As British and Australian governments began testing space rockets in the mid-20th century, members of a nomadic Indigenous population in Western Australia were still living off the land, surviving the desert’s extreme conditions. One group of 20 Martu people was maintaining a traditional lifestyle, unaware of their country’s 200-year history of colonization and the modern society that existed beyond the 141,000 square miles of desert they called home.

In 1964, two officers from the Weapons Research Establishment were clearing an area for rocket testing when they came across the area’s Indigenous residents.

Contact shares the story of Yuwali, 17 at the time, who recalls the Martu’s startling first contact and eventual removal from their homeland. Now 62, she describes with humor the terrifying experience of seeing her first white person, and the shock of first experiencing a moving car, which she believed was a rock come to life.

Her powerful and direct storytelling skills, blended with original footage and a hauntingly beautiful landscape, contribute to an artful narrative about a startling moment in history and the troubling treatment that followed.

“The visuals are superb. . . Contact well deserved to share the best documentary prize at last year’s Sydney Film Festival.”
‒ABC Australia

“A profoundly moving film . . . about the shameful treatment of indigenous people.” ‒Simon Foster, SBS Film

Best Documentary, Sydney Film Festival, 2009