Arquivo

With the ‘Robbed Generation’ – one of the most somber periods in Australian history - aborigine children were removed from their families by the State and forwarded on to do household chores in the houses of white families. Scores of thousands of children were torn out of their homes between 1880 and 1960. The film tells a real story of three girls who walked almost 2 500 km through the Australian outback (an arid, sparsely inhabited region in the country). The report is in the book Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence, by Aborigine writer Doris Pilkington Garimara who was separated from her mother in infancy and only saw her many years later. The title comes from the fence that divides the country from north to south, built to protect the crops and grazing lands from the attack of the rabbits. The fence was the geographical reference for the children. Doris’ mother, Molly, the protagonist in the film, ran away from a government settlement at the age of 14 with her sister and cousin. To return to her community, she walked the length of the fence. At the age of 24, Molly was kidnapped once more. Again, she managed to escape, but could only take one daughter, Annabelle, with her, Doris was left behind. One year later, the government took Annabelle from Molly, and they never saw each other again.