’ looms large over Thornton’s tough and uncompromising film, in the dusty towns, the desolate plains and the sun-kissed faces of the downtrodden, but many of the familiar tropes we associate with the genre have been smartly reconceptualised for the Australian context, thanks in no small part to Thornton’s brilliant cinematography.

Rich in stunning detail, Thornton and writers David Tranter and Steven McGregor, drawing from real stories in Tranter’s family history, have conjured up a monstrous vision of Australian race relations from its not-so-distant past. Wolfram may carry more than a few sharp insights about the state of the nation today as it grapples with its bloody colonial history. – Cho Jinseok

“Few will be unmoved by seeing people so dehumanized by colonial rule show their resilience.” – David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter

Explore the full programme at nziff.co.nz.