Port Hedland is a place of industry. Houses are outrageously expensive, the pubs are many and entertainment is limited to sport, sport and sport. The Matt Dann Cultural Centre, funded by the local council, is the only place in town to see movies, theatre, or see your kids graduating from high school. With only 15,000 people in town and many of these working long hours in the mines, the Big Screen team worried: would people come to our festival?

Meaghan Kerr (of the cultural centre) and another local, Claire Roberts, put a great deal of work into helping Big Screen get the word out. ABC Radio, Spirit FM, the Pilbara News and Northwest Telegraph all promoted Big Screen. And in return the people came - packing the cinema, mingling in the foyer and debating the films.

The first screening is a sell-out; 307 children enjoy the free screening of the classic The Magic Pudding. In a quick pre-film quiz the children struggle to name an Australian film. But naming Australian animals like dingos, black snakes and brown snakes, which many of the local Indigenous children had seen in the wild, remind everyone that they’d seen at least three Australian films. Big Screen and School Screen aim to show every Australian child at least one Australian film in the cinema. No Worries with its stories of drought and hardship and the strength of community is a familiar story for many of the kids who came to see the film. The kids here live surrounded by the Great Sandy Desert, the Little Sandy Desert and the Gibson Desert.

On opening night the foyer is packed – it’s very close to a sell-out, many people were excited to see Ten Canoes, a film they’d heard so much about. Tom Stephens MLA, Member for Central Kimberley-Pilbara, opened proceedings. “It’s great to see the huge local community response, especially since some other touring festivals have recently pulled out of Port Hedland,” he said, and congratulated the organisers on drawing a very mixed audience.

Ningali Lawford Wolf, an actor and dancer now living in the area, introduced Ten Canoes, taking to the stage like it was home. She first performed on the Matt Dann stage in 1992 in Bran Nue Dae, returning for Black and Tan. Ningali spoke with warmth and humour about the power of films to lead to a greater understanding and respect for all people. She grew up on a cattle station where her father was the overseer at Wangkatjungka, near Fitzroy Crossing. “I was always watching cowboy movies," she said. "I wanted to be an actor, I wanted to be up there, but I didn’t want to be rescued, I wanted to be the cowboy.” She called on everyone to enjoy and celebrate the achievements of Aboriginal people in telling stories, singing and dancing. “That’s what we do so well, we tell stories from the heart.” She praised Ten Canoes as a film that would help everyone understand our shared history, so that we can all move on together.

A gregarious charmer, Deputy Mayor Arnold Carter spoke next, calling for more events in Port Hedland like this. The council assisted with sponsorship and promotion of the event. Over 50 elders and families attended from the Wangka Maya Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre, as well as Indigenous artists from the Courthouse Arts Centre and Gallery, and 30 staff members from BHP Billiton.

The young projectionists took the event in their stride; Brad, just 15 years old, is mixing soundtracks at home and seems ready for a career in film and TV.

The eight days of the Big Screen Pilbara tour had great results – 35 Australian films were screened, films that people in the Pilbara would not normally get access to on a big screen. The Caterpillar Wish was especially enjoyed. Plus over 650 school children in the Pilbara viewed, at no charge, the latest Australian films and classics.

For Meaghan Kerr “events like Big Screen bring in people who might not normally come to the Matt Dann Cultural Centre, especially the free school screenings”. “I’m more than happy with Big Screen. The community response was excellent and if the community can keep up the support then we can have more events like it come to Port Hedland.”

Flying home over Paraburdoo, Meekatharra, Dalwallinu ... names that sing the vastness of this land, over red dusted hills, gorges, rivers running dry with sand, tracing the country like veins and capillaries. I’m astounded at the massive feat of endurance and skill of Doris Pilkington’s mother who walked this country twice, escaping her captors and finding her way home. Her book Following the Rabbit-Proof Fence inspiring the feature film that Ningali Lawford Wolf appeared in a few years ago – Phillip Noyce’s Rabbit-Proof Fence.

Heading further south the rivers fan out and wash into the desert, white saltpans are ringed red with iron dust. Then finally flying over the square plots of farmland aching dryness, crisped brown.

This was my first tour as a presenter of Big Screen. The land itself and the people remind me of our uniqueness, and the necessity of taking Australian films all around this vast nation so that we ‘dream our own dreams’. Huge thanks to everyone on the road and in our office for making this a great tour of the Pilbara.

Jacqui North, ICD Audience Development Coordinator