The Dark Emu Story

Allen Clarke's thoughtful documentary quiets the noise surrounding Bruce Pascoe's game-changing book to offer a look at the work and the controversy swirling around it.

Bruce Pascoe's 2014 non-fiction book Dark Emu was a publishing phenomenon, selling over a quarter of a million copies and striking a chord with readers around Australia and beyond. The book asked readers to re-evaluate life on country before colonisation, but after some time, the book was challenged by a number of academics and media outlets.

Allan Clarke's thoughtful and rousing documentary traces the book's journey through publication to the controversy that ensued, standing back to offer a broad perspective encompassing the arguments of the book, the veracity of its challenges, and the impact of the work on Australia today.