Director
Daniel Gordon
(A STATE OF MIND, CROSSING THE LINE, GEORGE BEST: ALL BY HIMSELF)

Featuring
Adam Goodes, Stan Grant, Michael O’Loughlin, Gilbert McAdam, Nathan Buckley and John Longmire

The final siren may have sounded for the on-field playing career of indigenous AFL legend Adam Goodes, yet his aspirations continue and are being tackled more truthfully and powerfully than ever before in THE AUSTRALIAN DREAM.

A proudly Aboriginal man, former Sydney Swans star Adam Goodes showed plenty of resistance to the many adversities that ultimately truncated his playing career and now lends a prominent voice for many members of the indigenous community. In this feature-length documentary, “Goodesy” shares insight into his childhood and love of Aussie rules footy, speaks freely of his many experiences dealing with racial vilification and its impact, and addresses on and off field matters, including our annual celebration held on January the 26th and the intense booing he was subject to from footy crowds all across the nation.

I’ll begin by making my thoughts clear on the topic of booing in our great game – it always has and always will be a part of this sport. I certainly have no issue with this outlet of passion and even felt compelled to actively support the true motivation provoking the heated boos coming from the supporters of my own football team earlier this year. I will repeat – the true motivation provoking the heated boos! As it turns out, this facet of the film is one of many it implores its viewers (to which I hope there will be many) to accurately identify and comprehend.

Irrespective of predetermined opinions or forthcoming interpretations, THE AUSTRALIAN DREAM presents this topic and all others it covers in an earnest and hard-hitting manner that’s more than capable of re-shaping people’s views. The genuinely dignified approach and narrative that Adam Goodes supplies this documentary with plays a vital component to achieving this. As do the extraordinarily well-worded contributions from Walkley award-winning writer Stan Grant and the chronicling and presentation of material comprising the film by director Daniel Gordon.

To be frank, ignorance may allow us to deny our dark past, but history never will.
A lack of awareness and education of what racism actually is and of the words and actions that are associated with being racist further signifies our deep-rooted problem and is simply no longer acceptable. In pitching just that, THE AUSTRALIAN DREAM isn’t solely stand-out classroom curriculum, it also presents every Australian with the way forward towards reconciliation and truly living as one Australia.

 4 stars

Viewer Discretion
MA15+ (Themes of racism and strong coarse language)

Trailer
THE AUSTRALIAN DREAM

Moviedoc thanks Madman for the invite to the screening of this film.

THE AUSTRALIAN DREAM is released in cinemas throughout Australia from August 22nd, 2019.

Review by Leigh for Moviedoc
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