KINDRED

KINDRED is a journey into the emotional landscape of family, love and loss experienced by two close friends, both Aboriginal, who were adopted by white families and have connected back with their bloodline families.

Twenty-five years after making their first film together, Gillian Moody and Adrian Russell Wills turned to each other to navigate the emotional rollercoaster of coming to grips with their childhood adoptions. This is the story of Kindred – two best friends who tell their stories of supporting each other while reconnecting their bloodlines.

The documentary consists of archival footage, dramatic recreations and candid interviews with family members and the documentary subjects themselves. Shot in numerous locations across Australia, Kindred weaves together two personal narratives while exploring themes of family, identity, culture, belonging, racism, trauma and more.

An earlier film by Adrian Russell Wills, WHEN THE NATIVES GET RESTLESS (2007), is also available from Ronin Films. For details see: www.roninfilms.com.au/video/819/240/1918.html

VIEW TRAILER HERE: vimeo.com/1009375370

Written and directed by Gillian Moody & Adrian Russell Wills
Producers – Gillian Moody, Tom Zubrycki
Editor – Lindi Harrison
Cinematographers – Kathryn Milliss ACS, Meg White, Simon Morris, Justine Kerrigan ACS
Sound design – Andrew Belletty
Music - Caitlin Yeo, Damien Lane

Special thanks to Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council & Residents.
Financed with the assistance of Indigenous Business Australia
Financed with the assistance of Screen NSW
Developed and produced in association with NITV
Principal production and development funding from Screen Australia

© 2023 Kalori Productions & JOTZ Productions

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FESTIVALS AND AWARDS:

- Premiering in competition at the 2023 Sydney Film Festival

- WINNER of the First Nations Film Creative Award, Melbourne International Film Festival, 2023

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DIRECTORS' STATEMENT

How do you connect to the world around you when you are an Aboriginal adopted child? Knowing there is this whole other family out there, and in particular a mother who brought you into this world is hard to explain or talk about when you are that child living within an adopted family.

For every adopted person this journey and curiosity is different and we are no exception. We knew that one day we would tell our story, the fact we were both Aboriginal growing up in a white affluent world, that we both got to meet our natural families, we met each other's adopted and birth families and importantly we both got to meet our birth mothers. For some adopted people this can throw your world upside down. It did for both of us, the worlds can be complex and conflicted, the outcome from seeking answers meant; for Gill her family simply grew but for Adrian it saw loss and sacrifice.

KINDRED promises a moving feature documentary as we invite you into our story of friendship and the bond that brought us together, being adopted. The film explores what it really feels like living in two worlds, one black and one white. When we first met we realised we grew up only streets apart from each other, but our paths didn't cross until we made a short film together, Angel.

This creative connection was the beginning of a wonderful friendship of 25 years and still going strong! In 2019, we decided to do the thing that most filmmakers never do, we turned the cameras onto ourselves to show the deeply effecting journey it is to be an Aboriginal person adopted into a white family and what reconnecting with our bloodline families has added to our lives.

As two individual voices telling our stories, we have used different visual elements woven together giving strong personal narratives that not only hold space for each other and for our families but show our deep connection as we explore themes of family, identity, culture, belonging, racism, trauma, friendship, courage, loss and love.

KINDRED comes from our hearts and the generous hearts of many in our family.

- Gillian Moody and Adrian Russell Wills

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