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Smoke Between Trees – Lithgow film screening during Reconciliation Week
1 June 2022 @ 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Smoke Between Trees is a learning journey about Aboriginal culture, passive racism and the role we all play in creating a better, more tolerant society.
Leura independent filmmaker, Michael Joy has created this film which is an intimate portrait of a reluctant grandfather on a heart-warming journey of transformation, one that will lead him back to a home unlike any he ever imagined.
Featuring a magnificent showcase of Blue Mountains landscapes, the film will be screened at Maldhan Ngurr Ngurra, Lithgow Transformation Hub as a joint initiative between Western Sydney University and Lithgow City Council. The screening will be free for community members to attend but as numbers are limited, reserving a ticket is essential to gain entry.
Smoke Between Trees stars Tiriel Mora (The Castle) and Gamillaroi woman from North West NSW Elly Chatfield, young newcomer Robert-Joseph Slockee and respected talent Joanne Samuel (Mad Max), Damion Hunter, Georgia Adamson and Shane Porteous.
Joy is known for his 2008 film Men’s Group (2008) about six men who convene weekly in a self-help style group and are confronted by tragedy.
He also created the TV pilot Cul de Sac (also starring Chatfield and Mora) about corruption in a small town.
Joy consulted numerous First Nation elders from around Australia before creating Smoke Between Trees.
One Blue Mountains Gundungurra Aunty gifted Joy information about Aboriginal burial rituals and permission to use it in the film.
“She didn’t need to give me that. That was a really wonderful, significant thing, a privilege.’’
Aboriginal songs in the film were shared by local Darug people, while others were written in language especially for Smoke Between Trees.
The screenplay was co-written with Joy’s partner Mieke van Opstal, and the score by composer Noel Burgess.
Smoke Between Trees will screen at Maldhan Ngurr Ngurra, Lithgow Transformation Hub on Wednesday 1 June from 5.30pm. Light refreshments will be served and the film will be followed by a Q&A session with Tiriel Mora, Elly Chatfield and Michael Joy.
Details and bookings: https://events.humanitix.com/smoke-between-the-trees-free-film-screening-and-q-and-a
