The 2026 London Australian Film Festival continues with a 20th anniversary screening of a landmark work of First Nations cinema, TEN CANOES. This screening will also mark the UK premiere of a stunning new restoration of Rolf de Heer and Peter Djiggir’s cautionary tale of forbidden love. 

Back in the old times, young aboriginal warrior Dayindi (Jamie Gulpilil) covets the youngest wife of his older brother Minygululu (Peter Minygululu). Out on the swamp on a goose-egg hunting expedition, Minygululu tells Dayindi a cautionary story from the mythical times, a tale within the tale, of the dire possible consequences if such feelings are acted upon.

Steve (LAFF programmer):

Laila (LAFF director): "in my top-10 of best films ever - funny, touching and surprisingly relatable"

Winner of the Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize at Cannes, the film originated in discussions between de Heer and David Gulpilil about putting Yolŋu lives, stories and language on screen. With a title inspired by anthropologist Donald Thomson’s 1936 photograph of ten canoeists on the Arafura Swamp, this landmark work of cross-cultural collaboration looks beyond the usual social divides to offer a compelling and often hilarious pre-colonial tale about the power of storytelling and the importance of our shared humanity.

Also screening will be a short film from the Australian Film Television and Radio School.

The 2026 London Australian Film Festival runs from 16-19 July at Finsbury Park Picturehouse. Aussie snacks, sweets & gifts will be on sale in the foyer throughout the festival, with a raffle taking place before every screening. 

With thanks to Rolf de Heer and Umbrella Entertainment.

REVIEWS:
“Ten Canoes unfolds in playful self-conscious style. Buoyed by a jubilant non-professional cast, the film bounces between the prosaic and profound – waxing philosophical one moment, taking the mickey out of itself the next…” - Luke Buckmaster, The Guardian

“The success of Ten Canoes in Australia rewrote several hitherto ironclad suppositions of the local film industry. Rolf de Heer showed that it was possible, by careful and sympathetic collaboration with co-director Peter Djigirr and all the indigenous participants, to make a film that was not condescending, exploitative or misrepresentative.” - Adrian Martin, Sight & Sound