We Are Water People

2016 June - Coorong, Lakes and Murray River, SA

Advice: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that this website and videos links contains images and voices of people who have died.

Change Media and Ngarrindjeri collaborated on a short web-documentary, as an engaging promotional tool for Ngarrindjeri and DEWNR, to showcase the significance of Ngarrindjeri science and cultural understanding of the Murray Mouth, the Murray River, the Lower Lakes and the Coorong.

The documentary features significant Ngarrindjeri cultural and caring for country practices and locations along the Murray River, the Lower Lakes, Coorong and the Murray Mouth, to highlight the spiritual connection between Ngarrindjeri and their lands and waters.
The documentary follows the narration script and storyboard developed by NRA, Change Media and DEWNR in late 2015, with a voice-over performed by Ngarrindjeri elder Ellen Trevorrow.

Credits

Producer: Carl Kuddell

Director: Jennifer Lyons-Reid

Writers: Ngarrindjeri managers Luke Trevorrow, Clyde Rigney Jnr and Laurie Rankine Jnr, in consultation with the NRA Board, DENWR and in collaboration with Change Media

Production management: Luke Trevorrow, Laurie Rankine Jnr, Owen Love Jnr, Carl Kuddell

Director of Photography: Johanis Lyons-Reid

Camera: Johanis Lyons-Reid, Owen Love

Editors: Johanis Lyons-Reid, Jennifer Lyons-Reid

Narrator: Ngarrindjeri Elder Ellen Trevorrow

Sound recording: Carl Kuddell

Participants and contributors include:

Auntie Ellen Trevorrow

Uncle Bud

Uncle Major Sumner

Prof. Daryle Rigney

Prof. Steve Hemming

Margaret Sexton

Ngarrindjeri community members

Ngarrindjeri heritage rangers

Tal Kin Jeri dancers

Ngarrindjeri Media Team

Laurie, Owen, Johnny and Daryl. Arnold, Lalo

Funded through the South Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water and Natural Resources and the Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority

©2016 Ngarrindjeri and Change Media

Partners

Department of the Environment, Water and Natural Resources

Ngarrindjeri Land and Progress Association

Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority

Urimbirra Wildlife Park Victor Harbor

Meningie Foreshore Restoration

Ngarrindjeri Media 2014 May - Meningie SA

Advice: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that this website and video links may contain images and voices of people who have died.

Between April and May 2014, Change Media worked with the Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority and its media team and the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources, to produce a co-creative documentary about the Meningie Foreshore Restoration project.

The video was developed with the key stakeholders and shot during a one day production and training day at Meningie on April 16, 2014.

The edit included a one-day workshop with the Ngarrindjeri media team to finish the 5 minute promotional video.

The video showcases the amazing work done at Meningie, including the planting of over 23,000 local native plants, the naturalization of the concrete drain into a wetland corridor, the interpretive trail with signage, seating and bird watching platform.

It features all stakeholders, the Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority rangers and heritage team, members of the CLLMM Restoration Project, the Coorong District Council, the Meningie community and school, the Friends of Meningie group, and Ngarrindjeri elder Ellen Trevorrow.

The project was funded through The Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth Recovery Project is funded by the South Australian Government’s Murray Futures Program, and the Australian Government

Flow - Life Giving Lands and Waters

Flow - Life Giving Lands and Waters

Ngarrindjeri Media - 2013 February - Meningie SA

Advice: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that this website and video links may contain images and voices of people who have died.

The Change Media team partnered with the Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority in association with the SA Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources to produce a collaborative community-driven documentary about the Ngarrindjeri lands and waters and The Living Murray Initiative’s ICON sites during a four day capacity building workshop in Dec 2012 and edit process in Jan-Feb 2013 with the Ngarrindjeri Media Team.

Our crew worked with 12 scientists selected by DEWNR and the Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority, to address a series of issues about managing the River Murray, the Lower Lakes and the Coorong. Over 4 days we investigate the different western scientific and economic approaches, in comparison with Ngarrindjeri knowledge and cultural practice shared by their elders, and find out how both sides can work together for a better understanding of the fragile environment of the Ngarrindjeri lands and waters.

The film has already triggered some interesting responses, a researcher from Flinders University said the film sets a new benchmark for collaborations between Indigenous communities and government departments, especially on the contentious issue of water and land management and related cultural rights.
We also have been asked to co-present Flow at the World Indigenous Network conference in Darwin in May 2013.
The Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority will use the documentary also as part of their Native Title claim, as it provides supporting evidence of their ongoing cultural connection to their land and waters. If our work can make a contribution on this level, then may be not all is lost…

Partners

Arts SA

Australia Council for the Arts

Indigenous Cultural Support, Office for the Arts, Department of Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sport

Murray Darling Basin Authority

Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority

South Australian Government Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources

Working on Country Rangers Forum

Ngarrindjeri Media - 2012 May - Calperum SA

The Change Media team spent five days at the end of April at the inaugural southern Working on Country Forum at Calperum Station just outside of Renmark, SA. The Forum was a national meeting of minds for Indigenous rangers to improve their skills and to make (or maintain) national relationships. Over 120 rangers from SA, NSW, TAS and VIC, gathered to learn about the unique challenges faced by their counterparts, with significance to traditional culture and maintaining our lands and waters.

