Simon Baker Leads Impressive Cast in Indigenous Film ‘High Ground’

Simon Baker features in the Australian Indigenous film, High Ground, which showcases a gripping, historically signifiant story, set on a stunning background.

A young Indigenous Australian man, Gutjuk (newcomer Jacob Junior Nayinggul), teams up with an ex-soldier named Travis (Baker) to find Baywara (Sean Mununggurr), a dangerous warrior who has been attacking the land’s new settlers, and who also happens to be Gutjuk’s uncle.

Travis and Gutjuk form an unlikely friendship as they traverse the stunning landscape of 1930s Arnhem Land (the historical name of the Northern Territory of Australia), while tensions between the native Indigenous people and the new settlers begin to boil.

High Ground tells an untold story of Australian history that aims to bring light to the tumultuous past between the nation’s first people and its new colonists.

It’s a history that always needs to be recognised and director Stephen Johnson, who has spent years living in the Northern Territory and forming bonds with the Yolgnu and Bininj Aboriginal communities, seems to have done the story justice based on what we see in the trailer below.

The film looks suspenseful and features profound themes while being shot on a beautiful backdrop thanks to cinematographer Andrew Commis.

Alongside The Mentalist and Breath (2017) star Simon Baker is Jack Thompson, Aaron Pedersen, Callan Mulvey, Ryan Corr, Witiyana Marika, Caren Pistorius, with newcomers Jacob Junior Nayinggul and Esmerelda Marimowa.

See it in Australian cinemas from 28 January 2021.