“The Australian Dream”
Publication
GoodThing Productions, Passion Pictures UK and ABC
Year
2019
Category
Documentary award
The remarkable story of Indigenous AFL player Adam Goodes is at the heart of The Australian Dream. Writer Stan Grant and the filmmaking team use Goodes’ experience as the prism through which to tell a deeper and even more powerful story about race, identity and belonging. Reflecting in detail on the 2013, 2014 and 2015 AFL seasons, and the events that led Goodes to leave the game, the documentary asks fundamental questions about the nature of racism and discrimination in society today.
Stan Grant, a proud Wiradjuri man, has more than 30 years’ experience in radio and television news and current affairs. Grant spent 10 years as a senior international correspondent for CNN in Asia and the Middle East. He won the 2015 Walkley Award for Coverage of Indigenous Affairs and his book, Talking to My Country, won the 2016 Walkley Book Award.
Judges’ comments:
“The Australian Dream is exceptional because it confronts sports-obsessed white Australia with both its overt and subconscious racism. The documentary exposes the context in which white Australians, thinking they were merely barracking robustly for their footy team, were unaware of what had actually influenced their words and actions. Stan Grant’s own profound insights as an Indigenous Australian have helped enable this documentary to confront non-Indigenous Australia with its wilful ignorance. It makes an inspiring contribution to reconciliation.”
