The First Inventors – Behind the Scenes

Director Larissa Behrendt discusses her passion for the documentary medium in communicating positive First Nations stories in the new series, The First Inventors.

Once a lawyer, director Larissa Behrendt is experienced in listening to people’s stories and retelling them on their behalf. Now as a filmmaker, Larissa is relishing the opportunity to empower First Nations people to share their stories first-hand and to provide a platform for these messages to reach a wide audience.

It’s this motivation that propels her to tell positive First Nations stories and delve into the history of her people’s culture in The First Inventors.

“I was really keen to have the opportunity to show a non-Indigenous audience the beauty, the wisdom, the innovation, the science, the complexity of my culture,” explains Behrendt.

In this behind-the-scenes video, Behrendt discusses the animation used in the series to tell ancient stories and how she was surprised to learn new aspects to her culture.

The First Inventors is screening on NITV and Channel Ten from 15 June, 2023.