Ablaze

Opera singer Tiriki Onus sets out to uncover the mystery surrounding an untitled 75-year-old silent movie discovered inside a vault with compelling links to his larger-than-life Indigenous grandfather, William “Bill” Onus. A charismatic cultural leader, entrepreneur, television host and theatre impresario (and possibly the first Aboriginal filmmaker), there’s much about him Tiriki still doesn’t know. With the intrigue and slick pace of the best detective fiction, Ablaze follows Tiriki as he chases down myriad leads about his grandfather whilst recounting key events in Australia’s sociocultural history. From workers’ strikes and early titles in a nascent national cinema, to trailblazing Aboriginal-led stage plays and the first ever Moomba Festival, directors Alec Morgan and Tiriki Onus reveal a compelling untold tale of activism, resistance and politically- driven art-making.