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form y separately published work icon High Ground single work   film/TV  
Issue Details: First known date: 2019... 2019 High Ground
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'1931, Northern Australia. The destinies of Travis, a white bounty hunter, and Baywara, an Indigenous man trying to save what remains of his family, intersect. Twelve years after a tragedy that scarred them both, a manhunt pits them against each other.'

Source: Berlinale program.

Notes

  • 'Producer and actor Witiyana Marika is a respected Rirratjingu (Yolngu) ceremonial leader. Witiyana was also Senior Cultural Advisor on the film, negotiating the nuanced and complex cultural elements and relationships between the different Indigenous clans who came together to work on different lands. All Traditional Owners of the land on which High Ground was filmed gave their blessing for the film and provided unprecedented access to country.'

    Source: Cinema Australia (https://cinemaaustralia.com.au/2020/11/12/the-new-high-ground-trailer-puts-australias-dark-past-front-and-centre/). (Sighted: 23/11/2020)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Language: English , Aboriginal Yolngu AIATSIS: languages. AIATSIS ref. (NT SD53)
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Works about this Work

Australian Cinema Is Reaping Box Office Rewards during the Pandemic. Can the Trend Continue? Stephen Gaunson , 2021 single work column
— Appears in: The Conversation , 18 February 2021;
How Historically Accurate Is the Film High Ground? The Violence It Depicts Is Uncomfortably Close to the Truth Laura Rademaker , Julie Narndal Gumurdul , Sally K. May , 2021 single work column
— Appears in: The Conversation , 10 February 2021;
Black and White View of Dark Past David Stratton , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 30 January 2021; (p. 13)
— Review of High Ground Chris Anastassiades , 2019 single work film/TV
Once upon a Time in the North Shane Danielsen , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: The Monthly , February no. 174 2021; (p. 56-58)
— Review of High Ground Chris Anastassiades , 2019 single work film/TV 'High Ground, the long-awaited second feature from Stephen Maxwell Johnson (Yolngu Boy), opens with an extraordinary image: a vista shot of Nimbuwarr, a sacred rock in Arnhem Land, from high above, as a red sun declines behind it and insects buzz on the soundtrack like a piece by Alva Noto. The best drone shot in recent Australian cinema (and Christ knows there’s been enough of them), it’s also the only one that actually adds something to the story; mesmerising, almost otherworldly, it functions as a codicil for the narrative that follows. Man’s capacity for evil is vast, it seems to say. But this country is vaster still.' (Introduction)
High Ground : Yolngu Boy Director Stephen Maxwell Johnson and Elder Witiyana Marika Reunite for Northern Territory Western Luke Goodsell , 2021 single work column
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , January 2021;

'Arriving right on time for Australia's contested January 26 public holiday, the thorny new action drama High Ground is the latest in a growing body of local revisionist films to tangle with the racial violence that has become inseparable from the nation's troubled past.' (Introduction)
High Ground Review – Simon Baker Narrowly Escapes White Saviour Tropes in Colonial Australia Luke Buckmaster , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 27 January 2021;
— Review of High Ground Chris Anastassiades , 2019 single work film/TV

'A white sharpshooter and an Indigenous survivor of a massacre reunite after 12 years in a gracefully directed but rather Anglo-centric western.'
Once upon a Time in the North Shane Danielsen , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: The Monthly , February no. 174 2021; (p. 56-58)
— Review of High Ground Chris Anastassiades , 2019 single work film/TV 'High Ground, the long-awaited second feature from Stephen Maxwell Johnson (Yolngu Boy), opens with an extraordinary image: a vista shot of Nimbuwarr, a sacred rock in Arnhem Land, from high above, as a red sun declines behind it and insects buzz on the soundtrack like a piece by Alva Noto. The best drone shot in recent Australian cinema (and Christ knows there’s been enough of them), it’s also the only one that actually adds something to the story; mesmerising, almost otherworldly, it functions as a codicil for the narrative that follows. Man’s capacity for evil is vast, it seems to say. But this country is vaster still.' (Introduction)
Black and White View of Dark Past David Stratton , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 30 January 2021; (p. 13)
— Review of High Ground Chris Anastassiades , 2019 single work film/TV
Guy Pearce, David Gulpilil and Jack Thompson to Star in Movie Set in Arnhem Land 2016 single work column
— Appears in: NT News , 31 July 2016;

'A Cast of renowned Australian movie stars including Guy Pearce, David Gulpilil and Jack Thompson will appear in a film set in Arnhem Land, it was announced yesterday.'

'High Ground will be directed by Stephen Johnson, the cinematographer for Yothu Yindi and director of breakthrough feature film Yolgnu Boy in 2001. ...'
Guy Pearce New Movie, High Ground, to Explore 'Confronting' NT History 2016 single work column
— Appears in: Brisbane Times , 31 July 2016;

'Australian actors Guy Pearce, David Gulpilil and Jack Thompson will star in a film exploring the Northern Territory's "confronting" history. ...'

'High Ground, set in Arnhem Land in the 1920s, is fictitious but inspired by true events, director Stephen Johnson says. ...'
High Ground, Australian 'Frontier Western' Starring Jacob Nayinggul and Jack Thompson, to Premier at Brisbane International Film Festival Laetitia Lemke , 2020 single work column
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , October 2020;

'High Ground, the spectacular and confronting instant Aussie classic— "not a Western, but a Northern", as its director describes — first gripped audiences at the Berlin International Film Festival in February.' 
The Dry Set to Break Australian Box Office Drought Kelly Burke , 2021 single work column
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 28 January 2021;
High Ground : Yolngu Boy Director Stephen Maxwell Johnson and Elder Witiyana Marika Reunite for Northern Territory Western Luke Goodsell , 2021 single work column
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , January 2021;

'Arriving right on time for Australia's contested January 26 public holiday, the thorny new action drama High Ground is the latest in a growing body of local revisionist films to tangle with the racial violence that has become inseparable from the nation's troubled past.' (Introduction)
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Awards

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Last amended 2 Nov 2021 11:50:51
Stephen Johnson
Subjects:
  • Arnhem Land, Top End, Northern Territory,
Settings:
  • Northern Territory,
  • 1931
  • 1919
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