Artist Spotlight — Dya (Country)
A Conversation with Tracey Rigney
Tracey Rigney and her daughter Parni
Director: Tracey Rigney MIFF 2026 — Sovereign Shorts Premiere
Tracey Rigney
Tracey Rigney is a First Nations filmmaker and Creative Director whose work explores Country, community, identity and lived experience through screen storytelling.
Dya (Country) is part of Sovereign Shorts, presented at MIFF 2026 in collaboration with NITV and supported by VicScreen.
About Dya (Country)
Dya (Country) is a short documentary exploring Country, sovereignty, family and First Nations identity through lived experience.
At the centre of the film is a deeply personal relationship with Country and community, bringing together questions of recognition, connection and intergenerational experience.
《Dya (Country)》
《Dya (Country)》是一部从真实生活经验出发的纪录短片，围绕 Country、主权、家庭以及 First Nations 身份展开。
影片将土地、社区与代际关系连接在一起，在个人经验之中呈现对于归属、身份、文化连接与代际经验的思考。
Questions with Tracey Rigney
制作《Dya (Country)》过程中，什么最让你感到有意义？
One of the most meaningful parts of making Dya (Country) was having Tracey’s family involved in the documentary. Her grandfather and daughter both appear in the film, making the project deeply personal and creating a strong sense of family and intergenerational connection.
对 Tracey 来说，最有意义的部分之一，是自己的家人也参与到了这部纪录片中。她的祖父和女儿都出现在影片中，让这个项目变得非常私人，也形成了一种特别的家庭与代际连接。
What was one of the challenges of making the film?
The production period was very limited, and Tracey reflected on wishing she had more time to develop and complete the film. Despite these limitations, Dya (Country) continued its journey through film festival submissions and eventually arrived at MIFF — an important milestone for the project.
这部电影的创作过程中，有什么挑战？
整个制作过程的时间非常有限。Tracey 提到，她其实希望能够拥有更多时间去发展和完善这部作品。
尽管存在这样的限制，《Dya (Country)》仍然继续走过电影节报名与放映的旅程，并最终来到 MIFF。这对于这部作品而言，是一个重要的阶段。
What do you hope audiences take away from Dya (Country)?
For Tracey, there is no single response an audience has to take away. She hopes people can find their own sense of connection through the film — whatever that connection may be.
Our conversation also touched on hope: the idea that even when filmmaking and life are difficult and uncertain, we continue to create, keep moving forward, and remain open to the possibility of connecting with others through our work.
你希望观众从《Dya (Country)》中带走什么？
对 Tracey 来说，并没有一个观众必须带走的答案。她希望每个人都能够在电影中找到属于自己的连接——无论这种连接是什么。
我们的交流也谈到了希望：即使电影创作和生活本身都可能充满困难、不确定与限制，我们仍然可以继续创作、继续向前，并保持与他人产生连接的可能。
An Artist Reflection by Cross Encounters’ Founder Olivia Wang
What stayed with me after watching Dya (Country) and speaking with Tracey was its sense of connection — to Country, to family, to where we come from and to where we live now. As someone who has moved between places and cultures, I found something deeply familiar in that feeling of connection to land and home.
I was also moved by our conversation about hope. As an artist, I believe cinema can hold space for connection — and perhaps leave a little hope with us when we walk away.
— Olivia Wang
Cross Encounters 创始人 Olivia Wang 的艺术家感想
观看《Dya (Country)》并与 Tracey 交流之后，最留在我心里的，是这部作品所呈现的“连接”——与 Country、与家庭、与我们来自的地方，以及与我们如今生活的地方之间的连接。
作为一个曾经在不同地方和文化之间生活、移动的人，我在这种对于土地与家园的连接感中，发现了一些非常熟悉的东西。
我们的交流也让我想到了“希望”。作为一名艺术家，我相信电影可以为连接留下空间，也许当我们离开影院时，它也能够在我们心里留下一点希望。
— Olivia Wang
About the Artist Exchange
Cross Encounters Artist Exchange is an independent initiative presented by Cross Encounters during MIFF 2026.