Scoring a goal with every frame, THE AUSTRALIAN DREAM is a documentary that uses the remarkable and inspirational story of Indigenous AFL legend Adam Goodes as the prism through which to tell a deep and powerful story about race, identity and belonging.
THE AUSTRALIAN DREAM is about the Australian nightmare of rampant or casual racism inherent in our national fibre, a recurring nightmare over 85,000 nights for Australia’s First People that we need wake up to, and wake up from.
Adam Goodes is one of the most decorated & celebrated players in AFL history, double Brownlow Medal Winner, star player in Sydney Swans premiership sides, and Australian of the Year, the very epitome of resilience and survival.
When he called out a thirteen year old girl for making a racist slur slung at him from the front row of the bleachers it was perceived by many as to be stepping over the mark. How dare he single out a white female thirteen year old. That, it would seem, is more offensive than calling an Aboriginal man an ape.
Critics of his behavior suggested he should suck it up. She was only thirteen.
Perhaps those commentators should tell the police and the public when a thirteen year old Aboriginal might do something offensive to suck it up instead of incarcerating them.
The idea of reprimanding a thirteen year old is to curb bad behavior, isn’t it, and unbridled racism is truly bad behavior to be eradicated with extreme urgency.
Interviewed over the incident, Goodes was sensitive to the girl’s plight and was eloquent, calm and measured. A proportion of the public and the media reacted like a rabid pack, baying for blood and booing the presence of this champion athlete every time he stepped onto the ground from then on.
The scriptwriter of THE AUSTRALIAN DREAM, respected journalist Stan Grant says “I can’t speak for what lay in the hearts of the people who booed Adam Goodes. But I can tell you what we heard when we heard those boos.
“We heard a sound that was very familiar to us. We heard a howl. We heard a howl of humiliation that echoes across two centuries of dispossession, injustice, suffering and survival. We heard the howl of the Australian dream and it said to us again, you’re not welcome.”
This anger of accumulated racial abuse is also commented on by past players, including Nicky Winmar who famously raised his guernsey in a declaration of the pride in the colour of his skin, a gesture re-enacted by Goodes years later as a mark of solidarity and respect.
These testimonials to camera reinforces the credence that Goodes’ action was a culmination of years of indignation against Indigenous Australians. For years Goodes’ focus was on the contest on the football field not confrontation with ignorant fans. This was a flash point that opened the floodgates to a torrent of taunt.
THE AUSTRALIAN DREAM reveals Adam Goodes profoundly emotional journey in his own words, and the words of Walkley Award winning journalist, Stan Grant, and asks fundamental questions about the nature of racism and discrimination in society today.
THE AUSTRALIAN DREAM is the second documentary about Goodes this year – after premiering at Sydney Film Festival, Ian Darling’s THE FINAL QUARTER aired on Channel 10 last month – and the two films complement one another, and both have been nominated for Best Documentary in the AFI/AACTA Awards this year.