Wrong Kind of Black

From the cops and the crocs of 1960s Palm Island to the blood-spattered dance floors of Melbourne in the ‘70s, Wrong Kind of Black is the personal story of Boori Monty Pryor (Clarence Ryan, in a career-making performance) and his brother Paul (Aaron McGrath). This four part high end digital drama comedy series brings a rare perspective to a tumultuous era in Australia’s history, one that resonates just as strongly today.

At the height of the ‘70s disco inferno, Monty is Melbourne’s hottest DJ. Dubbed ‘The Black Superman’, Monty spins tunes at the Albion Charles Hotel where he and younger brother Paul rub shoulders with a motley crew of Russian mobsters and Aussie yobbos alike. The ‘fro and the flares seem like worlds away from Monty’s childhood on remote Palm Island – but beneath the surface, not much has changed. Aboriginal culture is still not welcome in white society, and the price of its preservation can be deadly. As tensions escalate and trouble keeps finding the two brothers, Monty decides that enough is enough and takes his future into his own hands.

Although the Wrong Kind of Black takes us back to the 1960s and ‘70s, this personal account is as much the story of Indigenous Australia today as it was back then. It is a story of extremes – heartbreak and triumph, unconditional love and blind hatred, innocence and wisdom, black and white – always told with great humour and an enduring sense of hope.