by Perry Seibert
synopsis
Paul Goldman's feature film debut Australian Rules is a sports drama that combines a coming-of-age story with an examination of race relations between Australians and Aboriginals, and a sensitive interracial love story. Gary Black (Nathan Phillips) is a 16-year-old who plays on the local Australian rules football team. His best friend is aboriginal Dumby Red (Luke Carroll), the star of the team. After Dumby wins the big game, the racist coach denies him the credit he deserves. This leads to a series of dramatic confrontations capped off by Gary confronting his racist father. Australian Rules was screened at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival.
