Motherhood in the Colony is a moving and timely film project that brings together the voices of First Nations women from Australia and Palestinian women to explore motherhood as an act of cultural survival, resistance, and love. This 33-minute documentary is the result of a collaboration between celebrated Worimi filmmaker Genevieve Grieves and renowned Palestinian artist Aseel Tayah, and is supported by Common Ground, an organisation dedicated to amplifying Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices.
Deeply rooted in the experiences of Australian Aboriginal women, the film centres Indigenous perspectives not just in story but in process. Eight women share their reflections and stories of mothering under the ongoing pressures of colonisation. The Aboriginal contributors—including women from the Worimi, Dja Dja Wurrung, Wurundjeri, and other nations—bring powerful intergenerational insight into how motherhood becomes a vessel for transmitting cultural knowledge, strength, and continuity. Through language, song, memory and lived experience, they show how Aboriginal culture is kept alive and evolving despite ongoing systemic challenges.
This is more than a film—Motherhood in the Colony is a gathering place. It is a chance to listen, learn, and reflect in community. The screening will be followed by a live-streamed panel discussion with the film’s storytellers and creators, broadcast from Wurundjeri Country to audiences around the country and beyond.
Date: Sunday 11 May 2025
Time:5:00 PM–7:00 PM
Venue: Radius Art, 76 Main Rd, Hepburn Springs
Program:
5:00 PM: Screening of Motherhood in the Colony (33 minutes)
6:00 PM: Live-streamed panel discussion with the film’s storytellers
Afterwards: Shared meal and open discussion
What to Bring: A dish to share, your curiosity, and your willingness to listen and connect. Delicious Palestinian food will be served, and there will be a collection to support Para Foundation and Nalderun, both community-based initiatives supporting First Nations leadership and wellbeing.
Registration: The event is free, but registration is essential. Register here.
Come and be part of this special event—a space to honour the resilience of First Nations women and to imagine a shared future beyond colonisation.
