Synopsis

Exile and the Kingdom traces the experiences of a community of Aboriginal people from pre-colonial times to the 1990s.

In the beginning, when the world was soft, creation beings lifted the earth out of the sea. Then the world became hard... colonisation, slavery and mining booms followed.

This award-winning feature documentary is the story of the Aboriginal people of Roebourne –the Yindjibarndi, Ngarluma, Banyjima and Gurrama peoples – their law, tribal voice and survival.

The film makes the connection between Aboriginal people in chains in the 19th century and Aboriginal people in prisons today, so providing a deeper understanding of how the violence and denials of the past inform the present. Ultimately, it gives conviction that with their extraordinary resilience, the Aboriginal peoples of Australia survive and flourish.

The documentary argues that the relentless removal of the Yindjibarndi and Ngarluma people into coastal ghettos has led to the community's current problems. The film moves you through the period of British colonisation – unearthing appalling facts about slavery and the violent rule of pearling and pastoral overlords – to the abuses of the 1960s mining boom and problems of alcohol. Yet it never allows the viewer to forget the significance and influence of spiritual homelands, the bedrock upon which Yindjibarndi and Ngarluma tribal law is based. Above all,

Exile and the Kingdom is a beautifully logical and persuasive argument for land rights.

Trailer