Raw in its intimacy and heartbreaking in its clarity, Toomelah continues the strong showing from the new wave of indigenous cinema in Australia.  

The town of Toomelah is located on the border between New South Wales and Queensland. Back in the 1980s it made headlines when its poor living conditions saw the town declared one of the worst in Australia. It is also the hometown of filmmaker Ivan Sen’s mother.

Sen’s extended stay in Toomelah inspired him to create a movie about life in the town. It was a hands on experimental production, with Sen taking care of most filmmaking duties while casting real townspeople in lead roles (much like Mad Bastards earlier this year).

As a result the performances can feel a little green, yet such is the strength of Toomelah with authenticity trumping theatrics.

Toomelah follows Daniel (Daniel Connors), a young boy whose destructive behaviour has him suspended from school and becoming friends with the local drug king Linden (Christopher Edwards).

Through Daniel, writer/director Sen takes us into a third world community placed in the middle of a first world country, where poverty, drugs, violence and nihilism are institutions.

The last part is particularly significant. While the plight and current living conditions of most Aboriginal people has been chronicled many times in film, Toomelah touches on the cultural and spiritual void which has further crippled a people already damaged from years of abuse and neglect.

Many of these characters have lost links with their ancestral heritage and language. The concepts of western spirituality – particularly Christianity with Toomelah originally a mission town – has also been given the heave-ho, with rap culture the gospel which many of these characters live by.

This is the environment which Daniel lives in. His parents are separated and lost in a fog of marijuana smoke and booze. Drug dealers are his best friends. Hot chips are for breakfast.

Ironically, the only true adult guidance comes from another drug dealer fresh out of prison (Deal Daley Hughes). He warns Daniel that his life is the future that awaits in a great scene which Daley-Hughes knocks out of the park.

Toomelah along with other recent indigenous Australian films such as Samson and Delilah and Mad Bastards, should be compulsory viewing for Aboriginal youth, due to both its messages within and the example that filmmakers such as Sen can be a success.

Sen has put together something special here, with Toomelah a reminder of the past, a confronting look at the present, and a warning that without hope, guidance and faith, nothing with ever improve.