IN THE Press
WESTWIND: DJALU’S LEGACY EXCERPTS
"A haunting and important film about one man’s heroic quest to keep ancient knowledge of his culture alive, through the power of song"
— NICK CAVE
"He's a lawman. He's a songman. He's a master Yidaki maker and hes also a custodian of the instrument and he's going to start us off tonight with a healing. This is Djalu Gurruwiwi, Malo, my father."
— GOTYE
SBS
'If you give time to sit and listen, Yolngu people are happy to share knowledge': Filmmaker Ben Strunin on Gurruwiwi friendship
THE GUARDIAN
"Djalu Gurruwiwi is a spiritual keeper of the didgeridoo. He’s also a mysterious and charismatic figure, whose admirers include a film-maker, a street artist and the musician Gotye. Paul Daley joins them on a voyage along an ancient songline"
NEWS
.COM.AU
“In 2014 de Backer took a creative detour to North East Arnhem Land, where he met with Djalu Gurruwiwi, a Yolngu elder and didgeridoo player, custodian and craftsman.
Djalu wants his music to carry on and reach new and wider audiences, filmmaker Ben Strunin captured de Backer meeting and performing with Djalu and his son Larry in the documentary Westwind: Djalu’s Legacy, screening at the Melbourne International Film Festival…”
BEAT
"I could see how important Djalu was and I could see the reverence people had for him. Just to be in his presence – you feel it instantaneously, because he's a powerful, mystical man. He's very generous, he's very charismatic. He's full of love. You love the guy almost instantaneously. He's got a magnetic personality, and he's clearly a maverick in the way that he travels the world sharing his culture.""