THE DARK EMU STORY
Australia / 2023 / 82 min / DCP

Directed by Allan Clarke

Production : Darren Dale, Jacob Hickey, Belinda Mravicic

FIFO 2025 Grand Prix
Introduced by Allan Clarke

This film tells the story of Bruce Pascoe’s Australian best-selling book The Dark Emu Story, which caused controversy in Australia. The Dark Emu Story delves into controversy, provides a platform for Australia’s first people to share their remarkable stories and enlightens our understanding of Australian history. A poetic journey to reconquer the dignity of a people. A magnificent documentary that reignited the debate surrounding knowledge of pre-colonial Aboriginal culture.

Allan Clarke

Allan Clarke is an multi award winning Muruwari and Gomeroi filmmaker, investigative journalist and writer who has made significant contributions to the representation of Indigenous issues and people in the media. Allan’s work aims to give agency to Indigenous people through storytelling. His most notable work includes; two-part television series and accompanying podcast Blood on the Tracks for the ABC, feature documentary The Bowraville Murders and feature documentary The Dark Emu Story. His Writing credits include TV series The School That Tried To End Racism, feature documentary Rose Gold, TV series Ray Martin : The Last Goodbye and TV drama Invisible Boys. Allan has won numerous awards for his work, including the 1er prix spécial du jury FIFO 2022, two Australian Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism and the United Nations Media Peace Prize and the United Nations Media Peace Prize. In 2018, Allan was recognised by the NSW Parliament for his pursuit of justice for Aboriginal victims of crime through his storytelling. His latest film, The Dark Emu Story, is a revelatory and inspiring feature length documentary which challenged thinking around Indigenous culture pre-colonisation. The film received several awards and sparked a lively national discourse and debate around Australian history. Allan now lives in La Rochelle. He served as President of the Feature Film Jury at the 2024 Festival des Antipodes.