Magic Lands Alliance
Sharing the truth of Indigenous and colonial history through film, education, and community.
Magic Lands Alliance (MLA) is an international association committed to historical storytelling across Australia, Polynesia, and Africa.
We produce period film dramas that serve as the foundation for broader cultural outcomes, including education resources, heritage tourism initiatives, archival preservation, and community infrastructure.
Screen production becomes the engine that activates long-term cultural, environmental, and social benefits.
Working in partnership with Indigenous custodians and Elders, alongside historians, educators, filmmakers, and philanthropic and tourism stakeholders, MLA combines rigorous research, cultural authority and consent, and compelling storytelling to deepen public understanding of Country and history.
The Gap
Across Australia and internationally, demand is growing for:
• Indigenous-led truth-telling and cultural archives
• Historical education reflecting lived experience and multiple perspectives
• Cultural tourism models that return value directly to Traditional Owners and First Nations communities
• Accurate and complete interpretations of early colonial history
Despite this demand, many initiatives remain limited by:
• Short funding cycles and shifting government or organisational priorities
• Project-based delivery models
• A lack of permanent infrastructure and long-term cultural restoration planning
The MLA Approach
MLA brings together Indigenous governance, academic research, and professional screen production within a single, scalable cultural infrastructure framework.
Rather than delivering temporary projects, MLA uses screen production as the foundation to design and establish long-term cultural assets on Country — assets that continue serving community, education, and visitors well beyond filming.
What MLA Delivers
• Built cultural environments retained for ongoing community and educational use
• Indigenous-led visitor experiences grounded in place, language, and history
• Curriculum-aligned educational resources from early learning to tertiary study
• Employment, skills development, and enterprise pathways extending beyond production
• Land planning guided by Indigenous ecological knowledge and stewardship principles
Long-Term Outcomes
Cultural
• Governance structures embedding Traditional Owner, Elder, and First Nations authority
• Protection and respectful management of cultural knowledge
• Intergenerational transfer of story and place-based history
Educational & Social
• Accessible learning resources for schools and institutions
• On-Country learning and immersion experiences
• Broader public understanding of history and landscape
Environmental
• Regenerative land and ecological practices
• Site rehabilitation and long-term stewardship
• Stronger alignment between landscape, story, and community identity
Feature Films
Our period drama projects are carefully selected to delve deeper into the untold stories of Australian and International history during colonisation, focusing on areas where truth, facts, events, and Indigenous voices have been overlooked.
More information on the period drama project slate.
Project 1
Magic Lands
Purra and Buckley’s Chance
Logline: An escaped convict and a Wadawurrung woman, bound by love, Lore and Sky-Spirit, fight to survive as colonisation ignites a silent war across their Country in early 1800s, Southern Australia.
Genre: Period Drama | MA15+
Status: Scripted • Casting • Raising Finance
Based on: A true story recorded by Mrs Mary Clarke (Framlingham Mission, 1979) on the bloodline story of escaped British convict William Buckley and his Wadawurrung wife and resistance fighter Purranmurnin Tullawurnin.
Production Set for August, 2026
Set in the wilds of early-1800s Southern Australia, this story follows Buckley and Purra’s love story before, during, and after colonisation, when a silent war to seize Indigenous land turns violent, and the foundations of the Geelong and Melbourne settlements begin.
Contribution, Philanthropy, and Sponsorship Partnership
Magic Lands Alliance is built through shared commitment and collective contributions. Our work is made possible by philanthropists, partners, and sponsors who recognise that truth-telling, culture, and education are long-term public assets.
Contributions support the development of film, education and cultural tourism infrastructure, ensuring Indigenous-led research, cultural governance and community participation remain central at every stage. Philanthropic support helps create enduring outcomes—educational resources, archival preservation, on-Country employment, and cultural revitalisation—that continue long after each project is released.
We welcome partnerships with foundations, individuals, institutions and sponsors who wish to play an active role in shaping meaningful cultural legacy—supporting stories that inform, connect and strengthen communities across generations.
Further information, please visit the sponsorship and contribution page.
Please contact if you would like to contribute and become a partner in our mission.
Short Films
Before developing feature films, we create short works that support research, collaboration and early storytelling—building relationships with First Nations custodians and local communities on the Country where each story is set. We have made three short films currently (2026). Here’s an example of a short film we made for project 1, Magic Lands, Purra and Buckley’s Chance titled:
Garra’s Chance
Our team explored the mystery surrounding the daughter of William Buckley and Purranmurnin Tullawurnin. In this short film, we named her Garra, as we questioned her whereabouts and whether she survived. It was only at the end of production that we discovered historical records indicating she did survive the Silent War—and her name was Fanny. Fanny’s bloodline story will be told in the upcoming feature film, Ngarram.
This short film follows Garra, a young Indigenous woman on the run from colonists during the Silent War, hiding in the Anakie Mountains after being left behind by her parents. When colonist Robert Von Stieglitz, whose family controls over 200,000 acres of stolen land, encounters her while out hunting, Garra must quickly learn to survive and trust in the guidance of her ancestors.
Filmed on Wadawurrung Country in a single day, the result was nothing short of magical. Garra’s Chance.
More Short Films
Education and Tourism Resources
Education
Screen-led infrastructure and research sources grounded in Country, culture and science
Following completion of the feature film Magic Lands – Purra and Buckley’s Chance, MLA will release and license the film alongside a suite of research-led educational resources and research material for schools, universities and cultural institutions.
