'Yurlu | Country'

Name: 'Yurlu | Country'
Start: 2027-02-13T14:00:00+10:00
End: 2027-02-13T14:00:00+10:00
Location: Wagstaffe Community Hall

About

This Walkley Award-winning feature documentary, by Australian director Yaara Bou Melhem, was co-created with Banjima Elder Maitland Parker, and it immerses us in Parker's final year as he strives to preserve his culture, and more importantly heal his scarred homeland - which is basically the largest contaminated site in the Southern Hemisphere.

Yurlu | Country delves into the devastating impact of asbestos mining in Western Australia's Pilbara region. Parker called his homeland ‘Poison Country’, a name reflecting the toxic legacy of blue asbestos mines in Wittenoom WA - which closed almost 60 years ago leaving behind millions of tonnes of toxic tailings-waste laced with deadly asbestos fibres.

Set against the breathtaking, yet heavily contaminated, landscapes of the Pilbara, this film highlights Parker’s valiant efforts to heal his homeland while grappling with his own battle with mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer caused by asbestos exposure.
From the campfire to his hospital bedside, Yurlu | Country follows his battle for justice, the environment, and his unbreakable bond with Country.

This is Australia’s largely unknown Chernobyl-scale disaster - where a sacrifice zone of 46,840 hectares on Banjima Country cuts off traditional owners from their Native Title lands. It is little wonder therefore that Peter Garrett called this “one of the most compelling stories in Australia at the moment” ... and the 2025 Melbourne International Film Festival referred to it as “a testament to First Nations resilience.”