MAYPILAMA - Keel Line of Creation
Keel Line of Creation
MAYPILAMA
Documentary 91 minutes, 4K, DCP2K
DOCUMENTARY SYNOPSiS
In a remote Yolŋu island community, Elder Ḻäwurrpa Maypilama is on a mission to return birthing to Country through the djäkamirr research project. With the assistance of non-Indigenous midwife-researcher Sarah, and patient Belgium cameraman Pat as witness, she navigates ancestral laws, colonial resistance and legal contradiction. Her journey becomes a powerful act of sovereignty and renewal, where women’s power, cultural survival and the future itself is adrift in uncertain waters. A reminder that the future is born from the stories we choose to carry forward.
Maypilama (Djämbarrpuyŋu noun)
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Nautical: The keel line inside a canoe or boat.
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Anthroponym: A Yolŋu woman’s surname, given in reference to her birth in a canoe resting on the keel line
keel line (English noun)
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Nautical: The central structural beam running along the bottom of a boat or ship, forming its backbone and providing balance, strength, and directional stability.
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Figurative: A guiding foundational force that holds a system steady, aligned, and intact through change.
keel line of Creation
Speaking to the ancestral forces that guide and steady life, holding Creation in balance so its cycles continue across generations. It also honours the deep resonance between Maypilama, a remarkable Yolŋu woman born in a canoe upon the keel line, and the ancestral Creation Sisters who also arrived by canoe.
LOCATION
MAYPILAMA is made from three years of collaborative filming during a participatory action research project based in Galiwin’ku, an island community in Yolŋu Country in Northeast Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. Yolŋu are First Nations people sovereign to this region.
Filming for the project took place both in Galiwin’ku and across the mainland of Yolŋu Country, reaching to its far north-eastern tip.
The Galiwin’ku community has a strong Yolŋu cultural identity and a vibrant First Nations language environment, with Yolŋu Matha spoken as first language(s) across the community. This living linguistic and cultural strength is a deep source of knowledge, carrying immeasurable educational, historical and heritage value.
At the same time, the region’s remoteness and structural disadvantages mean that, despite Australia’s overall wealth, Yolŋu families continue to experience inequitable health outcomes and limited access to many basic services.
The region has one of the highest preterm rates documented in Australia.
Filming also occurred on other First Nations Countries across Australia, including Ngunnawal Country (Canberra, Australia’s capital), Gundungurra and Dharug Country (the Blue Mountains, New South Wales), Walbanga Country (Braidwood, New South Wales), Dharawl Country (Kurnell Bay- New South Wales) and Yuin Country - the Land of the Thirteen Clans (Nowra- New South Wales)
CREW
Professor Elaine Ḻäwurrpa Maypilama is a respected multilingual Yolŋu cultural authority, senior researcher, scholar and educator based in Galiwin’ku, Northern Territory. With more than two decades of experience in applying Yolŋu research methodologies and bridging First Nations and Western knowledge systems, she holds leadership roles at the Molly Wardaguga Institute and provides cultural guidance for community-based research projects. She has been recognised for her sustained contributions to Aboriginal health, education and community development. MAYPILAMA is her second research documentary and will endure as a powerful legacy of her dedication to Yolŋu-led empowerment, cultural renewal and wellbeing. More here.
(Elaine) Läwurrpa Maypilama
Co-director, co-writer & cultural leadership
Pat Josse
Co-director, videography, post-production and original music composition
Multilingual freelance videographer, editor, sound engineer and post-production specialist whose visual storytelling has shaped diverse works across Australia and abroad. His craft in filming, editing, sound, postproduction and music composition underpin key creative outputs advancing the Birthing on Country movement. MAYPILAMA is his second collaboration co-directing with Professor Maypilama.
Co-writer, production, project manager & field operations
Sarah Ireland
Associate Professor of Innovation and Impact at the Molly Wardaguga Institute, Charles Darwin University. Trained as a medical anthropologist, nurse and midwife, Sarah leads interdisciplinary research bridging reproductive health, health literacy, First Nations methodologies and cultural dimensions of health. MAYPILAMA is her second research documentary collaboration with Professor Maypilama and Mr Josse.
More here.
Shellie Morris
AO- Narration
One of Australia’s most celebrated singer-songwriters and cultural storytellers. A Yanyuwa and Wardaman woman, her work spans contemporary folk and acoustic styles, and she sings in more than 20 First Nations languages, many of which are endangered. For over 25 years, Shellie has collaborated with remote communities across Australia, using music as a tool for identity, healing, language revitalisation and social change.
More here.
Rachel Dikul Baker
Translation
Rachel Dikul Baker is a Yolŋu woman from Ngurruyurrtjurr in North-East Arnhem Land. She works as a research consultant, cultural competency trainer, accredited interpreter and language advocate. Rachel contributes her expertise to intercultural research, communication and community engagement projects, and is also a traditional weaver and mentor dedicated to strengthening Yolŋu arts, language and culture.
More here.
Thomas Dulin
Thomas has performed for bands, musicals, and studio sessions. He has also composed music for animated films. A multi-instrumentalist, composer, and arranger by training, MAYPILAMA is his first film composition collaboration with Mr Josse.
