Spotlight on David Gulpilil at the NFSA

Celebrate the extraordinary legacy of David Gulpilil through two powerful films that showcase his enduring screen presence across generations of Australian cinema. Spanning 35 years, The Last Wave (1977) and Satellite Boy (2012) reveal Gulpilil's remarkable ability to embody stories grounded in Country, culture and spirituality.

In Peter Weir's The Last Wave, Gulpilil delivers a captivating performance in a landmark Australian New Wave classic that explores prophecy, cultural collision and competing ways of understanding the world. Decades later, in Catriona McKenzie's Satellite Boy, he gives a deeply affecting performance as Jagamarra, a grandfather guiding a young boy on a journey of identity, resilience and connection to Country in the Kimberley.