by Mandy Taylor
SOCIAL
Tour Central Australia with traditional owners on ICTV

Want to visit some of Central Australia’s iconic landscapes with Traditional Owners sharing their stories and knowledge but just can’t get the time away? Thanks to ICTV, viewers can take an armchair tour of some Central Australian locations with the station’s first foray into Slow TV.
The first episode in the 2-part program On Country will screen on ICTV on Saturday November 16th at 7pm and will be available to stream on ICTV PLAY (www.ictv.com.au).
The Slow TV style originated in Scandinavia, a genre of marathon television covering ordinary events such as train journeys in their entirety. Most recently, SBS TV screened a 5-hour Ghan journey which proved a surprising hit with viewers.
ICTV General Manager Rita Cattoni said the long form TV style was well suited to formats such as On Country, giving time for the exploration of landscape, stories, culture and history.
“With the production of these programs, we have Traditional Owners showing us around their country, sharing their stories of place and talking about the history of the locations and telling contemporary history of the landmarks,” Ms Cattoni said.
“The programs celebrate special cultural and contemporary places. They include drone footage giving unique aerial views of country and cultural sites as directed by the Traditional Owners.
“On Country preserves important stories and language but also gives an important perspective to viewers about the value of country to Traditional Owners.
“We get to see the country through their eyes and their values, as well as visit some spectacular Central Australian places.”
The first episode of On Country directed by Lekisha Lord takes us to Rainbow Valley, where Traditional Owners share their stories of this beautiful place in Luritja and English.
The second episode, screening on Saturday November 23 and also on ICTV PLAY, is shot around the community of Amoonguna, about 30 kms east of Alice Springs and was directed by Josh Davis.
Traditional Owners take us to explore the community and surrounds, sharing stories and history in Arrernte and English. The long form programs feature a soundtrack from Indigenous artist Thomas Saylor.
2 Quotes from Traditional Owners appearing in On Country
“We welcome you to our beautiful country. Take a look around. We hope you like hearing these stories about our country.” Peter Kenny, Rainbow Valley.
“On Country, it’s who you are and the roots run deeper than anything, or anybody. We had a lot of fun making this and we hope people enjoy it and learn something about the history of this place.” Marie Ellis, Amoonguna.
On Country - Rainbow Valley. Image: supplied
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