Change Media was there to document every step of the way, from canoeing, quad bike safety, water quality monitoring, to basket weaving and digital media workshops, and you couldn’t turn a corner at Calperum Station, without seeing the roving media teams gathering pixels.
During the 5-day production the Ngarrindjeri media team trainees learned how to document a major event and take supporting roles in two hands-on training workshops.
They learned advanced skills in film narrative, interview, camera and event coverage techniques.

Change Media founders Jennifer Lyons-Reid and Carl Kuddell ran two 3-hour workshops during the five-day event, to demonstrate hands-on how the rangers and their organizations can use digital media and set-up small media initiatives in their communities. It became clear to the participants they can share important stories and knowledge for future generations, with some excited rangers even rallying for funding to start their own productions!

Meanwhile, the Change Media trainers and Ngarrindjeri media trainees managed the pressure of covering an event, (dozens of parallel activities you can only shoot once, noisy generators, and sand in your camera’s focus wheel, to name a few!). To increase the challenge, the team also agreed to shoot and collate footage for the Department of Sustainability media team, (including interviews, overlay and photos) to be delivered midway through the forum.

Partners

Australia Council for the Arts Creative Community Partnership Initiative

Australian Landscape Trust

Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities

Indigenous Coordination Centre SA

Indigenous Cultural Support, Office for the Arts, Department of Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sport

Ngarrindjeri Land and Progress Association

Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority

Ngarrindjeri Ruwe Contracting

Ngopamuldi Aboriginal Corporation

Working on Country Forum edit workshop

Ngarrindjeri Media 2012 May - Camp Coorong SA

Advice: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that this website and videos links contains images and voices of people who have died.

The Change Media Team ran a 4-day workshop with 6 Ngarrindjeri Working on Country and Heritage Rangers to edit the documentation of the inaugural Indigenous rangers Working on Country Forum, held in April 16-20 2012.
During the 4-day post-production workshop, the Ngarrindjeri rangers trained in how to media manage footage, create a relevant and engaging story line from multiple events and edit them into a 10-minute video. The workshop also covered basics in post production workflow.

The team also created s new peer-produced training video, that will form part of our Indigenous Media Training online resource and will be uploaded by end of May 2012 on our online training tool kit.

The edit workshop enabled the Ngarrindjeri team to use latest technology in digital video production, working with SD card HD cameras and record instant training videos about their newly learned skills.

As a result of the successful edit – the Department of Sustainability was thrilled with the documentary and wants to show it to the Minister!!! – the team is now discussing to take part in Uncle Moogy’s trip to Sydney end of May, to launch the Yuki [the bark canoe] on the Darling Harbour as part of an Indigenous water craft forum held at the Australian Maritime Museum May 30-June 1.
We are also negotiating with the Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority to invest into professional equipment for the three teams in Murray Bridge, Meningie and Raukkan, to fast track the Ngarrindjeri trainees and enable them to access high-end gear on a weekly basis.

Partners

Australia Council for the Arts Creative Community Partnership Initiative

Indigenous Coordination Centre SA

Indigenous Cultural Support, Office for the Arts, Department of Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sport

Ngarrindjeri Land and Progress Association

Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority

Ngarrindjeri Ruwe Contracting

Ngopamuldi Aboriginal Corporation

Ngopamuldi Working on Country

Ngarrindjeri Media - 2012 February - Raukkan SA

Advice: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that this website and videos links contains images and voices of people who have died.

The Change Media Team conducted a 4-day workshop with 10 Ngarrindjeri Working on Country and Heritage Rangers at Camp Coorong and in Raukkan at the Ngopamuldi Aboriginal Corporation Raukkan Depot.
During the production in Raukkan and Camp Coorong near Meningie participants learned intermediate to advanced skills in film narrative, interview, camera and editing techniques.

The project covered storytelling and camera techniques, shooting on traditional heritage locations, interview and event coverage techniques and editing. The resulting short film is a follow up on last years’ Ngarrindjeri Ruwe – Working On Country, and is available online and will be used by NRC staff to present at the inaugural Indigenous rangers conference in Renmark, April 2012, and for training, recruiting and PR. This project built on the success of the workshops in the last two years.

