iDIDJ Australia Didgeridoo Cultural Hub

[ididjaustralia]

I received delivery of some sets of "The Yirrkala Film Project DVD Collection", very special for those who know about the old films on VHS. The DVD Collection is limited edition with only 250 copies produced. Each set comprises of 22 films. The blurb for the DVD Collection goes something like this:

Quote:

A Film Australia National Interest Program produced in association with the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. 18 x single layer single-sided discs are packaged together in a beautifully presented boxed set. PAL and NTSC formats available. 2007, 1040 Minutes. A limited edition DVD collection of 22 films made by Ian Dunlop over a 30 year period with the Yolngu, the Aboriginal people of northeast Arnhem Land. Yirrkala was an isolated mission station until the coming of a huge bauxite mine in the late 1960s. The impact of the mine on the Yolngu and their response is a major theme of this long-term film project. Each film stands on its own but each is also part of a rich mosaic. The relationship between people and their clans, ritual, art and land is an intertwining theme. Several major ceremonies are documented. The importance of the land is ever-present. Despite enormous disruption to their lives, the resilience of the Yolngu and their culture shines through. Note: Purchasers of the boxed set also receive Ceremony - The Djungguwan of Northeast Arnhem Land, a two-DVD set that explores the role of ceremony in Indigenous Australia through a detailed look at one of the most important ceremonies of the Yolngu people - the Djungguwan. Disc 2 is an edited version (199 mins) of Djungguwan at Gurka'wuy, which was filmed in 1976 as part of The Yirrkala Film Project. NB: PAL format only.

I've got copies available for AUD$380 plus extra for postage for the complete set, quite a bit cheaper than when I got the series as VHS tapes many years ago.

Guan

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[stockie]

Ive been looking forward to them releasing these on to DVD but why oh why oh why oh why make it a limmited edition and why make it so bloomin expensive will the be releasing it again at a later date?

[ididjaustralia]

Hi Stockie,

Your first question I can't answer, I guess it is because it is special, that's why it is limited edition.

As for your second statement... Expensive? No way!!! That's 22 films at around AUD$17.30 per film. And AUD$380 is cheaper than you will find anywhere else, even Film Australia the primary distributor charges more. Take into consideration that the Djungguwan double DVD is AUD$58 (or AUD$65 at Film Australia), the whole series should be worth well over AUD$1000 if you multiply 58 by 22. That's 1040 minutes worth of viewing time or almost 17 and a half hours. You could spend an entire day plus 1 night watching the series from start to end, with the requisite toilet breaks, occasional look in the fridge, maybe several pop-corn experiments in the microwave oven...

And if you were to spend 30 years living in Arnhem Land to get the same sort of stories and cultural insights, you would have expended/given away tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. And you're saying AUD$380 is expensive?????????????? Come on, you are kidding me.

Will the Collection be released again at a later date? That's a definitely and emphatic no, I've checked already.

Anyway, whoever is lucky enough to get a copy, enjoy!

Guan

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[stockie]

OOOOHHHHH sorry but its expensive to me when you have little if no disposable income to hand (I love living in a capitalist society and working for da man, man) but that would be around 200 quid which is to me expensive when you take into consideration everything else. I do see your argument about a day and a half ect but my argument would be that this was a project from my understanding for the world to see, by people inc Yolugu who want the world to know and film australia (im assuming a government run/funded body) who seem willing to put money behind strictly dancing (possibly mad max) and every commercial film in Oz but not put out on general release some anthropoligical films that would benifit people all round the world. I mean com on theve gone to the truble of putting them on to a digital platform, re pacakging and rebranding/designing it to then realese 250 coppies .........unterly stupid COME ON FILM AUSTRALIA GET WISE TO A MARKET EVEN THOUGH SMALL THAT WOULD BY THIS, not only didge players, but schools, libraries, museums. go figure


HMMM feel better know I would however be willing to share the cost of purchasing this with people in the UK if they are interested in a CO OP kind of way anyone interested please PM me or let me know some how.

[ididjaustralia]

Sorry to hear about your financial situation Stockie, it ain't easy livin' in the modern world. Just stay out of debt is all I can say!

I get your feelings about limiting to 250 copies. The same thing is done for books and other things like cars too though. I suppose when something is considered special, limiting the number that will be produced makes it even more special. I've got a book on the Tiwi people that was also limited to 250 or 300 copies, it was published in 1958 and its current market value is about the same as the price of the DVD Collection. With 180 odd pages, that's like $2 per page!!!! Is it worth it? Oh yes, every cent of it!

By the way, the university price for this DVD set is AUD$1595. Another reason to consider ourselves as lucky as private buyers/home viewers

There's always the VHS copies which will always be available; ie. they are not limited edition.

