Directed by
Chantelle Burgoyne, Dena Curtis, Richard Curtis, Mario Gaoa, Danielle MacLean, Miki Magasiva, Renae Maihi, Tracey Rigney, Tim Worrall and Beck Cole

In a word, stunning. In many words, captivating, heartbreaking, body-tingling, unique and undoubtedly memorable.

We Are Still Here is an anthology of eight stories exploring First Nations People’s experience of the wave of colonisation in the South Pacific that began with the catastrophic arrival of Captain Cook.

The anthology genre is a challenging genre to work with, it is restrictive and difficult to hide the stop-start nature of jumping from one film to another. However, Roland Gallois has exquisitely edited We Are Still Here. The pieces are woven together, like some divine tapestry. I have never had the experience of watching an anthology of short films that complimented each other so perfectly, it was like watching a singular film.

Spanning time periods before, during and long after colonisation, we are taken seamlessly from one place to another. The films work beautifully together chronologically, but they also provide different views of a similar experience. It is a true anthology, many perspectives of the same experience, like many sets of eyes gazing at the same thing and seeing it in a slightly different light.

The only area this film fell short would have been rectified easily with a bigger budget. The film is visually stunning, but the storylines set deep in future would have benefited from fewer budgeting constraints, this may have allowed a deeper exploration of these worlds.

Outside this, We Are Still Here is a masterpiece, full of deeply memorable moments. It is a film all Australians interested in our history should add to their watch list.

We Are Still Here is showing in selected cinemas across Australia from February 16th

Moviedoc thanks Dark Matter and TM Publicity for providing a screener link to watch and review this film.

Review by Jemma for Moviedoc

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