Here’s the story: Preparing for satellite launch tests in 1964, officers of the Australian government head on an expedition in the West of the country to make sure the designated impact zone is actually desert. Guided by people who speak aboriginal languages, they discover that the area isn’t quite as empty as they thought it was. After a few attempts to make contact with the Aboriginese who live there, they finally meet the Martu: a tribe composed of only women and children…

Directed by Martin Butter and Bentley Dean, this documentary was based on the visual archives of the actual expedition. Nearly 50 years later, the two directors hand over to officer Terry Long and two members of the Aboriginal community, Yuwali and her cousin Thelma, 17 and 8 years old at the time. The two women report, among others, about their first encounter with the white, whom they thought were cannibal demons.

Beyond evoking the past, the film also reflects certain aspects of the contemporary Australian society. It was rewarded with the Best Documentary prize at the Sydney Film Festival in 2009.

The screening of Contact in a director’s cut, previously unreleased version is organized by Survival International, in the presence of ethnologists Jessica and Largy Healy.

Tuesday, May 3 – 8pm

Cinéma La Clef
34, rue Daubenton
75005 Paris