We have retained several young members from our first groups at Camp Coorong, Meningie, and Moogy’s Yuki in Millicent/Murray Bridge, while gaining new participants from Raukkan, Tailem Bend and Murray Bridge. All of the team have recorded their own training videos and had hands-on task during the production, including production skills ranging from organizing the shoots, securing interviews with elders and representatives, storytelling, creating digital storyboards, presenting on screen, camera and sound work, uploading and file management, to editing and music production.

Partners

Australia Council for the Arts Creative Community Partnership Initiative

Indigenous Coordination Centre SA

Indigenous Cultural Support, Office for the Arts, Department of Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sport

Ngarrindjeri Heritage Committee

Ngarrindjeri Land and Progress Association

Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority

Ngarrindjeri Ruwe Contracting

Ngopamuldi Aboriginal Corporation

Ngarrindjeri - Working on Country

Ngarrindjeri Media 2011 June - Murray Bridge - Raukkan - Coorong SA

Advice: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that this website and videos links contains images and voices of people who have died.

The Change Media Team conducted 4x 1-day workshops with Ngarrindjeri Caring For Country and Heritage Rangers at the Ngarrindjeri Ruwe Contracting Depot.
During the production in Murray Bridge, Raukkan and Meningie members of the Ngarrindjeri Ruwe and the Raukkan Caring for Country organizations learned skills in film narrative, interview and editing techniques.

Find the training videos the Ngarrindjeri team produced here.

The project covered storytelling and camera techniques, shooting on traditional heritage locations, interview and event coverage techniques and editing. The resulting 10min film, Ngarrindjeri Ruwe – Working On Country, is available online and will be used by NRC staff for training, recruiting and PR. This project built on the success of the workshops in the last two years.

The NRC and its Heritage Rangers employed on a long-term contract have agreed to setting up a micro business and utilizing digital media as part of their everyday work. Already their rangers and Caring For Country workers are using GPS-enabled ‘Cyber-Trackers’ to map and track sites, re-vegetation efforts and link it with traditional knowledge. Recording knowledge by interviewing their elders will form part of the essential training over the next year.

Partners

Arts SA Partnerships for Healthy Communities

Australia Council for the Arts

Indigenous Cultural Support, Office for the Arts, Department of Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sport

Ngarrindjeri Heritage Committee

Ngarrindjeri Land and Progress Association

Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority

Ngarrindjeri Ruwe Contracting

Ngopamuldi Aboriginal Corporation

Christie Walk - a piece of ecocity

2010 November - Adelaide SA

Change Media worked with members of the Christie Walk eco-housing project and Urban Ecology Australia to document and produce an exceptional  resource about Christie Walk as an example of sustainable urban development.
Over 4 days Change Media delivered training in digital media and created two inspiring documentaries about one of the only inner-city eco-housing projects in the world.

During the production in Adelaide’s CBD members of the Christie Walk community, alongside experts from Urban Ecology Australia involved in creating Christie Walk, shared their insights into sustainability, biodiversity and community living, and learned skills in film narrative, conducted interviews and took part in the editing. The result is an inspiring educational resource about one of Australia’s leading eco-housing initiatives.

The project was an overwhelming success. The team collected over 15 hours of fantastic footage, photos and interviews, and together with the community decided to make two different films instead of one: a 10 minute promotional short documentary and a 35-min educational documentary following two resident hosts on their guided visitor-tour through the project as they guide a tour group through the project.
Besides taking part in the production, the workshop participants learned skills in media literacy, production management, screen language and visual representation of ecological issues. The educational sustainability resource DVD featuring both films will be available in January 2011 at Urban Ecology Australia.

Partners

Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board

Arts SA Partnerships for Healthy Communities

CSR Hebel

Urban Ecology Australia

What's Yours is Mine...d - Gloucester

Arts Upper Hunter Gloucester workshop - 2009 April - Gloucester NSW

Arts Upper Hunter invited the Hero Project to run a workshop titled ‘Portraits of Place’, to work with locals to create a film about Gloucester. 20 participants from all walks of life decided very quickly they wanted to explore the impact of coal mining on their community and environment. Their film, Whats Yours is Mine...d, made in only three days, was screened at several local and national film festivals.

Join Eric Ingot as he shows Gloucester their future. With reassuring confidence and panache he identifies the multitude of benefits to enjoy from an open cut mine. “At Envira-Coal, we dig the future! “

The Gloucester team met for the first time at the Council’s youth centre. Within an hour, they had identified their story – the looming open pit coal mine, that is threatening to destroy their beautiful environment. Their biggest challenge: how to make a community film that depicts a possible threat, raises awareness and educates without scaring your audience? They created a satirical pro-mining advertisement, applying spin doctor messages to sell-up potential problems as benefits!  The diverse team, aged 14-65, learnt how to script and pace a comedic narrative, storyboard and film on multiple locations. 8 laptops formed a mobile edit unit, with every team producing a different chapter of the story, plus music, titles and GFX.

