Ruby Hunter and Archie Roach, press photo
PHOTO BY
SANDY SCHELTEMA

Wash My Soul In The River’s Flow

In 2004, Hunter and Roach, at the peak of their artistic power, created with Paul Grabowsky and the Australian Art Orchestra, Kura Tungar: Songs from the River— a legendary concert in which they told their life stories.  Staged when the Australian government had not yet apologised to the Stolen Generations, filmmaker Philippa Bateman filmed rehearsals, conversations and the concert, regarded as a powerful act of reconciliation through the artistic collaboration between First Nations artists and non-Indigenous artists.

Now, 18 years later, Hunter and Roach’s profoundly moving experiences—about being stolen as children, finding each other as teenagers while searching for the families they were stolen from and falling in love, recovering from alcoholism and returning to their majestic lands—comes to the screen in a cinematic celebration of love, survival and triumph.
YEAR:
2022
RECOGNITION:
Winner - Best Feature Documentary, AIDC Awards 2023; Official Selection: MIFF, SFF, BIFF, Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Best Direction In A Debut Feature Film (ADG)
CREDITS:
Enigma Machine Production in association with Screen Australia, Shark Island Institute & Screen NSW, Dir: Philippa Bateman, Producers: Archie Roach, Kate Hodges, Philippa Bateman, ExecUTIVE Producers: Ian Darling, Emma DonovaN
STREAMING ON (AUSTRALIA ONLY):

“On the many occasions this film soars, it’s sublime”

LUKE BUCKMASTER
THE GUARDIAN'S TOP TEN AUSTRALIAN FILMS OF 2022

“This film is, in every way, a memorable experience”

DAVID STRATTON
THE AUSTRALIAN, 4 STARS

“Ethereal… Glorious and intimate”

JANE FREEBURY
CANBERRA TIMES, 4 STARS