Rabbit-Proof Fence at 20: ‘It was such a tough gig for three young blackfellas’

By the turn of the new century, Australia was waking up to the full extent of the suffering of the stolen generations.

The Bringing Them Home report was released in 1997; the following year the first National Sorry Day was held; and in 2000 a quarter of a million Australians walked across Sydney Harbour Bridge in support of meaningful reconciliation. Even the conservative prime minister John Howard was forced to acknowledge that the systematic seizure of First Nations children – a practice that continues in a different name to this day – represents “the most blemished chapter in the history of this country”.

Then, in 2002, came Rabbit-Proof Fence: Phillip Noyce’s wrenching adaptation of Doris Pilkington Garimara’s account of the extraordinary 2,400km trek her mother, Molly Craig (14 at the time, played by Everlyn Sampi), Molly’s half-sister Daisy Kadibil (eight, played by Tianna Sansbury), and their cousin Gracie Fields (10, played by Laura Monaghan) undertook in 1931, from the Moore River settlement north of Perth back to their home in state’s north.

Related: David Gulpilil obituary

Evading the grasp of the Javert-like protector of Western Australia’s Aboriginal people, AO Neville (a typically rich performance from Kenneth Branagh), and enduring some of the harshest conditions on the planet, Molly and her fellow escapers eventually make their way to the rabbit-proof fence, which guides them to Jigalong, and the country of the Martu people.

After a decade making big-budget studio pictures with the likes of Harrison Ford, Sharon Stone and Denzel Washington, Noyce returned to his roots to lose himself in a subject close to his heart, infusing it with enough Hollywood chutzpah to overcome the Australian industry’s reluctance to tell First Nations stories.

Noyce also borrowed heavily from Hollywood marketing techniques to sell Rabbit-Proof Fence, orchestrating a Gone With the Wind-style nationwide search for three young stars, that was covered in a five-part series on Nine’s Today show.

Not surprisingly, Rabbit-Proof Fence raised the hackles of the conservative commentariat, led by Andrew Bolt, who was disgusted by the millions of taxpayer’s dollars spent on a film calling itself a true story which – he wrongly claimed, and continues to claim – had no basis in fact. “Your film shames us, Phillip Noyce, not you,” thundered Bolt in the Herald Sun. Noyce used every attack on the film as a PR opportunity, gaining, he says, “over 40 pages of editorial at no cost”.

• Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning

Rabbit-Proof Fence ended up doing excellent numbers at the box office in Australia and overseas, winning best film at the Australian Film Institute awards and earning strong reviews from local and international critics.

Related: The Proposition: Nick Cave’s savage outback western reveals ugly truths about Australia

“Not since the last shots of Schindler’s List have I been so overcome with the realisation that real people, in recent historical times, had to undergo such inhumanity,” said the late legendary critic Roger Ebert.

“It would be a very different film if blackfellas had made it,” said the children’s drama coach, Rachael Maza. But two decades on, Rabbit-Proof Fence is still warmly embraced by audiences, joining the likes of Noyce’s career-making classic Newsfront in that elite cohort of Australian movies – including Strictly Ballroom, The Castle and The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith – that have taken up residence in the Australian consciousness.

‘We were stunned; we’d never heard the story’

Maria Pilkington, daughter of the late author Doris Pilkington Garimara: “One day all the women were sitting around a fire having a yarn, as we always do when we go back to Jigalong, when Nanna Daisy said to Molly: ‘Tell Doris about the time we walked home from Moore River.’ We were stunned; we’d never heard the story. When Doris got back to Perth she looked into the native welfare records and found it was all there. She wrote Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence in longhand, and I typed it out. Helping Mum with her manuscript was the most traumatic experience of my life because I didn’t know the story. But it was also a part of the healing process, especially for Mum.”

