Witness an Aboriginal Community's First Encounter with the Atomic Age in VR Film Collisions

For the first time ever, virtual reality technology is being used to tell an Aboriginal story. As part of the Melbourne Festival, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image is presenting Collisions—a VR experience exploring the homeland of Western Australia’s Martu people in dazzling detail, and re-visiting its startling first encounter with Western technology.

Collisions is the first VR work by immersive film maker Lynette Wallworth, who has previously won acclaim for her interactive video installations. The film allows its headset-bound users to stand in the desert and live the experiences of Martu elder Nyarri Nyarri Morgan.

As a member of the Martu, who lived in relative isolation prior to the 1960s, Morgan’s terrifying first contact with Western culture came when he witnessed an atomic test taking place in his desert homeland. The elder’s introduction to the devastating technology changed his worldview forever.

Filmed on location in Western Australia using ambitious 360 degree filming techniques that often involved the crew driving enormous distances in order to avoid being caught within the frame, Collisions combines live action and animation. It is narrated by both Wallworth and Morgan’s grandson Curtis Taylor—Wallworth developed her voiceover narration with Joe Bini, editor and long-time collaborator of documentary maker Werner Herzog.

This is the director’s third time working with the Martu people, and she’s excited to share their story with a VR audience.

"Collisions is a powerful parable for our country. Nyarri Morgan's story has been hidden until now so I am grateful that it will be showcased at ACMI allowing many to contemplate its message,” she says.

Collisions will open as part of the Melbourne Festival on October  6, continuing until January 15. You can find out more about it here.

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