"Beguiling... To watch this movie (shot in breathtaking wide-screen) is to enter into a whole new language of symbols and meaning, the likes of which I have rarely encountered in cinema … a celebration of the art of storytelling, and of the power of stories to transcend all barriers of space, time and language." - Village Voice

Our Closing Night Gala presentation is set well before the coming of whites, and is a beautiful introduction to an unknown world. This is a big true story of the long ago time and the time before that. It’s a story within a story with spears and humor, goose eggs, wives, more wives, and perhaps too many wives.

Ten Canoes tells the story of wrong love, kidnapping, sorcery and revenge gone awry. Ten men set out in canoes to collect goose eggs and an elder notices the youngest member of the clan is making eyes at his older brother’s youngest wife. To divert him the elder tells a story from the mythical past of ten men setting out in canoes to collect eggs and how a young member of the clan covets his brother’s youngest wife.

This special film won the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and is the first film shot in one of the native languages of Australia. Ten Canoes also features a rollicking English language narration by David Gulpilil (Walkabout, The Last Wave).