This documentary follows Phillip Noyce as he tries to find three aboriginal girls able to act in his film Rabbit Proof Fence. The film sees a cast of 100's whittled down to the eventual three girls and follows them through workshops and into the difficult shoot.
When I saw this film I assumed that it would be more background into the true story that the film is based on, or at least a historical focus on the Lost Generations of the story. I was a little let down to see it was mostly about the casting. However once I got over my expectations I really enjoyed this film. For the first half it is a little like Popstars in format - girls auditioning for the parts etc, but it rises above this.
Once we start to see the girls actually picked it becomes much more impressive. We get to see the girls grow in ability and talent as the casting process goes on. I have already seen the film and was blown away by the ability of Sampi as well as the other two. So to see how she grew into the role was fascinating - I think if I'd seen the film after this I wouldn't have been as impressed by the documentary, but the fact I knew how good she was just made it amazing.
The actual filming is interesting, but the finale is amazing - a look at the filming of the actual abduction scene. God, it was powerful in the film, but to see the cast and crew in tears after shooting it just made it even more moving to me, people behind the camera looked terrified while shooting it.
There is a certain gimmick to this, and a cynic could see it as a `Popstars' attempt to get publicity for the film, but there is enough to get out of this to avoid that label for me. Overall, I'd watch the film first before I'd watch this, but this is a fascinating look at how girls were picked from nobodies to give amazing performances. It may be light at points but it is enlightening enough to be well worth adding to the film.