The program offers a deep exploration of the history, science and cultural knowledge of Victoria’s Country and First Peoples surrounding the William Buckley and Purrnmurnin Tullawurunin story, using film as a gateway into truth-telling, shared history and place-based learning.
Course Overview
This online learning program examines the history, science, psychology and ecology of land and life, alongside the enduring strength of cultural identity and connection to Country, sky and ocean.
Developed through extensive film research on Wadawurrung Country, the course explores Victoria and Tasmania before, during and after colonisation, drawing on more than 700 fully referenced educational articles and accompanying video content.
Created in collaboration with First Nations custodians and knowledge holders, educators and filmmakers the course invites learners to engage with Australia’s shared history through rigorous research, Indigenous knowledge systems and truth-led storytelling and facts of history.
To explore the education resources, visit History Educational articles
Tourism Opportunities
On-Country cultural tourism with lasting community benefit
MLA film projects are designed to generate long-term cultural tourism outcomes by working in partnership with First Nations custodians, local communities, councils and government.
Through authentic set and collaboration development through the films we make—including traditional shelters, culture artifacts, music, food practices, land management and plant-medicine knowledge—projects support the creation of on-Country tourism experiences that sustain local employment, cultural revitalisation and meaningful visitor engagement long after filming concludes.
Educational Videos and Content
Reconciliation
Our productions foster collaboration between First Nations and local communities where the story is set, bridging histories to create a shared, knowledgeable and brighter future for all.
Shifting Truth
Meaningful truth-telling requires more than stories in film—it requires dialogue, education and structural change. MLA challenges dominant historical narratives by centring research, critical thinking and voices that have long been silenced. Through film, storytelling, music and community-led engagement, we support a shared reckoning with the past—one that enables individuals, institutions and governments to acknowledge injustice and move collectively toward truth, equality and understanding.
Indigenous Community Collaboration
First Nations custodians and communities are active partners in every project. Their participation shapes research, storytelling and production—ensuring cultural authority, authenticity and respect.
From set design and material culture to language, costume and performance, we work closely with community representatives to bring stories to screen with integrity. Where physical and cultural assets are created, they are returned to community use following production, supporting ongoing cultural, educational, social and tourism outcomes.
Each project is developed through cultural governance, consultation and consent, ensuring stories are told the right way, by the right people, for the right reasons.
Long-Term Purpose
MLA brings together filmmakers, Indigenous leaders, educators, artists, historians and local communities united by a shared commitment to truth-telling.
Our work is guided by integrity, cultural responsibility and long-term vision—using screen and education to create enduring outcomes that inform, empower and inspire, well beyond the life of any single production.
Innovation in Tech
MLA embraces emerging technologies, including responsible applications of AI, to enhance research, production and distribution across film, education and publishing.
Used ethically and transparently, these tools support international-quality storytelling while expanding access, efficiency and reach—without compromising cultural authority, artistic integrity or community control.
Project 1 Indigenous and Local Community Support
Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-Operative Members, Artists and Traditional Owners
Wadawurrung Traditional Owners, Artists and Members
Boonwurrung Sea and Land Council Traditional Owners and Members
Eastern Maar Community Traditional Owners and Members
Gudjitmara Community Traditional Owners and Members
Yorta Yorta Community Members and Traditional Owners
Torres Strait Island Community Members and Traditional Owners
Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Traditional Owners and Members
Taungurung Traditional Owners and Community Members
Steiglitz Community Members
Mount Rothwell Conservation and Reserve
Barwon Coast Council
City of Greater Geelong
Surf Riders Foundation Australia - Torquay
Ron Ellis and the Granites Property, Anakie.
Golden Plains Shire Council
Parks Victoria
Bass Coast Council
Australian Marine Conservation Society
Polynesian & African Projects
In 2025, Magic Lands Alliance expanded its work into Polynesia and Africa, applying its truth-led filmmaking and research model developed in collaboration with Indigenous and First Nations communities.
Across Polynesia, projects are being developed in partnership with local custodians and cultural leaders, exploring ancestral histories, voyaging knowledge, land–sea relationships, and early encounters, grounded in place-based knowledge and Indigenous worldviews.
In East Africa, including Uganda, MLA is developing a television series and a feature film with local partners, bringing forward largely unheard stories from pre-colonial and early colonial history—shaped by land, water, culture, resistance, and survival, and told through African perspectives.
From the source of the Nile to the kingdoms and societies that shaped the region, these projects connect deep-time histories with contemporary audiences while building long-term educational, cultural, and archival infrastructure that remains with local communities.
Further project details will be released in 2026.
Acknowledgement
MLA and our producers acknowledge the Traditional Owners, Custodians, and First Nations communities across Australia and internationally. We respect their continued connection to the sky, land, waters, language and culture. We pay our respects to the First Peoples language groups, communities, and Elders - past, present, and emerging that continue to be impacted by colonisation and any harm caused in recreating our historically based true stories to create social awareness worldwide.
Indigenous Production Protocol
Respect, protect, educate, and build social and moral awareness around Indigenous culture and Australian and international history.
To protect and gain consent/permissions from communities, traditional owners, and elders around Indigenous culture, oral stories, characters, costumes, language and artefacts, etc., shown in film productions and educational material.
To collaborate with Indigenous and contemporary communities where the story's subject content is located and create educational content that protects heritage and creates infrastructure, employment, and business opportunities in the area.