AUSTRALIA: PREMIERE " RABBIT PROOF FENCE" - THE TRUE STORY ABOUT ABORIGINAL GIRLS WHO WALKED HOME AFTER BEING TAKEN AWAY BY AUTHORITIES IN 1930'S

Record ID: 392487

  • Title: AUSTRALIA: PREMIERE " RABBIT PROOF FENCE" - THE TRUE STORY ABOUT ABORIGINAL GIRLS WHO WALKED HOME AFTER BEING TAKEN AWAY BY AUTHORITIES IN 1930'S
  • Date: 28th January 2002
  • Summary: RABBIT PROOF FENCE, WESTERN AUSTRALIA (28 JANUARY, 2002) (REUTERS) SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR NOYCE SAYING: 'This is a film which is going to be shown all around the world but I wanted to make sure that the two people that the film is about, the two people whose courage, whose determination to make that incredible journey across the Australian outback, allowed us
  • Embargoed: 12th February 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: JIGALONG/RABBIT PROOF FENCE, WESTERN AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA
  • Country: Australia
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAC4FE7E0RJJYY4Y1TLWXQ61Q33
  • Story Text: Australian film director Phillip Noyce's latest offering, 'Rabbit Proof Fence', is set to tug at the heart strings of audiences all over the over the world. It recounts the true story of three young aboriginal girls, two sisters and their cousin, who were taken from their families by Australian authorities in the 1930's. The film centres on their escape and an epic trek home - a remarkable journey of more than 2000 kilometres through the Western Australian desert - following a rabbit proof fence. Two of the three girls, now old ladies, are still alive. They were the guests of honour at the World Premiere, held under the stars near their homes in the remote Western Australian settlement of Jigalong.
    The fascinating tale of Molly Craig, Daisy Kadibil and Gracie might never have come to light had it not been for Doris Pilkington Garimara, Craig's daughter and a chance conversation at Jigalong in the mid 1980's. Pilkington overheard her Aunt Daisy discussing an escape from Moore River Native Settlement, a government institution, and not knowing anything about that part of her mother's life, asked to be told the story: With more than ten cousins, aunts and sisters huddled around a small bucket fire, Aunt Daisy recounted how she and her sister and cousin had ended up at the Moore River Native Settlement and escaped.
    In 1931, Molly (14), her sister Daisy (8) and Gracie (10) lived with Molly and Daisy's mother Maude, at Jigalong on the edge of the Gibson desert in Western Australia. Running through the small depot of Jigalong was the rabbit proof fence which bisects the whole length of Australia, from north to south. It was built to keep rabbits on one side and land for crops or pasture on the other.
    Their fathers had been white fence workers who moved away from Jigalong so the girls' only contact with white Australians was the weekly ration day at the Jigalong depot.
    One day the Chief Protector of Aborigines in Western Australia, ordered the removal of Molly, Gracie and Daisy from Jigalong and authorised their placement in the Moore River Native Settlement, outside Perth - hundreds of kilometres from home. (At that time, the official policy of removing half or quarter caste Aboriginal children from their families was believed to be for their 'own good'. It was also considered to be a way of diluting the race.' Today the thousands of Aboriginal children who were removed from their homes are referred to as the 'Stolen Generations').
    Once at Moore River Native Settlement, Molly, Daisy and Gracie were expected to be trained as domestic workers whereupon they'd be integrated into white society. Molly, however, had other ideas. Within 24 hours of being within the compound, she made plans for her escape and that of Daisy and Gracie. Despite the risks involved, the girls fled the camp.
    With grit and determination, Molly guided the girls on an epic journey home, just one step ahead of the authorities. The three crossed over 1500 miles of Australia's outback on foot, in search of the rabbit proof fence that would eventually lead them home. Against all odds, they made it.
    'It was a really incredible story and it involved my aunt, two aunts and my mother and it was a story that occurred, what over, in 1931 and I had never even heard about Auntie Daisy being at Moore River when mum, you know they were girls and this kind of excited me. I said this is a most incredible story of their escape from Moore River Settlement and incarceration to come back, walk all the way back to Jigalong where they were taken away from. So I found that marvellous story and I'm very proud of my mother and aunts.
    What they did they decided to escape from Moore River Native Settlement and a few women or children, boys and girls had ever done this and been successful yet these three or two were,' Pilkington told Reuters.
    Director Phillip Noyce, said he was first told of the story of Molly, Daisy and Gracie, in July 1999 when he was rudely awoken at three o'clock in the morning by a phone call from a very enthusiastic screenwriter, Christine Olsen.
    Some years previously, Olsen had read a newspaper review on a book entitled 'Follow The Rabbot-Proof Fence', by Doris Pilkington Garimara, the daughter of Molly Craig and was so taken by the story, that she pursued Pilkington for the film rights.
    What followed was five years of research and writing. With Pilkington acting as script consultant, Olsen travelled to Jigalong in Western Australia - the home of the three girls.
    The trips were the most important aspect of Olsen's research and included a three week stay at Molly's own home.
    With the script finalised, Olsen approached Noyce.
    'I was in Hollywood, California working on a 110 million dollar movie and this script was sent to me and at first I didn't read it, I put it aside for about three months and when I picked it up and started reading this story about three girls and their incredible journey across Australia to be reunited with their families, I must admit I couldn't put the script down it was a real page turner and it was a real tear-jerker. By the end of the script I was crying and I also felt that it was a film that had to be made now. White Australia's relations with Aboriginal Australia have changed a lot over the last few years, and I knew that the time was right for a story like this, not only here but also all over the world.' But once Noyce had secured the financial backing for the movie, his next challenge, was to cast the parts of Molly, Daisy and Gracie which he admitted was quite a struggle but he maintained, he always kept the belief that they'd find the right girls.
    'We needed to find somewhere in this vast continent, three young Aboriginal actresses. Well that was hard because there is no such thing. There are no parts for Aboriginal kids in movies so I knew that I had to find three untrained talents I thought they'd be somewhere out here because of the strong tradition of performance that's central to Aboriginal culture, stories, histories passed on in dance, in song and has been for tens of thousands of years so I knew that with such a strong tradition of performance that the right kids were out here somewhere,' revealed Noyce.
    After crossing Australia in search of the right girls for the roles, Noyce wasn't disappointed.
    'The fact that they could be natural and bring their Aboriginality to the screen was what I was looking for so I didn't want professional actors I didn't want them to do things like you know you would see in a Hollywood movie, I just wanted them to be real because the reality of those children is something quite magical,' he said.
    British actor Kenneth Branagh who plays the role of AO Neville, the Chief Protector of Aborigines, agreed with Noyce: 'The children they've cast are very startling and their presences on screen are amazingly vital and I think the audience's sympathy is going to be hugely with them in this extraordinary feat they performed and with the emotion of their incredible journey,' he admitted.
    The heartfelt drama that is 'Rabbit Proof Fence' is the story of Molly, Daisy and Gracie's courage and determination according to Noyce and despite the logistical difficulties involved, there was no way, they were going to miss the World Premiere. More accustomed to attending screenings of this nature in London or New York, Noyce opted to take the film to the outback instead.
    'I wanted to make sure that the two people that the film is about, the two people whose courage, whose determination to make that incredible journey across the Australian outback, allowed us to make the movie. Molly Craig and Daisy Kadibil, They can't come to the city so what I thought would be appropriate would be that the city came to them so we brought a cinema and set it up right beside their houses and allowed them to see the movie just as everyone around the world is going to see and enjoy their story. I thought that that was really important because it is their story, it belongs to them,' Noyce said.
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