Act summaries

Act 1

1. Jigalong 

The film Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002) directed by Phillip Noyce starts with white text on a black screen marking the setting of the film as 1931 in Western Australia and explaining the Aborigines Act which allows the removal of any “half caste child” from any Aboriginal family in the state of Western Australia. 

Then, a woman speaks in an Aboriginal language in the voiceover. She says the events happened to her, her sister Daisy, and her cousin Gracie when they were little. The scene then shows a group of Aboriginal women and girls following the trails of an iguana and hunting it. Two white men on horseback watch them from afar. One of them explains that the three young girls are Molly, Daisy, and Gracie.

When the women see the men, they tell the kids to hide, as the policemen are looking for half-caste kids to take away so they can grow up among white people.

2. A. O. Neville

In Perth, A. O. Neville, the Chief Protector of Aborigines, is filling out a form with Molly’s information. A secretary comes in and informs the man of different requests Aboriginal people have filed, such as a woman requesting to visit her child or another wishing to buy new shoes. The police officer tells the secretary he has authorized the removal of the three young girls from Jigalong and wishes them to be taken to Moore River Native Settlement in Perth.

3. Removal from Jigalong

In the Australian Outback, at the Jigalong Depot, the Aboriginals are getting their food rations. A white man tells Molly, Gracie, and Daisy about the rabbit-proof fence he is fixing. He says it is the longest fence in the world and runs all the way across western Australia from top to bottom. Another white man tells an Aboriginal woman that Neville is inquiring about Molly. She replies that Molly is going to get married and stay in Jigalong.

Constable Riggs arrives in his car. The Aboriginal women shout at the three young girls to run. The Constable chases them with his car and corners them. He says he has come to pick up the three girls. Maud, Molly’s mother, says the kids are hers, and he cannot take them away. He forcibly removes the crying girls and orders them to stay in the car or else their moth...