WALINGERA BULLA- BULLA

WALINGERA BULLA-BULLA Trailer

Walingera Bulla Bulla was commissioned by Djon Mundine for an exhibition titled Four Women (I do belong) Double. Curated by Mundine and inspired by Nina Simone’s song Four Women, Mundine asked the artists to respond to key elements of the exhibition that spoke to ‘the perception of Blak women and their inherent pain and strength. Black Women — all women — are of differing personalities, ages, experiences and roles, and remain resilient, creative, and vocal.’

“We responded to the exhibitions themes by drawing on our own matriarchs, whose resilience, knowings, technologies, grace, and wisdoms continue to guide us. We chose four Aboriginal woman characters through which to tell the story of Walingera (old woman in Jandai language). Using a storytelling arc from past to present in an episodic structure, the story of Walingera speaks to challenges experienced by Aboriginal women, and the resilience needed to survive. The film capitulates with a return to Country, to language, and kinship. We are here, and we Belong.”

— Dr Lou Bennett AM and Dr Romaine Moreton

Exhibitions:
Four Women (I do belong) Double, 2017

Red rocky hills and sparse green vegetation in a dry, arid landscape with a winding dirt road.
Open-pit mining operation with terraced levels and large trucks moving on dirt roads inside the mine.
Close-up of cracked dry earth or soil in a desert or arid region.
Close-up of green grass blades with dewdrops, illuminated by sunlight, creating a soft bokeh background.
Close-up of green grass or plants with dew drops on the blades, illuminated by sunlight creating bokeh and reflections.
Close-up of calm blue water with sunlight reflecting off the surface, creating bright bokeh effect in the background.

JAARA NYILAMUM

“The making of Jaara Nyilamum (2021) evoked a stillness that restored us to full sensual immersion within Country, and from this place of rooted calmness, Country reaffirmed our Law is real. Jaara Nyilamum became most profound when we realised this was more than a film about ceremony, but was in fact, ceremony itself. Our challenge was to create a production model that aligned with our beliefs and centralised our Law, pushed back against monochronic time and engaged with the deep cycles of place, where we embraced Belonging as a process of constant renewal and Rematration.”
— Dr Lou Bennett AM and Dr Romaine Moreton

Filmed and edited by Dr Romaine Moreton
Co-directed by Dr Romaine Moreton and Dr Lou Bennett AM
Song performed by Dr Lou Bennett AM and the Australian String Quartet
Composed by Dr Lou Bennett AM
Arranged by Iain Grandage
Produced by Stephen Snelleman
Engineered by Russell Thomson

On display in ACMI’s Collection

A dense forest with tall trees, some with twisting trunks, and a ground covered with dry grass and low shrubs, captured during daylight.
A foggy forest with tall, bare trees and fallen branches, creating a mysterious atmosphere.
A person with gray hair, sitting on a tree branch, looking out over a landscape with trees and hills, under a cloudy sky.
Close-up of green fern leaves with detailed fronds and tiny water droplets.
A foggy forest scene with large moss-covered rocks in the foreground, tree trunks, and green foliage with mist in the background.
Close-up of green fern leaves with water droplets on them.
A riverbank with fallen tree branches and green foliage overhanging water.
Close-up of a green caterpillar with ridges and tiny legs on a green leafy plant.

RAGTAG

Ragtag documents a powerful act of artistic intervention at Echo Point, Katoomba, a major tourist site in the Blue Mountains, NSW. The film captures filmmaker Romaine Moreton and fellow artists/activists responding to the presence of life-sized, nude Aboriginal sculptural figures — created by a non-Aboriginal artist — which were intended to depict a ‘dreaming’ story but instead catered to the tourist market, reducing Indigenous identity to spectacle.

Through observational footage, Ragtag reveals unsettling tourist interactions with the sculptures, including gestures as confronting as miming a gun to a woman’s head. In response, Moreton and her collaborators take action by clothing the figures, sparking conversations with tourists and locals about the complexities of Indigenous representation in public art.

Blurring the lines between performance, activism, and documentary, Ragtag challenges the commodification of Aboriginal culture, particularly the objectification of Indigenous women in public spaces. Since the intervention, the sculpture has been removed from public display.

Exhibitions:
TarraWarra Biennial: Whisper in My Mask, TarraWarra Museum of Art, 2014
Northern Centre for Contemporary Art, 2015

View from inside a car looking down a street with trees, utility poles, and a parked silver car on the right side.
Bronze statues of Aboriginal women on large rocks, set against a brick wall and surrounded by trees.
Bronze sculptures of Aboriginal women, displayed outside a building with a sign that reads 'SCENIC WORLD BLUE MOUNTAINS, AUSTRALIA'.
A man with sunglasses and a blue shirt inappropriately touches a sculpture of an Aboriginal woman, with a photographer taking his picture in front of a glass building, and other people in the background.
Children and adults gather around a bronze sculpture of an Aboriginal woman in front of a building with glass doors.
Man inappropriately grabs the head of a bronze sculpture of an Aboriginal woman.
Public park scene with bronze statues of two Aboriginal women covered by yellow scarves and people sitting on benches and walking in the background.
Three people standing outdoors in front of a building labeled 'Scenic World Blue Mountains Australia', posing with four bronze statues of Aboriginal women covered by yellow scarves.
Tourists rudely observe a bronze statue of an Aboriginal woman covered by a yellow scarf, located in an outdoor park with trees and benches in the background.
Group of people pose straight-faced in front of a bronze sculpture of an Aboriginal woman covered by a yellow scarf.

