Australians Invited to Imagine What’s Possible on January 26 with Groundbreaking New Animation
A co-created film by over 400 people guided by Indigenous Australian systems changers Jack Manning Bancroft and Tyson Yunkaporta.
Starring all-star voice cast including Taika Waititi, Yael Stone, Wayne Blair, Yolande Brown, Ian Thorpe and Tai Hara.
“Profound conversations meet trippy visuals in one-of-a-kind adventure”
Australian writers, directors and systems change-makers Jack Manning Bancroft and Tyson Yunkaporta’s pioneering new animated feature film Imagine heads into cinemas nationwide for very special event screenings on January 26, to get Australia to imagine a different reality to start the year with. Instead of ‘Australia / Survival Day’ being a day of division, can we imagine a way to bring folks together and meet in the middle?
A film like no other, Imagine is a ground-breaking, co-created animated film blending Indigenous knowledge with innovative storytelling and technology. Following 15-year-old Kim and their alien canine companion Jeff, the story explores identity, freedom and a world on the brink of collapse.
Led by Indigenous Australian storytellers Manning Bancroft, CEO of the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME), and Yunkaporta, acclaimed writer and Senior Lecturer in Indigenous Knowledges at Deakin University, Imagine transcends boundaries, bringing ancient wisdom to life with cutting-edge animation and modern storytelling.
Created during the pandemic through a live Google Doc, Imagine began in a true sense of collaboration on IMAGI-NATION {TV}, with over 150 young people, 18 partner schools and more than 200 guests from across 17 countries contributing to the script via the live audience. Amongst the 400 people who came together to dream up Imagine, key contributors include former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Nelson Mandela’s granddaughter Ndileka Mandela, Cloudy Rhodes, Wesley Enoch, Bec Bignall, Ned Benson, Wayne Blair, Simon Taylor, Ritza Bloom, Randy Feltface, Yael Stone, Emma Watts, Meyne Wyatt, Benjamin Law, Michelle Law and Rob Carlton, among others.
Premiering at the 2025 Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), Imagine features an all-star voice cast from across the globe including Yolande Brown, Taika Waititi, Yael Stone, Wayne Blair, Ian Thorpe, Tai Hara, Radical Son, Taylor Schilling, Rose McIvor, Kate Mulgrew, Dane Simpson, Rhoda Roberts, alongside a host of Indigenous systems knowledge thinkers and doers including Dr. Melanie Goodchild, Dr. Chels Marshall and Josh Waters.
Manning Bancroft says, “Across Australia’s history there are key moments where the nation has been divided. On this complex national day of January 26, a difficult day to navigate in the nation’s zeitgeist, there’s a great sense of uncertainty and polarisation on where to move next as a nation.
“Over the last 20 years, AIME has looked to inspire Australia to unite and explore ways forward on January 26. This year, we invite Australians to head to do something simple and radical: walk into a cinema, sit together in the dark and imagine a new way to move forward. Written by over 400 people during the pandemic, from Indigenous kids to Prime Ministers, from Australian to Ugandans to Indians and many between, Imagine is a love letter from a time when we stopped and were forced to think of how we could live differently.
“Imagine is the antidote to starting the year with arguments, pain and division. This film is a love letter to humankind – to reach for our potential to design systems where nature is included, to find a vision for this nation that includes all nations, all living creatures. It’s a chance for us to take on this obstacle and, with our collective cooperation, imagine what’s possible and make it real.”
After its world premiere at MIFF, Imagine screened for the community at NSW Parliament House in Sydney and the Brisbane International Film Festival, and has been recognised at several international events, including Official Selection at the Native Spirit Film Festival in Cambridge, screening at the Garifuna International Indigenous Film Festival in California, the Berlin Indie Film Festival, the Digiart Fest in Uganda and COP30 in Belém, Brazil. The film is set to be screened at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
All profits from the film will go back to AIME’s work to alleviate inequality across Australia and around the world.
Imagine will release in cinemas nationally for special event screenings on January 26. Imagine will commence its world tour from February 1.
