Documentary Development Update: The Art (and Challenge) of Writing Our Next Film

Gundungurra & Dharug Country, NSW, 29 November, 2025.

After a year of iterative writing, long discussions, and countless script revisions, we’re excited to share that our second documentary is now in the final stages of production, following in the strong footsteps of our first international award-winning film DJÄKAMIRR.

Last September, we began a deep dive into three years’ worth of run ‘n’ gun field footage, hundreds of hours captured across Yolŋu Country. (If you missed that backstory, you can read about our data-gathering approach in my earlier blog post.)

This current stage of development has been slow and layered. Partly because we made an early, and necessary, course correction in our storytelling approach. And partly because the process itself is complex: our small three person creative team works across a minimum of three languages, multiple states, and the ebb and flow of real-life commitments, including semi-retirement, cultural obligations, and the demands of leading a complex intercultural research project in a low-resource environment.

Despite the challenges, we’ve made it here, and that’s a testament to the strength of our partnerships, our shared purpose, and our ability to work with flow and trust across epistemological and geographical borders.

For those curious about how a documentary script comes together, especially in the academic and intercultural context, here’s a glimpse into our process. Unlike fictional screenwriting, documentary scripting doesn’t start from imagination; it begins with the data: field notes, interviews, cultural exchanges, and lived experience. The task is to translate this raw material into a coherent emotional and intellectual journey, balancing theory and story, voice and image into a documentary.

Photo credit: Sarah Ireland. Our on-the-road editing and recording studios as we refine the script.

Our development process moves through iterative cycles of writing, visual editing, and sound/musical experimenting. Each round has involved reflection, discussion, and reworking, guided by feeling, informed by principles, and constrained by the very real challenge of condensing years of participatory research into a 90-minute film!!

Here’s how our creative loop generally unfolds:

1. Drafting the Script – The written narrative telling the story, sets out suggested character interviews, visual cues (B-rolls, on-screen text), and transitions.

2. Building the Visuals and Sound – Editors and sound designers (whose skills co-habitat in one person named Pat Josse) interpret the written script, building sequences that evoke tone and rhythm.

3. Critical Reviewing – The combined visual-script version is screened and annotated.

4. Collaborative Refinement – Comments and reflections are logged, usually in a shared spreadsheet, and discussed as a team before the next cycle begins.

   
   

It’s equal parts creative expression and academic rigour : a dance between intuition and analysis.

Recently, we shared in community our near-final draft with the project's Yolŋu governance group- the Gumurr’dhangiyunamirr Board - for their review and endorsement. Supported by the Molly Wardaguga Institute, Professor Ḻäwurrpa Maypilama hosted a supper and informal screening at the local Sports and Rec Meeting Room. We were also fortunate to have the Waminda team join us and review the sequence featuring their organisation.

It was deeply moving to see Yolŋu community members engage so strongly with the film recognising their stories, their land, and their law woven throughout. Many reminisced about the journeys we filmed together in remote Arnhem Land, scenes that now form the heart of the documentary.

We’re proud to share that the Gumurr’dhangiyunamirr Board has formally endorsed and approved the film: a milestone that grounds our creative work in community control, authority and cultural legitimacy.

Photo credit: Renee Adair & Sarah Ireland. Galiwin'ku Gumurr’dhangiyunamirr Board documentary screening and catching up with Cultural Authorities featured in the film sisters Guyupul and Dhamdarra.

Although this is a major achievement, our journey is far from over. The film won’t be released until the new year, as we move into the final stages of post-production. That includes recording the professional narration, finalising the original soundtrack, colour grading and subtitle checks, and designing promotional materials such as posters and trailers.

While it might sound like a big studio is behind this effort: it’s just Ḻäwurrpa Maypilama, Pat Josse, and myself, juggling cultural, creative, technical, and production roles.

Photo credit: Pat Josse. The film making team (L-R) Sarah Ireland, Elaine Ḻäwurrpa Maypilama & Pat Josse.

It’s long (sometimes exhausting) journey, but it’s also full of joy, satisfaction, learning, and shared purpose. I love making films with this remarkable pair. And together we can’t wait to share more about the new film soon!

Learn more with these links

Stream DJÄKAMIRR our first award winning documentary

Gumurr’dhangiyunamirr Board

Molly Wardaguga Institute

Waminda South Coast Women’s Health and Wellbeing Aboriginal Corporation

Professor Elaine Ḻäwurrpa Maypilama

Pat Josse