AllMovie

In 2005, Australian filmmaker Rolf de Heer traveled to the nation's Northern Territory to shoot Ten Canoes, a story based on an Aborigine folk tale that featured a cast of native peoples speaking their native language, a first in Aussie cinema. Documentary filmmakers Molly Reynolds and Tania Nehme joined de Heer on this unusual journey, and Balanda and the Bark Canoes is a chronicle of the making of Ten Canoes. As well as capturing the ups and downs of making a motion picture, Balanda and the Bark Canoes also documents the filmmakers' respectful but sometimes uneasy relationship with people who are clearly uncomfortable with having certain aspects of their culture and heritage interpreted by outsiders. Balanda and the Bark Canoes received its world premiere at the 2006 Sydney Film Festival.