Laurens Goud & Justin Grant: Our Voice, Our Heart co-directors' exclusive interview

GOUD: It all started when we realised that talking about the referendum was becoming a social faux pas. It just didn’t feel comfortable. But this is a big, important moment, so we felt we had to do something to make those conversations easier. The idea is pretty simple really. Connect with the audience by acknowledging there is more to learn, and then have 'regular-person' conversations with community members on Country to help paint a picture of what is important to them, and how their lives might differ from the lives of urban Australians.

GRANT: For me, it all started when Laurens offered me a position as the cultural protocol officer for his film, Our Voice, Our Heart. I loved the film idea so much that I put my hand up for a role as a performer in the film. Laurens liked the idea but I also wanted to help with the cultural protocol officer role to help everyone when going into remote communities. Then the journey began. By not knowing where we were going to go we contacted as many communities in the Northern Territory as we could, which was a good point for us to start. The power in some of the communities and their way of life on our journey to find out more about this referendum was inspiring for me.

GOUD: The whole film is set in the Northern Territory, which we felt was important because, under the rules of the referendum, the NT won't be considered in the count of supporting States. So despite an overwhelmingly larger percentage of First Nations people living in the NT compared to other states, those votes are only counted in the “Overall” count. ​To us that gives all other voters in other states an added responsibility to consider the perspectives and needs of those in the NT, when they place their vote. To the specific places we travel, we wanted to cover places of personal meaning to Jaxon and Justin, which led to us travelling to Kalkarindji in Gurindji Country and Pirlangimpi (Garden Point) on Melville Island Tiwi. We wanted to cover some key historical moments in Indigenous Rights, which led us to the Barunga Festival where the Barunga Statement was first made and coincidentally re-affirmed while we were there and Nhulunbuy where the Bark Petitions were first created. Finally, we wanted to show the difference in life and the physical world for many rural indigenous people by crossing croc-infested waters and travelling the stone country of Gunbalanya and Kakadu.

GRANT: Key experiences for me were the journey we went on and the feeling of the different places like West Arnhem to East Arnhem down to my country further south. Coming from a non-political background and hearing the strengths and weaknesses of the government in each community was eye-opening for me. I also found out about the strength of the warriors who fought for the bark petition, literally holding their spears to show the people and the government they weren’t mucking around.

GOUD: The key to this film was always about how well the talent would be able to take the audience into the journey, feel connected to the experience, and consequently be able to absorb the learnings. In my opinion, Justin and Jaxon, both with no experience in this sort of project, were so committed to the mission, to learning, to sharing their emotions that it made the story work. Working with and in communities is very different from most film planning. Schedules are completely useless. You are often dealing with an existing distrust for the media and people being misrepresented. Combine this with an extremely tight budget and timelines, and we really relied on the genuine, honest nature of Justin and Jaxon to quickly form some trust, and allow for these conversations to be had and filmed. Flexibility is everything!

GRANT: For me, coordinating the work was tough, but letting it be flexible, accepting, and respectful of tradition in everyone's Country was the main focus, by touching base with the elders and letting the community semi-drive the project. With all this in place, we could then open ourselves up to learning more without bringing our own agenda into these communities.

GOUD: I am lucky enough to have run Trade Creative Media since 2009, which is based in Melbourne has a fantastic production team. But I moved to Darwin at the start of 2022, and so the crew became a mix of our in-house team and local professionals. Jayden Moyle is a DOP and Camera Op based in Darwin whom I wanted to work with and was lucky enough to secure for the project. His knowledge and experience working in the NT was invaluable. Long-time Trade Creative DOP Edward Bracey led the camera team. I have worked with Ed for over 7 years now, and that close understanding is key when you are changing plans on the go all the time. Sound Recordist Ben Bomitali saved the day in terms of sound, as we were unable to secure a local recordist with our changing schedule. I have worked with Ben for over 10 years, so I knew the quality of person and sound we were adding to the team.

GOUD: The response has been really overwhelming, to be honest. The project started with some humble goals and just grew with every conversation. The opportunity to do an early screening at Garma was a game-changer for us. The response was clear – this film filled a space for soft, story-based learning that could give people the basic tools to start engaging with the content of the referendum. The common question we get is “So how are you going to vote”, but for us, the film is not about our personal positions. It is about opening people, acknowledging their questions, and then empowering or being capable of engaging to answer those questions. We have over 30 private organisations to date screening the film as a means of employee education on the matter. And the reason behind that demand is that it isn’t about pitching a position, it is about pitching responsibility, and providing the foundation knowledge, perspectives and experience for people to work from.

GOUD: The experience has been profound. I don’t think I’ve even scratched the surface of how deeply this project has affected me. With the intensity of timelines, screenings, publicity, and deliverables – all I really know right now is that it feels important and it is worth the energy and resources we are committing to try and get those eyeballs and brains thinking. ​ What I will say is that I know I have two lifelong friends from this project, and I cannot thank Jaxon and Justin enough for bringing their whole selves, and making the vision work.

GRANT: Going on this film journey into these communities brings the feelings of home back into my heart. Growing up around the communities when I was younger and hearing the old stories of the ancestors led me to eventually become the storyteller I am today and this has restored my love and hope of telling more stories of the old ways our people lived. I cannot explain the feeling of not knowing how much I needed this journey within these communities. I feel as though I wanted to go on a journey to learn but also get a glimpse of what I could become as a powerful speaker for my community. This could make a change or it could not but I feel like I know now what I need to do more of in my own community.