My Name Is Gulpilil: The True Story of an Aboriginal Man Who Became a Movie Star

The first Aboriginal icon on the big screen

Yolgu (Aboriginal people living in the north-east of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia) of the Mandhalpuingu tribe, Davit Gulpilil Director Nicolas Roeg noticed in 1969. In La Randonée (1971) he played a young aborigine who crosses paths with a teenager and his little brother wandering the bush after their father’s suicide. This is the first time an Aboriginal character has been portrayed by a native on screen.

Director My name is Gulpilil Returning to the importance of dedicating the documentary to him: “Gulpilil was the first of his people to appear on the screen as an actor and truly consider himself as such. David’s culture, skills as a hunter, artist, singer and dancer gave him a unique on-screen personality. But with the erosion of indigenous cultures, figures like Gulpilil will never exist again.”

A testament documentary

in 2017, Davit Gulpilil He learns that he has lung cancer and has 6 months to live. He then wants to appear in the final film, “a masterpiece that will end with his funeral and his soul returning to its source,” he says. Molly Reynolds. This includes all the images it needs after 30 days of shooting. But the actor defies all predictions and lives until 2021.

During this time, he constantly asks the director to continue filming. “We continued to shoot. 2018 then 2019. And we kept going. It gave David something to focus on and gave us the luxury to shoot bigger and bigger shots and create amazing shots.” After 60 days of filming, producer Rolf de Heer decides it’s time to call it quits, having gone way over the initial budget. with the consent of Gulpilil, My name is Gulpilil It was completed and screened, with its presence as a world premiere at the Adelaide Festival in March 2021. The actor died a few months later on November 29, 2021.

20 years of cooperation and friendship

producer My name is GulpililFilm director Rolf de Heer He maintained a special relationship Davit Gulpilil. It was he who revived the latter’s career and after 30 years offered him his first real role in the cinema. hikein 2002 with The Tracker.