Our Warrior screening: Constitutional Poetics Symposium

Robbie Thorpe, a Krauatungalung (Gurnai)/Djapwurrung (Gundditjmara) man, is one of the most renowned Aboriginal activists in the ongoing struggle against the iniquities of the invader Australian state. His legendary resistance to colonization, and his unremitting commitment to justice are famed globally. This documentary film Our Warrior (dir. Anthony Kelly) is the first to take up the challenge of tracking Robbie Thorpe’s life and acts, from the establishment of Black Power in Australia, through his High Court legal actions, to the foundation of Camp Sovereignty and beyond.

This event will consist of a screening of Our Warrior, followed by a panel discussion hosted by Professor Tony Birch, and featuring Gary Foley, the film’s director Anthony Kelly, Robbie Thorpe, and Professor Irene Watson.

This event is part of the Constitutional Poetics Symposium, supported by the Australian Research Council grant ‘Law, Literature and Naturalization in an Age of Empire,’ The Institute for International Law and the Humanities (IILAH), and the Critical Research Association Melbourne (CRAM) at The University of Melbourne.