Jub Clerc's debut film Sweet As has premiered at the James Theatre with a special message for the town.
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Ms Clerc came up on the big screen before the film began with a pre-recorded video message that welcomed the audience and wished them a deadly time.
Ninety people gathered at The James Cinema on Saturday night for the premiere - an event that celebrated Reconciliation Week.
Sweet As has become the first Australian winner of the Toronto International Film Festival's Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) Award for best Asian feature film.
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Friends of The James and Reconciliation Dungog collaborated to source, fund and show this film and the community responded with a strong crowd.
The Arts fabric of Dungog Shire runs on artists and volunteers who cooperate to host events which draw crowds to town.
They share the vibe and gain energy for the next event.
Reconciliation Dungog Convenor Jenny Akers explained the theme of Reconciliation Week for 2023.
"Be a voice for the generations" she said in her talk to the audience.
Her interpretation of this theme is that all of us need to look both forward and backward to the generations.
"Looking back we can be proud of our western successful society down under with an acknowledgement that a sophisticated civilisation pre-dated settler arrival by about 60,000 years and was dislocated completely," she said.
We all are in the process of talking about our understanding of exactly how this happened, according to Ms Akers.
"Looking forward we can be optimistic that future generations of us can appreciate the rich heritage Aboriginal culture offers to all and how giving a national and constitutional voice to Aboriginal people will make us all a kinder, more humane group of people," she said.
After the film there were plenty of people that stayed for a chat in the cinema, according to Ms Akers.
For information on upcoming events at the James Theatre visit their website.
