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"A majestic work, destined to be thought of in years to come as a gift to the nation … the screening I saw received a seven-minute standing ovation." – The Age
Upon its release in 2013, Rolf de Heer's Charlie's Country was recognised as an instant classic of Australian cinema. Scoring longtime de Heer collaborator David Gulpilil a Best Actor award at Cannes, the film is a powerful meditation on Indigenous dispossession and the irreparable breaking of tradition that showcased Gulpilil's inimitable capacity for communicating the all-too-human cost of our nation's cultural warfare.
Gulpilil plays Charlie, an ageing, down-on-his-luck hunter with a wicked sense of humour, lost somewhere between the Indigenous and white ways of life. His welfare cheque goes to his family, who have kicked him out of the house. The authorities have taken his spear because he hasn't paid his $60 hunter's license. Charlie goes bush in an effort to find some peace, but in today's Australia there's no escape for a blackfella who's lost his land.
"A moving and funny story that gives more nuanced insight into the Australian Government's intervention in the Northern Territory than any news story or documentary ever could." – SBS Movies
