One Man's Road

One Man's Road
Directed byBob Kingsbury
StarringClive Andrew Williams (1915–1980)
Edited byIan Dunlop
Production
company
Release date
  • 1967 (1967)
Running time
26 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish

One Man's Road (1967) is a short Australian documentary film about the experiences of Aboriginal Australians.

The most prominent role in the movie was given to Aboriginal Australian activist Clive Andrew Williams (1915–1980). Upon the film's release, Williams was dismayed to find that the Australian Department of Territories had been using the movie as propaganda to promote the cultural assimilation of Aboriginal people.

The movie was produced by the Commonwealth Film Unit. It was premiered on National Aborigines' Day, 14 July 1967 and the next day started playing on multiple television channels to mark the day, airing again in successive years. the Age's Teletopics column said "Clive Williams impressed as an exemplary family man of great inner resources. Though his path to assimilation was a difficult one, the documentary was too consoling. So easy to say: "If he can do it, what's stopping others?" And that's neither the point nor the end of the story."

References

  1. ↑ NFSA Films (2015-02-11). One Man's Road. Retrieved 2024-06-13 – via YouTube.
  2. ↑ "One man's road | Robert Kingsbury | 1967 | ACMI collection". www.acmi.net.au. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
  3. ↑ FitzSimons, Trish; Laughren, Pat; Williamson, Dugald (2011-01-31). Australian Documentary: History, Practices and Genres. Cambridge University Press. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-521-16799-4.
  4. ↑ Duncan, Alan T., "Clive Andrew Williams (1915–1980)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 2024-06-13
  5. ↑ "One Man's Road | National Film and Sound Archive of Australia". www.nfsa.gov.au. Retrieved 2024-06-13.
  6. ↑ "Film on Aborigines", The Sydney Morning Herald, 12 July 1967
  7. ↑ "The ordeal of transition - an Aborigine tells", The Age, 13 July 1967
  8. ↑ FitzSimons, Trish; Laughren, Pat; Williamson, Dugald (2011-01-31). Australian Documentary: History, Practices and Genres. Cambridge University Press. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-521-16799-4.
  9. ↑ "Teletopics", The Age, 20 July 1967