WINNER – Putuparri and the Rainmakers

Director: Nicole Ma

Producer: John Moore & Nicole Ma

Starring: Tom Lawford, Sylvestor Rangie

Tom ‘Putuparri’ Lawford is a man caught between two worlds – torn between his life in the modern world of Fitzroy Crossing and his destiny as a cultural leader of his people. Tom battles with all the temptations of western society at the same time as he reconnects with his ancestral lands, learns about his traditional culture and shoulders his responsibility to pass this knowledge onto the next generation. Director Nicole Ma spent more than a decade documenting Putuparri’s journey, travelling with him and his family on numerous occasions to Kurtal, in the Great Sandy Desert of Western Australia. Kurtal is a site of great spiritual significance to Putuparri’s family where they have ritually made rain for many thousands of years. The family have spent nearly two decades fighting for their native title claim over the area. Set against the backdrop of this long fight for ownership of traditional lands, Putuparri and the Rainmakers is an emotional, visually breathtaking story of love, hope and the survival of Aboriginal law and culture against all odds.

A presentation of the Melbourne International Film Festival Premiere Fund.