Aside from Covid, one of the biggest conversations had in society in 2020 has been around race. The Australian Dream is not only another powerful piece of that ongoing conversation but a devastating account of one man’s personal journey in the deeply divided story of race in Australia. 

 

The Australian Dream is a documentary that uses the remarkable and inspirational story of Indigenous AFL legend Adam Goodes as the prism through which to tell a deeper and more powerful story about race, identity and belonging. The film unpicks the events of the 2013-15 AFL seasons and asks fundamental questions about the nature of racism and discrimination in society today. Walkley award-winning writer Stan Grant and BAFTA award-winning director Daniel Gordon join forces to tell this remarkable story of one of the most decorated & celebrated players in AFL history. A man who remains a cultural hero; the very epitome of resilience & survival, who continues to fight for equality and reconciliation.

 

The Australian Dream hits you like a freight train. It will leave you rocked for days after seeing it and leave you in seething tears of anger and wanting to bring change to our world. It’s one of the reasons we should go to the cinema. To be moved, to ask questions and to be educated. 

 

In its less than two hour running time, The Australian Dream aptly and deftly explores colonisation in Australia, the Lost Generation and the continual explicit and casual racism that exists especially toward the Aboriginal communities of Australia.

 

The film interviews a vast amount of people from those within the Aborginal communities, media personalities and even people who disagree with some of Adam Goodes actions. In a lot of documentaries the story usually strongly favours the subject (if the filmmakers want the subject to be portrayed in a good light). 

 

But the filmmakers get input from one of Goodes harshest critics, which gives the other ‘side’ of the story and insight into some of their arguments. With the conversation that The Australian Dream is attempting to have it is important to walk together and to bring as many as we can on that journey. 

 

It will hit you with the force of a freight train and will leave you in a seething mess of tears and wanting to make a difference in our world. The Australian Dream is one of the best films of this year.