Ab Film Review & The Last New Wave

Documentarian Yaaa Bou Melhem expands her approach to collaborative documentary storytelling with her latest feature Yurlu | Country. This essential film follows the final year of the life of Aboriginal elder Maitland Parker as he continues his decades long fight to heal his homeland after the scarification from the caustic asbestos mines in Wittenoom which left the area as the largest contaminated site in the Southern Hemisphere.Shot with a respectful admiration for the beauty of the land by Tom Bannigan whose camerawork is supported by the immersive and powerful score from Helena Czajka, Yurlu | Country arrives at a time where the history of mining in Western Australia and its relationship to Aboriginal folks from this land is under more scrutiny than ever before with the announcement of caustic mining operations intending to take place on the Burrup Peninsula, home of rock art that is up to 50,000 years old.For many Western Australians, myself included, we carry an anger and frustration with our government