Paper short abstract:

Dr Catherine Gough-Brady explores collaborating with the non-human in her film work. In doing so, she is re-imagining human relationships to place.

Paper long abstract:

Dr Catherine Gough-Brady explores collaborating with the non-human in her film work. This is influenced by Yolŋu elders from Bawaka, known collectively as the Gay’wu Women. In their explanation of their song spirals, the Gay’wu Women explore narrative as being created in concert with place, which is holder of knowledge, and through creating a story by adding together points of difference rather than seeking unity. As Gough-Brady explores ways in which she can connect with landscape, mediated by the camera, she has begun to challenge the idea of using the observational mode, a mode usually employed when filming the non-human. Instead she applies the interview, normally reserved for human participants, as a method for filming place. Doing this changes the type of footage Gough-Brady records, and how it is edited together, where different shots of a place combine to create answers. Place becomes, as the Gay’wu Women suggest, full of knowledge that can be shared. Through this interrogative mode, Gough-Brady listens to the landscape, as it becomes a participant in the filmmaking.