Rabbit Proof Fence

Tomorrow night (Thursday 07/4) at 8pm (KL20:00) in the Dramastudio of the Humanisthuset (Humanities Building) at Umeå University there will be a free screening of Philip Noyce's Rabbit Proof Fence. I have read about this film, and remember the tensions, feelings and discussions that accompanied it's release in 2002. This will not be an easy film to watch in many ways:

"Rabbit-Proof Fence is based on the true story of three Aboriginal girls, Molly (played by Everlyn Sampi), Daisy (Tianna Sansbury) and Gracie (Laura Monaghan), who in 1931 were separated from their mothers in Jigalong, Western Australia, sent to the Moore River settlement 2000 kilometres away to be trained as domestic servants, and then escaped, fleeing across harsh, desert landscape with the rabbit-proof fence as their only guide, to return home. The film is based on the book, Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence, written by Molly's daughter, Doris Pilkington Garimara, who was also forcibly removed from her mother. Documentary filmmaker Christine Olsen stumbled across the book in a newspaper story and from then on worked hard to turn it into a film, which included writing several scripts and bringing the project to the attention of LA-based Noyce. In press interviews, she admits that her first choice of director was Noyce primarily because of the uniquely realist and honest portrayal of Aboriginal characters in his debut Backroads. Noyce's realist style in this film was related to his work as a documentary filmmaker in Sydney throughout the mid to late '70s."
Long road home: Phillip Noyce's Rabbit-Proof Fence by Fiona A. Villella

The story of the stolen generations is one that much of present day Australia is still trying to come to terms with, that is, those who admit that it happened at all.