Back to Blog
14 May, 2021
Stephen Page recently spoke with the Sydney Morning Herald about iconic Australian actor David Gulpilil and upcoming documentary, My Name is Gulpilil. The documentary reflects on the journey and 50-year career of the great Yolngu actor. Stephen Page first met David Gulpilil when he was a teenager.
“When I first met David I was 18, 19, 20, and I was watching him in a room with teachers and tutors from North-East Arnhem Land. So he knew that we were urban fellas, and our parents didn’t carry traditional dance and stories, and he connected with us by showing us a dance.
And whether it was a Baru – a crocodile dance – or whether he was mimicking a brolga, what I loved is that it was like you could see him visualising, and then he would follow what that vision is, and then he would embody that vision, and then he would become physically, through his body, that totem or that animal. And I was like, I want some of that," commented Page.
Stephen and David’s relationship quickly grew. As director of the 2004 Adelaide Festival, Stephen co-conceived David Gulpilil’s autobiographical one-man show, Gulpilil.
Join Stephen Page for an intimate conversation about the life, career and story of David Gulpilil during a National Virtual Q&A on National Sorry Day, Wednesday 26 May.
My Name is Gulpilil is currently playing in select cinemas and can be seen across Australia from 27 May 2021.
Read full interview with Stephen Page here.