David Gulpilil delivers a seminal performance in Rolf de Heer's unflinching look at an oft-ignored chapter in Australian history.

The first of his remarkable collaborations with Rolf de Heer, The Tracker (MIFF 2002) stars David Gulpilil as a guide who's forcibly enlisted by a posse of white policemen to hunt down an Indigenous fugitive in 1920s South Australia.

Hailed as an anti-western and a powerful exploration of the nation's race relations, de Heer's film mixes breathtaking widescreen cinematography with the director's trademark uncompromising approach, using songs by composer Archie Roach and Peter Load's evocative paintings to punctuate and comment upon the narrative. Gulpilil's performance, perhaps his most significant since Walkabout (also screening this year), earned the star the AACTA award for Best Actor.

"Gulpilil is an extraordinary presence. With his expressive face and lithe body movements, the actor brings iconic status to the role." – David Stratton

Director Rolf de Heer and cast member Gary Sweet will introduce this session.

Courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia