Main Cast: Bruce Spence, Wandjuk Marika, Roy Marika, Ray Barrett, Norman Kaye
Release Year: 1984
Country: WG
Run Time: 99 minutes
Plot
In a slightly padded but well-acted and relevant drama, an Australian mining company and a group of aboriginals go to court to settle a dispute over sacred land that the company wants to mine. When the Ayers Mining Company sets out to begin construction of its mine with bulldozers and earth-movers, the Aboriginals physically block the work because the site is exactly where the green ants will gather to dream (a 40,000-year-old legend) and it cannot be disturbed. The company tries the usual means of getting their way -- through bribes and arguments -- but nothing budges the men who came to defend the land. Once in court, it is quickly apparent that tribal laws and customs and beliefs are very different than Western laws -- and how the issue will be resolved is sticky indeed. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
Robert Brissenden - Prof. Stanner; Basil Clarke - Judge Blackburn; Colleen Clifford - Miss Strehlow; Ralph Cotterill - Fletcher; Max Fairchild - Police Officer; Hugh Keays-Byrne - Mining executive; Nicolas Lathouris - Arnold; Tony Llewellyn-Jones - Fitzsimmons; Dhungula I Marika - Malila, "the Mute"; Ray Marshall - Solicitor General Coulthard; Gary Williams - Watson; Marraru Wunungmurra - Daisy Barunga; Christopher Cain; Paul Cox - Mining Photographer; Michael Edols - Young attorney; Bob Ellis - Supermarket manager; James Ricketson - Philip Adams, the Mining Leader; Tim Cartwright - RAAF Pilot; Anastasios Chatzidimpas - Cook; Maria Chatzidimpas - Mongoloid Girl; Paul Donazzan - RAAF Pilot; Susan Greaves - Secretary; Noel Lyon - Bailiff; Michael Mandalis - Mandalis; Trevor Orford - Worker; Phillip Radke - Chauffeur; Ricky Ronnie - Strange Aborigine; Maria Stratford - Peevish Woman; Michael Glynn - Pilot; Andrew Mack - Protocol Officer
Credit
Ulrich Bergfelder - Art Director, Tony Llewellyn-Jones - Coordinator, Frances D. Hogan - Costume Designer, Werner Herzog - Director, Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus - Editor, Ernst Bloch - Composer (Music Score), Wandjuk Marika - Composer (Music Score), Klaus-Jochen Wiese - Composer (Music Score), Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein - Cinematographer, Lucki Stipetic - Producer, Ulrich Bergfelder - Set Designer, Brian Pearce - Special Effects, Bob Ellis - Dialogue Writer, Bob Ellis - Screenwriter, Werner Herzog - Screenwriter, Gabriel Fauré - Featured Music, Richard Wagner - Featured Music
