New Matilda is giving away 20 free online passes to Stingray Sisters, an uplifting and infectious series about three Indigenous women born into two worlds – the remote community of Maningrida, in Arnhem Land, and Brisbane, Queensland.
Released last week, the documentary tells the story of Noni, Alice and Grace Eather – three Kunibídji women navigating their twenties while experiencing all the joys and challenges that go with living in a remote community.
The sisters grew up in Brisbane, but never lost their close connection to country, culture, or their Ndjébbana language. Stingray Sisters offers an intimate look at what life is like in the remote community of Maningrida, and explores the sisters’ fear that their homelands will soon be disrupted by the gas industry.
“You chuck a stone in the water, there’s going to be a ripple effect. You put a drill in the sea bed, there’s going to be a ripple effect,” Alice Eather says. But as Stingray Sisters makes clear – if you threaten these Kunibídji women, there’s going to be a determined resistance too.
When Alice Eather first heard about plans to explore for gas in Arnhem Land, in 2012, she called her best friend in tears. It just so happened that best friend was Katrina Channells, the Director of Stingray Sisters.
Over the four years since, Channells and her production company Yarn have created a warm and intimate portrait of the sisters, family life in remote Aboriginal communities, and the battle to stop the development of gas fields which threaten homelands.
“I can fight for and speak for this country from Ndjúdda Point to the two islands. We are caretakers. I can’t imagine having oil rigs out there, roads coming in and out. That’s what I don’t want. That’s what mob here don’t want,” Alice Eather says.
Now, 20 New Matilda viewers have the opportunity to take a tour through the dual lives of the Eather sisters and their community.
If you’re a current paid New Matilda subscriber, all you have to do is tell us in 25 words or less why you think it’s important the Stingray Sisters’ story is heard. Email admin@newmatilda.com with your answer, and include Stingray Sisters Comp as the subject line.
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