THE AUSTRALIAN DREAM : Tuesday 27th August 2019.

This week I saw 'THE AUSTRALIAN DREAM' which is Rated MA15+ and is an Australian and UK Co-Produced documentary, Directed by Daniel Gordon and Written by Stan Grant. Daniel Gordon is an award winning British documentary film maker, Producer and Writer. This film opened the Melbourne International Film Festival on 1st August, before its wider theatrical release last week, and follows hot on the heels of that 'other' Adam Goodes film that aired on Australian television network Channel Ten earlier last month 'The Final Quarter'.

In October 2015, Wiradjuri man and renowned journalist Stan Grant delivered a stirring speech at Sydney's Ethics Centre as part of a debate on Australian racism, discrimination, colonisation, and, the 'Australian dream'. Stan Grant incidentally is an Australian television news and political journalist, and television presenter for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He is currently the ABC's indigenous and international affairs analyst and Professor of Global Affairs at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia.

His starting point for his address was the mass booing of the Australian Football League (AFL) Sydney Swans star Adam Goodes, who holds an elite place in AFL history as a dual Brownlow Medallist, dual premiership player, four-time All-Australian, member of the Indigenous Team of the Century, and representative of Australia in the International Rules Series. He was also named as Australian of the Year in 2014. Up to that point Goodes had been playing professional football for the Sydney Swans for some fifteen years, had played 372 games, kicked 464 goals and had helped steer the Sydney Swans to two Premiership Championships in 2005 and 2012 and was their leading goal scorer in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

The attacks on Goodes, began after he responded to a racist taunt by a young fourteen year old girl during the annual Indigenous AFL Round in 2013, where he physically pointed her out in the crowd and demanded that security remove her from the stadium. Immediately following the racist slur, Goodes took himself off the field of play, such was the hurt inside caused by the girls flippant albeit perhaps ignorant and uneducated remark. The girl later telephoned Goodes and apologised after he publicly held out an olive branch, albeit the girls mother shrugged it off saying that it was just a joke by a girl who didn't know any better!

From that point onwards, his outspokenness on racial issues, a couple of incidents on the field, along with commentary by some media figures, namely Sam Newman (an Australian media executive and radio and television personality. Originally famous for his contribution to Australian Football League as a player for the Geelong Football Club, he has come to be better known as a media personality who is mainly known for his controversial views on certain topics), and Andrew Bolt (an Australian conservative social and political commentator, whose current roles include blogger and columnist at the Herald Sun Newspaper and host of television show 'The Bolt Report' airing weeknights. In Australia, Bolt is a highly controversial public figure, who has frequently been criticised for his alleged abrasive demeanour and accused of inappropriate remarks on various political and social issues), plus the severe backlash on social media from almost all corners of society all contributed to him being the target of a sustained booing campaign from opposition fans wherever and whenever he played, from 2014 right through the 2015 season.

Goodes tells his story in his own words, the documentary also features players such as Gilbert McAdam and Nicky Winmar, who have both also suffered torrents of racial abuse from spectators. Also featured giving their opinions are Michael O’Loughlin (former Indigenous Sydney Swans Teammate), Brett Goodes (his younger brother), Natalie Goodes (his wife), Nova Paris (former Indigenous Athlete, Olympic Gold Medal winner and Politician), Nicky Winmar (former Indigenous AFL player), Gilbert McAdam (former Indigenous AFL player), Linda Burney (current sitting Indigenous Politician), Paul Roos (Senior Coach at the Sydney Swans from 2002 until 2010), John Longmire (current Head Coach of the Sydney Swans from 2011), Nathan Buckley (former AFL player, commentator and Coach) and Eddie McGuire (radio and television presenter and AFL promoter and President of the AFL Collingwood Team). Nicky Winmar made a famous protest stand against his own racial vilification at the hands of Collingwood supporters during a match at Victoria Park in 1993, which has subsequently been immortalised in the form of a bronze statue at the Perth Stadium. Winmar took a stand stating 'I'm black, and I'm proud to be black!' pointing to the colour of his skin under his jersey. 

Stan Grant narrates throughout and points out that when Indigenous athletes and players are vocal about racism and injustice that some fans and media personalities seem to suggest that they have moved beyond their realms of expertise and should not criticise Australian society. With the backlash and booing intensifying after he was named Australian of the Year on Australia Day 2014, this caused Goodes to take indefinite leave from the AFL to connect with his own heritage, culture and background and eventually retire from the game at the end of the 2015 season, and turning his back once and for all on the game that he truly loved and respected.

'The booing saga' sparked a national debate about racism in Australia with the focus very much upon 'white' Australians being still in the 21st Century unaccepting and biased towards our Indigenous population, and the history surrounding the early colonisation of the country by white settlers. Australia Day itself remains the subject of much conjecture and heated debate with the date on 26th January marking the day in 1770 when Captain Cook first stepped foot on what would become known as Australia and declaring it 'terra nullius' (translated meaning 'nobody's land') even though Aboriginals had inhabited the land for the previous six or so thousand years. The English then set about killing, raping, maiming and ransacking the land and its Indigenous peoples for the decades that followed. So when today Australian's celebrate Australia Day, the Indigenous community refer to it as 'Invasion Day' or 'Survival Day' and for them it has a completely different meaning.

In 2019, the AFL formally apologised to Goodes for not taking greater action to defend him against fan abuse. A compelling story about race, identity and belonging told from the perspective of a true Aussie sporting legend. This is a film that begs to be seen by as many Australians as possible; it should be screened in primary and secondary schools, sports clubs and community centres across the land to actively encourage ongoing and open dialogue about the past treatment of Australia's Indigenous population and the ever present issues confronting those communities on a daily basis. It is at times an emotional journey that Adam Goodes and Stan Grant take us on that hopefully will foster a greater understanding and empathy, unity and reconciliation through an acknowledgment of the truth and the respect that will grow from it. Since his retirement from his beloved game, Adam Goodes has seen the winds of change turn back in his favour as many supporters from all quarters of Australian society have come out publically and let it be known that they 'Stand with Adam Goodes'.

'The Australian Dream' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from  possible five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-