Baykali Ganambarr

Baykali Ganambarr works as an actor and dancer and belongs to the Yolngu community of Elcho Island (Galiwin'ku) in the Northern Territory. He started by sharing dance videos on YouTube, then joined the Elcho Island dance troupe Djuki Mala. While still a member, he landed his first screen role as Mangana, also called Billy, an Aboriginal Tasmanian tracker, in The Nightingale (2018). For that performance he received the 2018 Marcello Mastroianni Award and a 2019 AACTA nomination for best lead actor; he later earned a 2021 AACTA supporting actor nomination for The Furnace (2020). On stage, he began playing Sammy Butcher in Ilbijerri Theatre Company's musical Big Name, No Blankets in 2024; the show premiered at the Sydney Festival and went on to the RISING Festival, Darwin Festival, and Brisbane Festival.