Directed by Catriona McKenzie
When his grandfather's drive-in cinema and home in the outback town of Wyndham is threatened with demolition, a twelve-year-old Aboriginal boy must journey through Australia's bush country — equipped only with ancient survival skills — to stop the city developers.
卫星男孩, 衞星男孩
Canada Toronto International Film Festival 
AustraliaM Perth International Arts Festival 
USA Palm Springs International Film Festival 
Germany Berlin International Film Festival 
Sweden Stockholm Filmfestival Junior 
Taiwan Taipei Film Festival Australia Canada Germany Sweden Taiwan USA 
Would be a lovely film to own on blu-ray.
For the first half of this film, I was feeling a little bit of Indigenous film depiction fatigue (at times one can't help but feel as if nearly half of recently released Australian films have been in this vein, almost to the point of fetish). At their least inspired, these stories occasionally seem like an excuse to cinematically revel in the landscapes of the outback, leaving the visuals to do the heavy lifting for the relegated secondary interests of the story. The story here initially felt rather limp, and the characters weren't particularly captivating. It all was threatening to evoke a Screen Australia staleness.
Yet, this managed to evolve into a…
Abandoned drive-ins make for wonderfully self-referential cinematic metaphors. Monolithic screens coming apart in front of overgrown undulations; the wind rustling through long forgotten parking spaces and silenced speaker boxes. Its an image that has been used over and over again to evoke the loss of still-remembered collective dreaming.
It is also, traditionally a very "white" image, which is why I love how perfectly the abandoned drive-in Catriona McKenzie's Satellite Boy encapsulates her themes of identity, location and tradition in a film rooted so deeply in the indigenous experience.
This abandoned drive-in, slowly being reclaimed by the outback, is country to young Pete (Cameron Wallaby). As far as he is concerned, the drive-in and the projection shed where he lives with…
Oz Movie Month 🇦🇺 – January 2021 #5
For whatever reason, I missed this at the cinema back in 2012 - despite being a year in which I watched more cinema releases than any other year. Was that extraneous detail for a Letterboxd review? Probably. Where was I? Oh, that's right. The Kimberley. A beautifully shot coming of age story that straddles two cultures. A deeply satisfying view.
Beer pairing
Tonight's beer selection was Heavisaurus, a limited edition by Mountain Culture Beer Co. They are fast becoming my favourite brewery in the country. The only thing I love more than the beer are the tasting notes. Can’t remember what’s in it? Call it limited! Amazingly balanced given the hefty ABV, it’s dangerously juicy and drinkable too!
In a bid to save the drive-in cinema he calls home, 12 year old Pete crosses the wilderness of Western Australia’s Kimberley region, aided by his best friend, and the bush teachings of his grandfather. A surprisingly feel-good time for a movie that constantly imperils two preteens, whether they realise it or not. Pairs nicely with the last David Gulpilil film I watched, Charlie’s Country, as it actually shows the younger generation learning the lessons imparted to them from their elders, and forming their own connection with the land.
AACTA off-cut: lost to The Great Gatsby.
This was beautifully shot, showing the raw nature of the Australian Desert.
I really enjoyed seeing indigenous culture represented in such a unique way, especially with these child actors (who did an incredible job!)
I’ve seen David Gulpili in many films across his career - he’s an incredible actor! And this was no exception.
It bothers me that writer/ director Catriona McKenzie only had what looks like one indigenous producer in her creative team - amongst a sea of white people (herself included).
What I’d like to see more of in the future is more indigenous actors, writers, producers, and directors working together on Australian projects… telling both indigenous stories and new stories not necessarily focused on rural indigenous communities (re: an indigenous superhero film, or romance, etc).
This film is a great step in the right direction! It’s gorgeously made! But I’d love to see more indigenous creatives being accepted into the Australian Film Industry.
Oh so tender, stories of home, unforgivingly beautiful landscapes and First Nations Peoples at the helm will never fail to rouse
You Have 90 Minutes To Comply 2: Brevity Rules
52 Films Directed by Women 2 (5/52)
I don't really have a great deal to say about this mainly because there isn't really much to say about it. It's a VERY standard coming-of-age adventure drama, riffing heavily off the likes of Walkabout and Stand by Me, but containing very little of the narrative investment that those two movies contained.
Gorgeous to look at, of course, and David Gulpilil gives it a huge amount of native weight with his always strong presence. But it's very light on incident and characters, struggles with some highly dodgy acting, and is seemingly far too impressed by the scenery to bother adding much else here. Disappointing.
I'm really getting into the Australian landscape as a background for stories to unfold. This is a story about family, identity, survival and "the little guy". A young Aboriginal boy, Pete, who lives with his grandfather on a piece of land, which contains the last remains of an abandoned drive-in cinema has to travel on foot to the nearest town with his best friend, when his home is threatened by the development of some mining company.
What I really liked about this film is that, while it deals with land entitlement issues, something that is a huge stain on Australian history, it doesn't come across as preachy. Dotted along Pete's journey are a few "white" landmarks also abandoned like the…
The friendship between the boys seems really real.
The soundtrack was beautiful!
The cutest boy ever!
Beautiful movie. Kids were amazing! Loved their friendship and their acting was mad impressive.
A gorgeously filmed Aussie gem. This film packed plenty of charm and the two young leads delivered great performances. The Australian landscapes of the Kimberleys looked stunning.