Guan

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[flyangler18]

I've also been waiting for this release with much anticipation.....AUD$380 is quite reasonable given the amount of knowledge shared in 17.5 hours of viewing time! Of course the digital format is perfect, no moving parts to degrade.

Jason

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[YidakiMago]

Gaun my friend, sign me up for one copy!

This will dry my tears cos I can't attend the masterclass. He Stock sorry to hear my friend but if you ever end up in the Netherlands and a copy off the marvels has arrived, youre most welcome to watch.

[ididjaustralia]

Here's postage cost for those who inquired, this is actual cost as charged by Australia Post, I don't make a cent on postage and packaging:

Within Australia: AUD$10
Japan: AUD$29.25
USA: AUD$35.50
Europe: AUD$44.75

Weight of the DVD set is slightly over 1 kg, packed weight is almost 1.5 kg, so when using the following postage calculator, choose "1250 up to 1500 grams" for weight:

http://www1.auspost.com.au/pac/int_parcel.asp

Or if you're also purchasing a didgeridoo I am able to pack the DVDs into the standard didgeridoo box supplied by my freight company at no extra freight cost, if the DVDs fit into the box (if your didgeridoo is not too long) and if the total packed weight of the box including didgeridoo does not exceed 6.0 kg.


Guan

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[stockie]

Hi Guan

what freight company do you use for sticks as a mate of mine in londos parents want to send him a load of family stuff from adelaid but are being quoted a fortune

[kdidj]

Guan gets commercial rates for fixed size boxes Stockie which isn't relevant to your friend's needs I should think.

If they want to send it from Adelaide on the cheap then it'll have to be by sea.

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[stockie]

Quote:

If they want to send it from Adelaide on the cheap then it'll have to be by sea.

So Im assuming that would be a normal freight company DHL etc and would probably take a month or 2? ill let him know

[ididjaustralia]

Kyle's right Stockie, cheapest method is by sea. Air can be very dear, and the AUD$80 I charge for sending didgeridoos overseas is as cheap as it can possibly be and that is only because I don't add any mark-up for packaging material, labour etc. Also, it helps to have an account with a freight company. If you are a walk-in customer you'll be charged an arm and a leg. You can try DHL, UPS, TNT, and Fedex and compare their prices, but be aware that the final cost will be dependent on dead weight or volumetric weight whichever is greater, and there is also a fuel surcharge which varies according to global crude oil price and can be anywhere from 14% upwards depending on which company you use. And some companies also charge a security fee now that security is an issue and parcels need to be more carefully inspected these days. I'd say you will be looking at several hundred dollars in cost using one of these companies.

If it works out cheaper, you could always have the items sent to me from Adelaide and I can then send overseas for AUD$80 if the items fit into my standard issue box and packed weight is 6.0 kg or less.

Guan

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[Peter Lister]

stockie wrote:

I do see your argument about a day and a half ect but my argument would be that this was a project from my understanding for the world to see, by people inc Yolugu who want the world to know and film australia (im assuming a government run/funded body) who seem willing to put money behind strictly dancing (possibly mad max) and every commercial film in Oz but not put out on general release some anthropoligical films that would benifit people all round the world. I mean com on theve gone to the truble of putting them on to a digital platform, re pacakging and rebranding/designing it to then realese 250 coppies .........unterly stupid COME ON FILM AUSTRALIA GET WISE TO A MARKET EVEN THOUGH SMALL THAT WOULD BY THIS, not only didge players, but schools, libraries, museums. go figure

You have to understand that while all this makes perfect sense to us the truth is that not many people apart from us here would be interested. I'd venture to suggest that not even many here would be that keen. This is an absolutely amazing collection of footage from which much can be learned. I can count on one hand the number of people I know, including myself, that have this collection (as VHS tape). Friends of mine with absolutley no interest in this topic have seen some of my tapes and been amazed, but they'd never buy them. One of our TV stations was broadcasting them here for a while which was terrific, but such a thing is rare. The key word in your comments above is "commercial" - sad reality.

As I said, this is an amazing collection and not to be missed if you are serious about learning about ceremony - Ian Dunlop is a legend. As Guan said, the tapes are always available - I think they produce them on demand.

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Bita

[Yirrkala Arts]

I've been told by Film Australia (when I was helping them with the choice of images and the design of the DVD menus ) that the box set was limited edition but individual titles would be available later. All their other Aboriginal related DVD titles we get are already DVD-R burns rather than pressed from glass masters, anyway, so they'll probably be burned copies.

Of course I was also told two weeks ago that the box set wouldn't be available for a while yet, and that Yirrkala would get first news of the release and the first copies. Now that I know that's not true (which I'm pretty much furious about), all bets are off on what I was told!

Randy

[kakadekick]

Are there translations ?

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Anthony