Syd Jackson

This 80-minute history has been 40,000 years in the making! Not only does this film feature all the jar dropping highlights we associate with the Aboriginal contingent over the past 30 or so years, it gives a holistic view of all the elements which total the indigenous contribution to our native game.

Although about top Aboriginal sportsmen, BLACK MAGIC is more than a film about sport. It is an account of the creative use of sport made by the Noongar people of Western Australia's south-west to advance their people's standing. Denied access to other areas of social life like most Aboriginal communities at the time, the Noongars, from as early as 1920, channelled the natural talent of their young people into the arena of competitive sport, notably running, boxing and football. Competitive sport, as filmmaker Paul Roberts notes, is 'an open gate, a universal rite of passage, an opportunity to achieve recognition and acceptance.'

Produced by Peter Dickson, watch the definitive story of the 1970 VFL Grand Final, from those who lived it.