Wash My Soul in the River's Flow

A cinematic reinvention of Archie Roach and the late Ruby Hunter’s 2004 award-winning concert – a fertile music collaboration with Paul Grabowsky and the Australian Art Orchestra.

In 2004, Ruby and Archie worked with Grabowsky and the Australian Art Orchestra to create the seminal concert Kura Tungar: Songs from the River. Ruby was born on the banks of the Murray, home to the Ngarrindjeri people for thousands of years. As a child, she was forcibly taken from her family under the government’s assimilation policy. Years later she met Archie, another member of the Stolen Generation, at a Salvation Army drop-in centre.

The story of their lives, as told through their music and lively yarns, celebrates country and culture, resilience, and family. Philippa Bateman’s film threads together footage of rehearsals and opening night with images of the Murray. Executive produced by Indigenous singer-songwriter Emma Donovan.

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