Indigenous media workers Lutjurringkulala nintiringama ngapartji ngapartji at the Remote Indigenous Media Festival

The remote desert community of Irrunytju (also known as Wingellina), 1700 kilometres east of Perth on the Western Australia/South Australia border, recently hosted over 100 remote media workers, artists and industry affiliates from across Australia at the nineteenth Remote Indigenous Media Festival.

Festival delegates travelled the long red desert highway to Irrunytu, on the traditional lands of the Ngaanyatjarra, to attend the week-long festival. It was co-hosted by the Indigenous Remote Communications Association (IRCA), the peak body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander broadcasting, media and communications, and Ngaanyatjarra Media (NG Media), an Aboriginal-owned media organisation supporting fourteen desert communities in Western Australia.

The festival had something for everyone, including forums on sector accomplishments, developments and strategies, state of the art media workshops on podcasting, sound skills, digital photography and design, stop-motion animation and aerial cinematography with drones, the Festival reaffirmed the remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander media industry as having a powerful and connected vision for generations to come.

With around 100 residents, Irrunytju’s population doubled during the Festival but local Daisy O’Byrne, who is NG Media Minyma’s Chairperson and serves on the IRCA Board, said the community had worked hard to make the Festival a success.

“This year’s Festival has been a huge project with the whole community getting involved,” Daisy said.

“We are proud to have welcomed so many media workers who travelled a long way to be here. The theme for the Festival was Lutjurringkulala nintiringama ngapartji ngapartji, which means come together to learn and share in in the Ngaanyatjarra language. We networked and shared new media skills and industry knowledge. The Festival has strengthened our remote media sector and inspired our young people.”

The Festival also hosted the Remote Indigenous Media Awards, a market featuring paintings by local artists from the Minyma Kutjara Arts Project, and artworks and jewellery made from found materials created in an arts workshop held throughout the week.

With attendees looking forward to sharing their experiences with others in their communities, the benefits of the Remote Indigenous Media Festival will be felt for time to come.