''Protected'' is a 1975

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

, narrated by Don Brady and Sydney-born producer Robert Hughes. The film was directed by

Alessandro Cavadini Alessandro is both a given name and a surname, the Italian form of the name Alexander. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name Alessandro * Alessandro Allori (1535–1607), Italian portrait painter * Alessandro Baricco ...

(who also made '' Ningla A-Na'', about the Aboriginal Tent Embassy). It was an exposé of the ill-treatment of Aboriginal workers by white men. The details of what life was like for Aboriginal Australians on Palm Island became more widely known when Alessandro Cavadini and Carolyn Strachan recreated the strike in 1957 by hundreds of the Island's residents even though there was huge resistance from local authorities. Some 22 years later in 2007, Aboriginal activist, and convicted Palm Island rioter

Lex Wotton The trial of Lex Wotton relates to the events surrounding the Townsville, Queensland proceedings in the Federal Magistrates Court concerning the actions taken by Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council member Wotton during the 26 November 2004 Palm ...

presented a screening of the film to the Film Fanatics Society at Petersham Bowling Club. He recalled watching the film as a schoolboy and seeing his father on film. He said that screening opened his eyes to the way ''"things were different on Palm"''. He also said ''"There are numerous things that people haven't documented but this ilmwas one thing that brought what was happening to the indigenous people to the attention of the wider community''.

References

External links

*
Protected
at

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

Australia: Palm Island’s Dark History of Aboriginal Repression
* 1975 films Australian documentary films Australian independent films Documentary films about Aboriginal Australians 1975 documentary films Documentary films about indigenous rights Documentary films about the labor movement 1975 independent films 1970s English-language films {{poli-documentary-film-stub