WANGANY MALA

DVDs available from 1 September 2026.

An exploration of the long-term connections between Australian First Nations people and Indonesian seafarers.

Wangany Mala translates as 'let's be one clan' in Yolngu. The film follows the journey of Mala in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, as she works on the construction of a traditional sailboat and discovers her region's ongoing connections to Marege' – the Makassan name for Arnhem Land in Australia.

The film was produced in close collaboration with First Nations Knowledge Holders in Arnhem Land and Groote Eylandt in the north of Australia. Much of the filming took place across South and Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia – with characters speaking Yolngu, Amamalya Ayakwa (Anindilyakwa,Groote Eylandt), Bahasa Indonesia, and Coastal Konjo (South Sulawesi) languages.

Hundreds of years before European colonies were established on the Australian continent, Indigenous Australians were part of a trading network that extended to China's Qing Dynasty. Indonesian Makassan fishing fleets harvested sea cucumber for six months of every year with the local First Nations of northern Australia. By 1907 the trade was ended by colonial authorities.

This is a connection well known and well told in Makassar, Arnhem Land and Groote Eylandt, though far less recognised across the rest of Australia and Indonesia. As Edith Mamarika, an Anindilyakwa Elder from Groote Eylandt, reflects in the film - "Makassans were good to us... it was a good time because the Aboriginal people weren't angry."

The film follows Nirmala Syarifuddin Baco ('Mala'), a young Muslim woman who is part of a team of boat builders making a traditional Makassan sailing ship, or pinisi prau – the same boat that made the journey to Australia over 500 years ago. Through Mala we begin to understand her region's ongoing connections to Maregé (the Makassan term for Australia). The film culminates in a discovery that Mala's journey has a miraculous connection to the local stories of Australia. Timmy Djawa Burarrwanga, a Yolŋgu Elder, observes in the film: "My feeling is that this land always will be for Indonesians."

Wangany Mala is a powerful story celebrating a unique perspective on Australia-Indonesian engagement – both past and potential.

One of the foremost First Nations leaders in Australia, Professor Marcia Langton AO, described it as 'a profoundly important film.'

The film has been produced and directed by Naarm/Melbourne filmmaker,Will McCallum. Arnhem-based Yolngu artist, cultural facilitator and filmmaker Arian Pearson is a producer, along with Abdi Karya, a Yogyakarta-based, Makassar-born artist.

Set to a distinctive soundtrack by experimental Melbourne composer Fia Fiell, the film features rarely seen archival imagery, including sequences of boat destruction at sea by Australia's Maritime Border Command.

VIEW TRAILER HERE: vimeo.com/1215761442

Produced and directed by Will McCallum
Associate Producers - Abdi Karya, Arian Pearson, Horst Liebner
Music by Fia Fiell
Editing and Photography – Will McCallum
Story Editors – Simon Wilmot, Martin Potter
Produced in collaboration with Anindilyakwa Land Council, Groote Eylandt Language Centre and the Mulka Project

© 2024, Two Gongs Media P/L

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