THE OYSTERMAN

Charlie a young Indigenous oyster farmer is frustrated with life in a small town community working with his father on their family’s oyster farm and the peer pressure from his reckless cousins. When the circus comes to town he is captured by the aerial performance of Rose. His grandfather Leo witnesses the blossoming young love and offers Charlie some advice as he tries to choose between staying on to inherit the family business or following his heart.

Writer/Director: Romaine Moreton
Producer: John Harvey
Cast: Tony Briggs, Ray Kelly, Michael Smith, Gemma Summerhayes
Cinematographer: Warwick Thornton
Editor: Roland Gallois
Production Designer: Alison Ross
Costume Designer: Natalie Dives
Sound: Andrew Belletty

Screenings: Melbourne International Film Festival (2013); Flickerfest (2014)
Interview: With Romaine Moreton on Awaye!, ABC Radio, 12 October 2013

A man with gray hair and beard sitting in the driver's seat of a white truck, with a woman with braided hair in the passenger seat, and a wooden crate attached to the truck.
A small brick church with a stepped steeple, located along a sidewalk with power lines and people walking by on a partly cloudy day.
Inside a small convenience store or café with a counter, snack items, and a chalkboard menu above, with a woman behind the counter.
A person standing in a park with large trees and a picnic table in the background.
View of an old wooden boat docked on water with various tools and objects on its surface, including a white scoop, blue container, and some wood planks and debris.
Group of people inside a rustic, unfinished room with a high ceiling covered with blue insulation. A wooden table and a small kitchen area with a sink and various items. One person with a cowboy hat, three others, and a small dog on the floor.
Night scene at a family carnival with carnival rides, string lights, colorful flags, and tents, surrounded by trees.
Vintage pickup truck decorated for a circus parade, with a sign reading 'Original Family Circus' and red, blue, and black flags.
An old Dodge truck decorated with red, white, and blue flags and bunting parked by the roadside surrounded by greenery.
Group of people assembling or working on a small boat at a dock by the water on a cloudy day.
Film crew setting up camera equipment inside a barn-like structure with natural light coming through the open doors.
Overgrown mangrove trees with twisted trunks and roots in a waterway adjacent to a wooden boardwalk
A shaded wooden porch overlooking a body of water with trees, decorated with potted plants, chairs, and hanging flower baskets.
Painted mural on a corrugated metal wall depicting a bird, a kangaroo, and two trees in a natural landscape scene.
Outdoor wooden deck at dusk with string lights, potted plants, patio furniture, gas grill, and hanging baskets.
Nighttime scene of people gathered on an outdoor deck with string lights, overlooking a body of water, with reflections of lights and structures on the water's surface.
An outdoor wooden patio at night with string lights, a grill, potted plants, and two women, one seated and the other reading a menu.
Four people on a wooden deck at night, three standing and one sitting, with hanging light bulbs overhead and a dark tree-lined background. There is a grill, potted plants, and outdoor furniture.
A cozy, vintage-style living room with a wooden dining table, four chairs, a cabinet, decorative hats, floral wall plates, a window with pink floral curtains, and various decorative items.
A cozy bedroom with a bed covered in a light blue sheet, a stuffed animal, and a quilt. There are wooden cabinets, decorative plates, and a small desk with bags on it. A round dining table with a lace tablecloth, candles, and wooden chairs is visible

THE FARM

A young girl named Olivia longs to know the people who came before her, prompting landscape imbued with mystery and treasure, urging her mother Lauren to confront her own beliefs when faced with living histories woven throughout the countryside.

The Farm is based on writer/director Romaine Moreton's childhood experience bean-picking with her family on a property near Bodalla, NSW, in the 1970s. For the interior shots they used her aunty Beryl's hut which is one of the last huts still standing. The film illuminates the circumstances of itinerant Indigenous workers who travelled from South Australia to New South Wales and Queensland as bean pickers.

Writer/Director: Romaine Moreton
Producer: John Harvey
Cast: Madeleine Madden, Lisa Flanagan, Reegan Carr
Cinematographer: Warwick Thornton

Screenings: Flickerfest (2009); Message Sticks Indigenous Film Festival (2009); ABC TV, New Blak series (2009)
Article: By Romaine Moreton on The Farm (2009) and Indigenous Remembrance (Screening the Past Issue 31, 2011)

Three people working in a green field, planting or tending to plants, with trees in the background.
People working in a green farm field, planting or tending to crops in rows with buckets and tools, under a clear sky with trees in the background.
Group of people working in a vegetable garden, harvesting beans and other crops.
A young boy with short brown hair and freckles, wearing a beige shirt, is working outdoors among green plants, with a metal bucket in front of him.
A woman and a girl are standing in a garden or farm with green plants, smiling and looking down. They are dressed casually and appear to be working or enjoying time together outdoors.
A woman and a boy working in a green bean field, wearing work clothes, with plants and soil around them.
Young girl working in a vegetable farm with other women in the background.
Three women working in a lush green farm, one smiling woman in the background and two women in the foreground focusing on plants.
People working in a large farm, planting or tending to rows of green crops under sunny weather.
Young girl walking through a farm field with other people working in the background, surrounded by green plants and trees under a partly cloudy sky.
Two women working in a green vegetable garden, one holding a basket, having a conversation.
Four women working in a vegetable garden on a sunny day, tending to lush green plants, with a yellow bucket in the foreground
Two women working in a green bean field during daytime with label markers in the background.
Two women working in a farm field with green plants, one is kneeling on the ground and the other is sitting on the dirt, holding a yellow bucket.
A man wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a blue shirt stands outdoors in a green field, carrying a burlap sack over his shoulder.