This chapter examines three films adapted from Indigenous source material by non-Indigenous directors: Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002), adapted from Mardudjara writer Doris Pilkington/Nugi Garimara's Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence (1996) and directed by white Australian Phillip Noyce; Whale Rider (2002), adapted from Māori writer Witi Ihimaera's novel The Whale Rider (1987) by Pākehā Niki Caro; and The Lesser Blessed (2012), adapted from Tłı̨chǫ (Dogrib) writer Richard Van Camp's 1996 novel of the same title by Ukrainian-Canadian filmmaker Anita Doron. Films made by a non-Indigenous director adapting an Indigenous text, I argue, can be considered ‘told-to’ adaptations, in the manner of ‘told-to’ literary texts in which Indigenous narratives are shepherded through publication by a white coauthor. If told-to texts are typically Indigenous authors’ narratives that are collected or edited by non-Indigenous people, films made by white filmmakers adapting Indigenous material can be conceptualised as ‘told-to adaptations’, as they replicate many features of told-to texts, which include, according to Sophie McCall, the forging of ‘a variety of contact zones’, ‘debates over cultural property’ and the potential for cross-cultural collaboration in ‘a meeting ground for multiple voices’ (2011, 2–3, 4, 5). Although the capacity for these adaptations to represent Indigenous culture is certainly much greater than those discussed in the previous chapter, given the provenance of the source material, particular issues arise within the contexts of production in each example and the ways in which the filmmakers choose to orient their adaptation to as large (implicitly white) an audience as possible: namely, these Indigenous stories undergo alterations for the sake of their translation for the cinema designed to appeal to mainstream audiences.

One key concern with told-to narratives is ‘the unequal power relationship traditionally at play in the production of the text’ (Rymhs 2006, 92). This imbalance of power undermines terms such as ‘collaboration’ that suggest a more level playing field between narrator and collector. The term ‘composite’ has also been used to represent the process of telling and circulating these narratives (Sands 1997, 39).