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Where the Green Ants Dream ()

Wo die grünen Ameisen träumen (original title)
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A geologist employed by an Australian mining company finds himself disputing the rights of some aborigines who believe their land to be sacred.

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Complete, Cast awaiting verification

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Lance Hackett
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Miliritbi
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Dayipu
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Cole
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Baldwin Ferguson
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Fletcher
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Arnold
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Judge Blackburn
Ray Marshall ...
Solicitor General Coulthard
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Malila 'The Mute'
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Watson
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Fitzsimmons
Robert Brissenden ...
Professor Stanner
Bob Ellis ...
Supermarket manager
Michael Edols ...
Young attorney
Susan Graeves ...
Secretary
Marraru Wunungmurra ...
Daisy Barunga
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Police Officer
Noel Lyon ...
Bailiff
Trevor Orford ...
Worker
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Mining executive
Andrew Mack ...
Protocol Officer
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Photographer
Ricky ...
Strange Aborigine
Ronnie ...
Strange Aborigine
Michael Mandalis ...
Mandalis
James Ricketson ...
Philip Adams
Michael Glynn ...
RAAF Pilot
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Miss Strehlow
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Christopher Cain ...
Lawyers' Assistant (uncredited)
Anastasios Chatzidimpas ...
Cook (uncredited)
Maria Chatzidimpas ...
Mongoloid Girl (uncredited)
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Lawyer (uncredited)
José María Muñoz ...
Radio Soccer Reporter (uncredited)
Philip Radke ...
Chauffeur (uncredited)
Maria Stratford ...
Peevish Woman (uncredited)

Directed by

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Werner Herzog

Written by

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Werner Herzog ... (written by)
 
Bob Ellis ... (additional dialogue)

Produced by

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Werner Herzog ... producer
Willi Segler ... executive producer
Lucki Stipetic ... producer

Cinematography by

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Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein

Editing by

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Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus

Editorial Department

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Draha Cicek ... assistant editor (as Draha Cizek)
Peter McBain ... dailies projectionist (uncredited)

Costume Design by

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Frances D. Hogan

Art Department

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Ulrich Bergfelder ... set designer
Trevor Orford ... assistant set designer

Sound Department

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Claus Langer ... sound
Peter Rappel ... assistant sound

Special Effects by

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Brian Pearce ... special effects supervisor

Camera and Electrical Department

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Paul Cox ... still photographer
Michael Edols ... second camera
Rainer Klausmann ... assistant camera
Manfred Klein ... gaffer
Vit Martinek ... grip

Costume and Wardrobe Department

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Frances D. Hogan ... wardrobe

Music Department

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Wandjuk Marika ... musician: didjeridu

Script and Continuity Department

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Christine Ebenberger ... continuity
Bob Ellis ... script consultant

Additional Crew

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Gary Foley ... ethnologist
Jennifer Home ... aboriginal liaison
Tony Llewellyn-Jones ... production coordinator: Australia
Santhana K. Naidu ... financial controller: Australia (as Santhana Krishna Naidu)
Maria Stratford ... production assistant
Günther Ungeheuer ... voice dubbing: Norman Kaye (uncredited)

Thanks

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Tim Cartwright ... special thanks
Paul Donazzan ... special thanks
Erik Rasmussen ... special thanks (as Mr. Erik Rasmussen)

Production Companies

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Distributors

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Special Effects

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Other Companies

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Storyline

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Plot Summary

The geologist Lance Hackett is employed by an Australian mining company to map the subsoil of a desert area covered with ant hills prior to a possible uranium extraction. His work is impeded by some aborigines who explain that this is the place where the green ants dream. Disturbing their dreaming will destroy humanity they claim. Hackett informs the company which offers various "solutions" such as a large amount of money or a percentage of a possible revenue. Invited on a trip to a city some of the aborigines sees a military aeroplane and express the wish to own it. The company buys it and gives it to the aborigines as a sign of good will. A runway is made in the desert and the plane is flown to the location. All negotiations concerning the area fail and the dispute goes to a court of the Commonwealth. Parties and experts are heard, obstacles are met such as an aborigine who is the sole survivor of his tribe (and language) and therefore no-one understands what he is saying. Two of the aborigines take off in the plane despite that there is very little fuel left. The mining company wins legally and the aborigines morally. Some aborigines arrive from the mountains and tell about a big winged ant that had fallen from the sky. Written by Frank Dabelstein

Plot Keywords
Taglines You have ravaged the earth with your mines, and don't you see that you have ravaged my body? - Sam Woolagoocha See more »
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Additional Details

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Also Known As
  • Where the Green Ants Dream (New Zealand, English title)
  • Where the Green Ants Dream (Belgium, English title)
  • Where the Green Ants Dream (Hong Kong, English title)
  • Where the Green Ants Dream (World-wide, English title)
  • Where the Green Ants Dream (Canada, English title)
  • See more »
Runtime
  • 100 min
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Did You Know?

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Trivia The whole story of the green ants was made up by Werner Herzog, it's not a part of genuine Aboriginal folklore. However the courtroom incident where a secret artifact is revealed, to the bemusement of the judge, is based on a real incident. See more »
Movie Connections Featured in To the End of the World... and Then a Little Bit Further (1989). See more »
Soundtracks Requiem Op. 48 See more »
Quotes Lance Hackett: The situation, your Honor, is this man is the the sacred custodian to the secrets of this tribe. And his tribe has died out. He is the sole and final survivor of his people, his clan. They call him the mute, because there is nobody left on this earth for him to speak with.
See more »

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