NFSA Restores: Mabo – Life of an Island Man excerpt

Title:
NFSA Restores: Mabo – Life of an Island Man excerpt
NFSA ID
1522330
Year
1997
Access fees

The NFSA has completed a digital restoration of Mabo: Life of An Island Man.

On 3 June 1992, six months after Eddie ‘Koiki’ Mabo’s tragic death, the High Court upheld his claim that Murray Islanders held native title to land in the Torres Strait. The legal fiction that Australia was empty when first occupied by white people was laid to rest. 

This revealing film tells the private and public stories of a man so passionate about family and home that he challenged an entire nation and its legal system. Though his greatest victory was won only after death, it has forever ensured his place in Australian history.

 

Watch on NFSA Player