Special Loop screening to celebrate NAIDOC Week

Published on 11 November 2020

An award-winning documentary exploring youth and cultural identity will be screened as part of a free community event to celebrate NAIDOC Week.

In My Blood It Runs will feature on the City of Hobart’s The Loop big screen on Elizabeth Street this Thursday evening.

The free event, hosted by the Riawunna Centre in partnership with the City of Hobart and the University of Tasmania’s Student Living Team, will also include short films by Tasmanian Aboriginal filmmakers and a hosted discussion in a relaxed outdoor cinema setting.

The feature film is a documentary that follows the inspirational story of 10-year-old Dujuan as he struggles with the pressures of living between two cultures in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.

Director Maya Newell will be joined by film advisor and Arrernte Elder from Mparntwe/Alice Springs William Tilmouth in a video welcome to Hobart audiences.

“When Dujuan cannot run nor fight alone, he faces the history that runs straight into him and realises that not only has he inherited the trauma and dispossession of his land, but also the resilience and resistance of many generations of his people,” Ms Newell said.

Since its release, Dujuan’s story has resonated across the country and worldwide. He has since addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council on children’s rights.

“It’s both nice and a bit scary having a film about me,” Dujuan said. “It’s nice because it’s the first time that I am releasing my story to the whole wide world. It’s scary because strangers are looking at my story.

“But I am proud that my story might give other Aboriginal kids hope and strength.”

Other films on the night include Blood of Life by Troy Melville and featuring Tasmanian Aboriginal Elder Jim Everett, and a film from the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre made by Andry Sculthorpe.

Free tickets are still available for the event, which will have a limited capacity due to COVID-19 restrictions. Visit hobartcity.com.au/InMyBloodItRuns.

The Loop is the City of Hobart’s platform for digital arts and culture, presenting an ongoing program celebrating screen culture in Hobart. It is an initiative of The City of Hobart’s Creative Hobart Strategy supported in partnership by the University of Tasmania.