Bega filmmaker Gary Lonesborough will present two of his films at the inaugural Goodomabah Film Festival in Katoomba in April.
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“To be included in the first festival is quite exciting,” Mr Lonesborough said this week.
“Hopefully I can look back on this one day and say my films played in the very first one.
“It will be great to get my work out there to be seen by as many people as possible.”
The festival is the first of its kind in Australia and aims to promote the work of Indigenous creatives in the film industry.
“I think a festival like this is a great tool for Indigenous filmmakers to showcase their work and is a great way to recognise and celebrate Indigenous filmmakers whose work might otherwise not be seen,” Mr Lonesborough said.
“I think its a great tool for encouraging Indigenous people to get into filmmaking.”
The festival will showcase both short and feature length films including Satellite Boy, The Tracker and Charlie’s Country, all starring Australian film legend David Gulpilil.
Mr Lonesborough’s short films 1942 and The Children, both written and directed while a student at the Sydney Film School will be on show.
He said the festival is a step towards greater recognition of Australia’s talented Indigenous creatives and storytellers.
“I think with more festivals like this, Aboriginal stories and filmmakers will ultimately be able to reach an overseas audience as it will encourage more indigenous films and filmmakers to get their films out there which will bring with it more recognition,” he said.
The concept is the brainchild of Blue Mountains City Council Aboriginal Men’s and Youth Project Officer, Jamie Murray and will be his last council project due to a lack of funding.
“The concept came from the idea of getting local kids to experience cultural activities,” Mr Murray said.
“We will also have eight to 10 local high school students who will get references from each of the sponsors for working on the festival.
“It is also a way of expressing Aboriginal reconciliation rather than white reconciliation.”
Mr Murray wants members of the local Darug and Gundungurra communities to also showcase their creative talent.
“It’s about Aboriginal people sharing their beautiful culture and stories,” he said.
“People said we’d have trouble finding films for the festival but we now have too many to screen.”
The Goodomabah Film Festival will run across three Katoomba venues from Thursday, April 7 to Saturday, April 9.
