An extraordinary first-hand account of the international battle to reclaim the artwork and heritage of one of Australia’s most important Indigenous figures: Albert Namatjira. The founder of what is now known as the Indigenous art movement, he became an international icon and was the first Indigenous person to be granted Australian citizenship. But Namatjira was never fully accepted by white Australia and, after being wrongfully imprisoned in 1959, he soon passed away, despondent and broken. In 1983, the Australian Government sold the rights to his work to an art dealer – despite Namatjira having left his art to his wife and children – sowing the seeds for a major conflict decades later. Working with the Namatjira family, filmmaker Sera Davies takes us on a journey from the sun-blasted deserts of the Namatjira’s Aranda homeland to the garish opulence of Buckingham Palace, as they fight to have Namatjira’s legacy returned to its rightful home.
English, Aboriginal
Australia