A link with more information on further themes 4, 5, 6 and 7.
Note: these are based on the original book - use with caution if you are planning to discuss in relation to the film.
Rabbit-Proof Fence is a 2002 Australian drama film directed and produced by Phillip Noyce based on the 1996 book Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington Garimara. It is loosely based on a true story concerning the author's mother Molly Craig, as well as two other Aboriginal girls, Daisy Kadibil and Gracie, who escape from the Moore River Native Settlement, north of Perth, Western Australia, to return to their Aboriginal families, after being placed there in 1931. The film follows the Aboriginal girls as they walk for nine weeks along 1,500 miles (2,400 km) of the Australian rabbit-proof fence to return to their community at Jigalong, while being pursued by white law enforcement authorities and an Aboriginal tracker. The film illustrates the official child removal policy that existed in Australia between approximately 1905 and 1967. Its victims now are called the "Stolen Generations".
Some background information on the film from SBS: "We revisit the film that renewed community interest in the Stolen Generations. Explore the story of this vital film.
A study guide from the ACMI.Come on a journey through Western Australia's past to learn about Aboriginal peoples' struggle for rights.
Rating: PG Production Year: 2002 Duration: 1:29:43
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that the following program may contain images and voices of deceased persons.
In 1931, three aboriginal girls escape after being plucked from their homes to be trained as domestic staff and set off on a trek across the Outback.
Birthday: April 29, 1950
Birthplace: Griffith, New South Wales, Australia
Text expanded.Having established himself as an accomplished practitioner of the thriller genre in his native Australia, director Phillip Noyce came to Hollywood, where he became a director-for-hire on several studio films before returning home to helm two of his most acclaimed films. Noyce first made a name for himself in the Australian film industry with his period drama, "Newsfront" (1978), before moving to television to helm the critically hailed miniseries "The Dismissal" (1983). Later in the decade, he found international success with the taut thriller, "Dead Calm" (1989), which gained him entrée into Hollywood while helping introduce the world to Aussie actress Nicole Kidman. But once he began directing studio movies, Noyce's track record became hit-or-miss. After an inauspicious American debut with the improbable Rutger Hauer thriller "Blind Fury" (1989), he directed Harrison Ford as government agent Jack Ryan in the popular "Patriot Games" (1992). Noyce found himself in the doghouse after directing Sharon Stone in the rather ridiculous "Sliver" (1993), before rebounding nicely by reuniting with Ford for "Clear and Present Danger" (1994). Following "The Saint" (1997) and "The Bone Collector" (1998), Noyce had tired of Hollywood and returned to Australia to direct two of his best films, "Rabbit-Proof Fence" (2002) and "The Quiet American" (2002), both of which rejuvenated his creative juices and allowed him to confidently return to Hollywood later in the decade.
via IMDB.com
Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence is an Australian book by Doris Pilkington, published in 1996. Based on a true story, the book is a personal account of an Indigenous Australian family's experiences as members of the Stolen Generation—the forced removal of mixed-race children from their families during the early 20th century. It tells the story of three young Aboriginal girls: Molly (the author's mother), Daisy (Molly's half-sister), and Gracie (their cousin), who are forcibly removed from their families at Jigalong and taken to Moore River, but escape from the government settlement in 1931 and then trek over 1,600 kilometres (990 mi) home by following the rabbit-proof fence, a massive pest-exclusion fence that crossed Western Australia from north to south.
The book was adapted into a film, Rabbit-Proof Fence, in 2002.
