On December 29, 1982 Malcolm Smith finally killed himself in prison, after a series of attempts at suicide or self-mutilation. Richard Frankland, a commissioner for the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody revisits friends and family to find out, not only the specific events, unique to Malcolm’s case, which led to his death, but also the more general issues which apply to all Aboriginals in custody, namely the application of penalties, which are out of all proportion to the crime and the removal of juveniles from their homes.
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Appears in
Constellation
Black documentary and truth telling
Essie Coffey was a trailblazer of Indigenous filmmaking, being the first Aboriginal woman to direct a documentary. The film spotlights the outspoken voice Coffey utilised to convey the realities faced by Aboriginal people and to encourage resistance to assimilation.