Wrong Side of the Road: Reunion and Digital Restoration

An Emotional Experience

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The NFSA Indigenous Connections team worked with director Ned Lander and producer Graeme Isaac to reunite the 10 surviving Aboriginal cast members in Sydney.

We wanted to conduct a series of oral history interviews to capture some of the stories about making Wrong Side of the Road, as well as explore the impact this film has had on their lives and that of communities across Australia.

The significance of this event was evident when everyone arrived in Sydney, with pioneers of Aboriginal music and members of the bands No Fixed Address and Us Mob joining friends and associates.

It was a very emotional experience for everyone involved. Some were reconnecting after a 20-year period. Others were reflecting on their shared experiences of the trials and tribulations of challenging adversity through music, experiences that became the foundation of the film. For us, it was an honour to work with these legends of Aboriginal music and have them share their stories with the NFSA.

The songs of No Fixed Address and Us Mob gave voice to the concerns of the Aboriginal community at that time. Their uncompromising and politically charged music and lyrics challenged mainstream society's views about Aboriginal people, and this was reinforced by the release of the film.

About Wrong Side of the Road

This 1981 documentary-style drama follows the Indigenous bands Us Mob, Coloured Stone and No Fixed Address as they move from gig to gig in South Australia. It is partly a road movie, as well as a protest film, a political film and a rock film.

It came out of the Centre for Studies of Aboriginal Music (CASM) at the University of Adelaide, where Graeme Isaac (who co-wrote and co-produced the film) was helping young Aboriginal people to form bands. Dorothy Leila Rankine was involved in the founding of CASM, and her daughter Gayle was one of the students who appeared in the film.

Isaac told australianscreen online, 'We wanted to take an audience, principally a white audience, onto the other side of the road for a while. And just to have them share in the day-to-day experiences of a group of young black Australians.'

Wrong Side of the Road, directed by Ned Lander, evolved as a collaboration between the filmmakers, the community and the musicians featured in the film. Although it has a strong documentary feel to it, the film is a constructed drama.

Its themes and content – including the personal stories woven throughout – emerged from workshopping the central characters. Much of the dialogue in the scenes was improvised by the actors, based on their own experiences.

Looking for more? 

• Watch interviews with Bart Willoughby and Gayle Rankine at the 2013 reunion screening
• Watch an interview with Carroll Karpany, a founding member of Us Mob
• See a rare clip shot during the making of Wrong Side of the Road of Us Mob performing 'Sunshine'

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This article was first published in 2013 and updated in 2023 and 2025. It includes content from the Wrong Side of the Road entry on australianscreen online by Romaine Moreton and Paul Byrnes.

Main image: a scene from Wrong Side of the Road (1981). NFSA title: 26957