Walkabout Drive-In
Saturday May 8th 2021
Mallacoota Foreshore Camp Park
The Walkabout Drive-In was an outdoor cinema event, premiering a series of short documentary films made by Wurinbeena Ltd in partnership with Fringe Dweller Films. In the films Aboriginal Elders from Lake Tyers, Lakes Entrance and surrounding communities shared firsthand accounts of displacement, racism, resilience and survival post colonisation.
The Walkabout Drive In brought together the storytellers, Aboriginal Elders and their families and the broader Mallacoota community. Staged as an open-air event the participants watched the films and participated in a Cultural Healing Ceremony on Bidawal Country lead by the Djaadjawan Dancers. In the recent 2020/21 bush fires many people in Mallacoota were left homeless and devastated by the apocalyptic destruction of the surrounding forests. For all those who came together at the Walkabout Drive In homelessness and loss of country provided a shared experience of deep trauma. Viewing the films on country provided deeper cross-cultural understanding, empathy, respect and healing.