Paper short abstract:

A collaboratively made film about mobile phone ringtones and a Yolngu poetics of connection. 30 mins, Miyarrka Media

Paper long abstract:

Yolngu Aboriginal families offer glimpses into their lives and relationships through their choice of ringtones. From ancestral clan songs to 80s hip hop artists and local gospel tunes, these songs connect individuals into a world of deep and enduring connection. And yet, simultaneously the phone opens Yolngu to new vectors of vulnerability and demand. Made collaboratively by Miyarrka Media, a new media arts collective of indigenous and non-indigenous filmmakers, the film offers a beautiful and surprisingly moving meditation on the connections and intrusions brought by mobile phones to a once-remote Aboriginal community.

Directors: Jennifer Deger and Paul Gurrumuruwy