It's been almost fifty years since a teenage David Gulpilil illuminated screens worldwide with his breakout role in Walkabout. It was the first time we'd seen an Aboriginal cast in a significant role and only four years after Holt's referendum to alter the constitution and give Aboriginal people citizenship and, subsequently, the right to vote.
Gulpilil quickly became the face of the Indigenous world to white Australian audiences.
Charisma. Good looks. A competent, strong, mysterious man starring in films ranging from Rabbit-Proof Fence to Crocodile Dundee.
But what has marked Gulpill, despite the fame, despite his popularity, is the feeling that he's been forever stuck between two words: a Yolngu man, a hunter, a tracker, who grew up in the bush in Arnhem Land outside any white influence; and now and a movie star flitting from movie set to glamorous festivals.
Able to exist in both worlds, but never truly home.
From the author of the bestselling Wednesdays with Bob, Derek Reilly builds a narrative around his attempt to track and spend time with the most beguiling, unconventional and mysterious of Australian entertainers, observing Gulpilil's own attempt to find a place in the world. With interviews from notable actors, directors and friends - icons such as Jack Thompson, Paul Hogan, Craig Ruddy, George Gittoes, Gary Sweet and Damon Gameau - this unriddles a famous enigma at last.
