By FilmInk Staff
The Saltwater Story is the narrative of author and journalist Benjamin Allmon, Bundjalung-Yugambeh canoe maker Kyle Slabb, veteran paddler Mark Matthews, and the First Nations community’s 70 kilometre, three day canoe journey from the Gold Coast to North Stradbroke Island. This epic sea voyage has connected the Goories or Saltwater People across the water from the Gold Coast to North Stradbroke Island for thousands of years.
With the early part of the journey taking them into the forests of the Gold Coast to make the canoes and then across sea, they are now preparing to bring this unique story of collaboration and connection to the big screen.
The Saltwater Story aims to present a storyteller’s unprecedented passage into a piece of First Nations culture that is rarely offered to someone outside of the Bundjalung people. Benjamin’s voyage with Kyle and his family has resulted in a documentary, as well as a fully illustrated book and exhibition which is to be launched on the Gold Coast at HOTA, Home of the Arts on Friday, May 18, 2018. For more info, head to the HOTA site.
