The Fundy Film Society

Rabbit-Proof Fence

Runner-up for Toronto International Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award and a strong candidate for Academy Award attention, Rabbit-Proof Fence is an extraordinarily moving and triumphant cinematic experience based on a true story. Drawing on the book by Doris Pilkington Garimara, director Phillip Noyce (Clear and Present Danger) skillfully awakens an incredible journey accomplished by three determined half-caste Aboriginal children, Molly, Daisy and Gracie – wonderfully played by young newcomers Everlyn Sampi, Tianna Sansbury and Laura Monaghan. Set in 1931, the three girls find themselves caught in the web of a misguided Western Australian law that decreed half-caste children be removed from their villages and sent to Reformation Camps to pave eventual entry into white society. Under the supervision of Chief Protectorate Mr. A. O. Neville (Kenneth Branagh, Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing) from his office in Perth, the three girls are spirited from their village at Jigalong and transported to a Moon River camp – 1,500 miles away to the south. Buoyed by her indomitable spirit, Molly refuses to accept her fate and dares to attempt the impossible, leading Daisy and Gracie away from the camp on an 1,500 mile escape of epic proportions. Pursued by the police under the direction of Neville and tracked by the almost magical Moodoo, the girls attract national media attention as they continually outwit the manhunt and try to make it home by foot using the continent-wide “rabbit-proof fence” (built to save Australia from a crippling rabbit plague) as their only guide. The sprawling and unforgiving outback landscape challenges the girls’ resourcefulness and ingenuity, testing their very will to survive. Rabbit-Proof Fence combines stirring, uplifting adventure with a gentle understated portrait of Australia’s unfathomable policies which led to what is now known as the “Stolen Generation.” At international film festivals in Cannes, Toronto, Sudbury and Calgary, Rabbit-Proof Fence was consistently celebrated as one of the audience’s favourite movies.

“Using his gifts as a creator of expertly crafted, highly accomplished commercial successes, Noyce has made a movie as exciting and accessible as it is timely.” – Erin Free, Hollywood Reporter

“This is a landmark Australian film. Rabbit-Proof Fence is flawless, marking a triumphant return to form for director Phillip Noyce.” – Herald Sun

“Stands as a powerful, worthy testimony to the suffering of the stolen generations.” – Jamie Russell, BBCI Films