THANK YOU TO ALL OUR SUPPORTERS SO FAR :)

Please help us keep production going!

We need to film next month to finish the story.  To achieve this we have to reach our $30k target....and we still have a way to go.

Here's why we think this film should be made:

"Understanding and valuing cultural diversity are the keys to countering racism. All individuals must feel free to explore the uniqueness of their culture and identity while developing understandings of the cultural diversity that exists in the world around them."   RACISM NO WAY, Anti-Racism Education for Australian Schools

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Zach’s an ordinary Australian kid, struggling with life in the city and the outback. His dominant father insists he connects with his Aboriginal roots through the ancient rite of Initiation, but as the pressure of ceremony builds, the bond with his father breaks down, leaving Zach more lost than ever.


“In the city they call me blackfella, in the outback they call me whitefella. I don’t know who I am.” Zach Doomadgee 13 yrs

This is the deeply personal conflict at the core of 'Zach's Ceremony,' a story about a boy who straddles two contrasting worlds – urban versus rural, modern versus ancient, and black versus white. At the heart of this film is the clash of culture, race and identity.

Zach’s family is proudly Aboriginal and carries the surname from their remote Indigenous homeland, Doomadgee in northern Australia. His father, Alec has a strong connection to his Aboriginal heritage and encourages Zach to be ‘out there’ with his culture. He sees his son as an Aboriginal man of the future because of the way he looks and the fact he has the best of both worlds – modern city life in Sydney and traditional Aboriginal life in Doomadgee.

Against the vibrant city of Sydney, Zach is provoked by racist taunts and finds himself on a self-destructive path fuelled by drugs, alcohol and sex. His rebellious outbursts challenge his once close relationship with his dad, reaching breaking point when he is expelled from school.



Alec wants Zach to connect with his culture, to enable him to reconcile the racial conflict he encounters and set him on the right path. He believes Zach needs to be empowered by cultural knowledge and become a man through the Aboriginal ancient rite of initiation.

In whitefella world, this rite-of-passage is often considered controversial. In blackfella world, it’s the only way to become a man.

Will Ceremony and Aboriginal knowledge get Zach back on the right path? When all he really wants is for his father to love him for who he is. Filmed over 5 years, ‘Zach’s Ceremony’ is an emotional story; the narrative is personal but the issue of identity, self-discovery and parental approval are universal.

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