Director and star talk Watandar: My Countryman – ‘Today’s Australia is not something that came from the sky’

Watandar: My Countryman is a new documentary by Jolyon Hoff that reveals the untold story of Afghan cameleers in 19th century Australia.

Did you know that the first Afghans that migrated to Australia were the cameleers of the 19th century?

These men were shipped to Australia for the specific purpose of driving camels across the outback, and they transported goods in a way that couldn’t have been achieved without them. Many of their descendants remain in outback towns like Broken Hill and Marree to this day.

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Silvi Vann-Wall is a Melbourne-based journalist, podcaster, critic and filmmaker who loves frogs and improv comedy. They were the ScreenHub Film Content Lead from 2022 to 2025. Twitter (X): @SilviReports / Bluesky: @silvi.bsky.social‬ / Website: silvireports.com