web - Protected The Truth About Palm Island 1 LOWRES
Protected: The Truth About Palm Island (1975)

The Melbourne Cinémathèque & ACMI present

Protected: The Truth About Palm Island

Alessandro Cavadini | Australia | 1975 | Unclassified (15+)
Film

When

Wed 19 Nov 2025

See below for additional related events

The second of three extraordinary cross-cultural projects collaboratively made by Italian migrant, filmmaker and journalist Cavadini – preceded by Ningla A-Na and followed by the groundbreaking Two Laws – this key work from 1975 is a dramatised documentary describing life on the Palm Island Reserve in the 1950s.

It documents the extraordinary privations of the Aboriginal community living on the island as well the landmark strike in 1957 that brought together figures from many nations and provided a central spark in the push for self-determination.

Format: 16mm
Language: English
Courtesy: Streetsmart Films
Runtime: 56 mins

Event duration

56 mins

Rating

Unclassified (15+)

Where

Cinema 1, Level 2
ACMI, Fed Square

Plan your visit

Membership options

Mini membership
(3 consecutive weeks)
$30.5–36

Annual memberships
$174–325

See full options

More films screening in this program

There are no upcoming related events at this time.

About Melbourne Cinémathèque

Australia's longest-running film society, Melbourne Cinémathèque screens significant works of international cinema in the medium they were created, the way they would have originally screened.

Melbourne Cinémathèque is self-administered, volunteer-run, not-for-profit and membership-driven. 

Learn more | View the 2025 program | See membership options

Melbourne Cinémathèque - Dirk Bogarde in a still from Victim

Join our newsletter

Get updates on the latest news, exhibitions, programs, special offers and more.

You might also like