Partners

Apple

Arts NSW

Arts SA Partnerships for Healthy Communities

Arts Upper Hunter Inc

Australia Council for the Arts

Gloucester City Council Youth Centre

Horse TV - Horse SA

Horse SA youth workshop - 2008 November - Cherry Gardens SA

Horse SA commissioned the Hero Project team to work with a group of teenage girls to produce a film about horse and land care. During the workshop the youth team met the challenge head on: in only 3 days they created Horse TV!

Welcome to Horse TV: This series of funny TV ads and soap spoofs raises awareness about environmental issues around horse ownership and addresses 5 key messages:
Healthy Pastures all year round spells healthy horses
Cheap Cheap Cheap: reduce dust and mud, horses hate cheap pastures
Purer Trough: safe, clean, easy water for your horse that doesn’t impact on creeks and waterways
Silver Service – A Ladies Companion to Classy Compost: Horse manure management 101
Horse CSI: Control your weeds before it is too late…

The workshop focused on training teenage girls and in the brainstorming session they decided to create a series of TV Advert spoofs as an upbeat way to share land care messages for horse owners. During the workshop the young filmmakers learnt all basic skills required for video production, including scripting, story-boarding, camera + sound work, acting, directing, editing and music production.

During the film making workshop the youth team met the challenge head on: working with a client brief can be difficult but they brainstormed lots of snappy ways to address the 5 key messages. They had to find appropriate locations, use horses as their film talent and keep to a tight deadline. The brief was developed during a 1-day ‘train-the-trainer session with teachers, parents and representatives from Horse SA and EPA.

Partners

Adelaide & Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board

Apple

Arts SA Partnerships for Healthy Communities

Australia Council for the Arts

Horse Owners of the Southern Mount Lofty Ranges

Horse SA

the Evironmental Protection Agency

the Melbourne Water Corporation

Every Drop Counts - Quorn SA

Quorn youth workshop 3 -2008 January - Quorn SA

The Hero Project team worked with 6 students at the Quorn Area School, supported by the Southern Flinders Ranges Health Service, the Quorn Area School, the local council and the Quorn Caravan Park, as a direct result of the 2007 Document Your World competition.

To create a short documentary that addresses environmental concerns arising from the ongoing drought in north SA.
The participants identified a number of relevant interviewees, great locations and found fantastic archival footage about a flood. This was the final production in a series of 4 workshops with the Quorn community; as a result the local school has taken up digital media as part of their curriculum and the community has a great team of young documentarians and upcoming journalists.

Partners

Apple

Arts SA

Country Arts SA Regional Arts Fund

Quorn Caravan Park

Southern Flinders Ranges Health Service Inc

dreamcatcher - Adelaide Fringe

dreamcatcher - Adelaide Fringe multmedia project 2007 February - SA

An art exhibition, public mobile video projection, provocative art interventions, a limited series of 20 unique resin sculptures and 2000 postcards competition across South Australia.

Marvel at the sheer beauty of a dancing plastic bag, the most ‘beautiful thing’ on a magical flight through the City of Adelaide. It twirls to a modern Pied Piper’s tune, peddling imperishable dreams and subtly transforms the City’s structures, leaving behind small icons of suburban utopia.

Dreamcatcher is testament to our capacity to see beauty in the mundane and dangerous, and just when you think its over, the bag lifts again, sporting its insignia: Eternity.

Dreamcatcher sculptures

Grotesque yet strangely alluring… Recent archaeological digs in Adelaide [code named dreamcatcher] have uncovered several petrified objects from an epoch which the Dreamcatcher Museum have classified as ‘Oil Age: Plastic Era’. The objects appear to be flimsy plastic vessels. Historians believe they were used for trade and exchange and were probably associated with human sacrifice and mass rituals.

The limited series of 20 unique sculptures, lusciously translucent and seductively textural, are made from plastic bags - stamped with Eternity - each manipulated and set in a large block of glassy resin, with its own custom made iron stand, labeled with the work’s edition number. 10 sculptures were publicly auctioned as part of the Adelaide Fringe 2007, raising funds for SA students clean up the beaches and remove plastic bags from the ocean.

If you are interested to buy one of the remaining artworks or want to exhibit the work, please email us

Commissioned for the Surface Tension Public Art Program of the Adelaide City Council and Australian Network for Art & Technology; as part of the 2006 Adelaide Fringe Festival.

Partners

Adelaide Fringe

Zero Waste SA

ANAT Surface Tension

Adelaide City Council