Black and White (2002 film)
Encyclopedia
Black and White is a 2002 Australian film
, directed by Craig Lahiff and starring Robert Carlyle
, Charles Dance
, Kerry Fox
, David Ngoombujarra
, and Colin Friels
.
Louis Nowra
wrote the screenplay and Helen Leake and Nik Powell produced the film. The film won an Australian Film Institute
award in 2003 for David Ngoombujarra as Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
Based on real events, it tells the story of Max Stuart
(Ngoombujarra), a young aboriginal
man who was sentenced to death after being found guilty of the murder of a nine year old girl on what was considered questionable evidence. It follows the fight by his lawyers David O'Sullivan (Carlyle) and Helen Devaney (Fox) to save Stuart from execution, as well as Crown Prosecutor, Roderic Chamberlain (Dance) efforts to convict Stuart. Rohan Rivett editor of an Adelaide
paper, The News
, and its publisher, Rupert Murdoch
(Ben Mendelsohn
) also feature as leading the public response in the campaign to save Stuart.
In the final scene of the film, Max Stuart appeared as himself as an older man, driving along a dirt highway near Alice Springs
where he now lives, and saying: "Yeah, some people think I'm guilty and some people think I'm not. Some people think Elvis is still alive, but most of us think he's dead and gone."
The film's producer, Helen Leak has reported that Stuart's response to seeing the film was, "It ain’t half bad, but it’s a long time to wait between smokes!"
award for Best Actor in Supporting Role.
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, directed by Craig Lahiff and starring Robert Carlyle
Robert Carlyle
Robert Carlyle, OBE is a Scottish film and television actor. He is known for a variety of roles including those in Trainspotting, Hamish Macbeth, The Full Monty, The World Is Not Enough, Angela's Ashes, The 51st State, and 28 Weeks Later...
, Charles Dance
Charles Dance
Walter Charles Dance, OBE is an English actor, screenwriter and director. Dance typically plays assertive bureaucrats or villains. His most famous roles are Guy Perron in The Jewel in the Crown , Dr Clemens, the doctor of penitentiary Fury 161, who becomes Ellen Ripley's confidante in Alien 3 ,...
, Kerry Fox
Kerry Fox
Kerry Fox is a New Zealand actress. She came to prominence playing author Janet Frame in the movie An Angel at My Table directed by Jane Campion, which gained her a Best Actress Award from the New Zealand Film and Television Awards....
, David Ngoombujarra
David Ngoombujarra
David Ngoombujarra was an Indigenous Australian actor of the Yamatji people. Born David Bernard Starr in Meekatharra, Western Australia, his acting career spanned over two decades from the 1980s to the present; he won three Australian Film Institute Awards...
, and Colin Friels
Colin Friels
-Background and training:Friels was born in Kilwinning, Ayrshire, Scotland. His mother was a mill worker and his father a joiner. He lived in Kilbirnie until 1963, when his family moved to Australia, arriving in Darwin, Northern Territory before settling in the Melbourne suburb of Broadmeadows...
.
Louis Nowra
Louis Nowra
Louis Nowra is an Australian writer, playwright, screenwriter and librettist.He is best known as one of Australia's leading playwrights...
wrote the screenplay and Helen Leake and Nik Powell produced the film. The film won an Australian Film Institute
Australian Film Institute
The Australian Film Institute was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry...
award in 2003 for David Ngoombujarra as Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
Based on real events, it tells the story of Max Stuart
Max Stuart
Rupert Maxwell Stuart is an Indigenous Australian who was convicted of murder in 1959. His conviction was subject to several appeals to higher courts, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and a Royal Commission, all of which upheld the verdict. Newspapers campaigned successfully against...
(Ngoombujarra), a young aboriginal
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
man who was sentenced to death after being found guilty of the murder of a nine year old girl on what was considered questionable evidence. It follows the fight by his lawyers David O'Sullivan (Carlyle) and Helen Devaney (Fox) to save Stuart from execution, as well as Crown Prosecutor, Roderic Chamberlain (Dance) efforts to convict Stuart. Rohan Rivett editor of an Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
paper, The News
The News (Adelaide)
The News was an afternoon daily tabloid newspaper in the city of Adelaide, South Australia.The newspaper was established in 1869 as the Evening Journal. In 1933, a controlling stake was taken by The Advertiser, controlled by the Herald and Weekly Times. HWT sold off The News in 1949, and Sir Keith...
, and its publisher, Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
(Ben Mendelsohn
Ben Mendelsohn
Paul Benjamin "Ben" Mendelsohn is an Australian actor.-Early life:Mendelsohn was born in Melbourne, Australia, the son of Carole Ann and Frederick Mendelsohn. He attended Heidelberg Primary School and Banyule High School. His father is a prominent medical researcher who heads the Howard Florey...
) also feature as leading the public response in the campaign to save Stuart.
In the final scene of the film, Max Stuart appeared as himself as an older man, driving along a dirt highway near Alice Springs
Alice Springs, Northern Territory
Alice Springs is the second largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Popularly known as "the Alice" or simply "Alice", Alice Springs is situated in the geographic centre of Australia near the southern border of the Northern Territory...
where he now lives, and saying: "Yeah, some people think I'm guilty and some people think I'm not. Some people think Elvis is still alive, but most of us think he's dead and gone."
The film's producer, Helen Leak has reported that Stuart's response to seeing the film was, "It ain’t half bad, but it’s a long time to wait between smokes!"
Awards
In 2003, the film won the Australian Film InstituteAustralian Film Institute
The Australian Film Institute was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry...
award for Best Actor in Supporting Role.