Christine Olsen, screenwriter and producer: “I read an interview Tony Stephens did with Doris in the Sydney Morning Herald at the time of the book’s release in 1996. The incredible story … really struck me. Unfortunately, there was already a bidding war by the time I approached University of Queensland Press. I had never made a feature film before, so I felt I had to meet Doris and put my case … A few weeks later I received the call that I had the rights. Then I started to travel to Jigalong and stay with Molly and Doris at Molly’s home. I would go there and work on the script for long periods. It was an extraordinary experience. I couldn’t have done it without the help of these two amazing women.”

Phillip Noyce, producer and director: “I received a phone call at 3am from a woman babbling about a film script. I thought she was nuts; she had no idea of the time difference between Sydney and Los Angeles. It was Christine Olsen and she wanted me to read her Rabbit-Proof Fence screenplay. Next morning I rang my office and told them, ‘I’m being stalked by a mad woman from Australia; when she calls just get rid of her.’ But Christine got friendly with my staff, who read the script and wanted me to read it.”

I was about to make The Sum of All Fears, a $90m-dollar movie with Harrison Ford. I eventually caved and read the script and realised that it was not just the story of three First Nations children in 1931. It was about me … It was also telling me that I was in danger of becoming a Hollywood hack. I had to go home to Australia and make a film from the heart.

Olsen: “Phillip was always my first choice because of his first feature, Backroads [1977]. It was so full of fun and energy. But what really impressed me was that Phillip shot all the characters – white and black – in exactly the same way. In my experience [in film] people of colour were treated like mystical creatures or barely acknowledged at all. They were never treated like ordinary people. I wanted someone who could do that.”

‘Two thousand kids were interviewed’

Noyce: “The biggest hurdle was finding our three stars. I didn’t want actors, even if I could find them. I was looking for three children with distinct personalities –the rebel, the clown, the dreamer – who we would encourage and capture. The three-month search took us across Australia. Two thousand kids were interviewed. I personally saw probably 800. The three children we found – Everlyn Sampi, Tianna Sansbury and Laura Monaghan – turned out to be exactly right. But it wasn’t always easy getting what we needed, especially from Everlyn, who was headstrong and proud but full of uncertainty. But her rebelliousness and healthy disrespect for authority was perfect for playing Molly.”

Pilkington: “The casting of Everlyn Sampi as Molly was spot on, according to Nana. When Everlyn met Molly they got on like a house on fire because she reminded her of herself when she was that age. They were both confident and cheeky and feisty and troublesome.”

Noyce: “I met Peter Gabriel in London to discuss the soundtracks of Rabbit-Proof Fence and The Quiet American, which I was scheduled to shoot straight after. I said, ‘For one of these movies I can pay you $1m, for the other I can pay you nothing.’ I then told him the story of each of the movies. He rang back the next day and said, ‘I’ll take the one that pays nothing.’ He asks me to send him all the sounds the girls would have heard on their journey – the wind in the trees, the birds, the river and so on. He created the soundscape that’s pulling the kids back to their homeland. Peter’s wonderful soundtrack completely changed the movie and is an essential element in creating the mood.”

Rachael Maza, the children’s drama coach: “It was a very unnatural, super-unhealthy environment for these children. So one of my major tasks was keeping them grounded while they were constantly being whisked away into this magical moviemaking kingdom. I ran lines with them and talked them through what was going to happen the next day but the real challenge was keeping them focused through the incredibly long days they were expected to perform. It was such a tough gig for three young blackfellas. Despite the challenges, all three were incredible. They had a naturalness that all actors strive for. As an actor I was in awe of their ability to be so real and so natural.”

Christopher Doyle, cinematographer: “Younger actors always give you something spontaneous, something unexpected. It is a gift and wonderful, but you have to be prepared and gracious enough to accept it … We shot as much as possible in sequence in order to allow their personalities to emerge.”

Pilkington: “Phillip sent Doris rushes of the film. We would sit and discuss that day’s filming and she would give Phillip comments. The film-makers were very respectful of my mother’s work and took her opinions on board. When we went to Jigalong we would fill Molly in about what was happening with the film. ‘Whatever,’ she would say. Molly wasn’t that interested.”

‘After the movie I didn’t want to do any more acting’

Everlyn Sampi: “The hardest part of making the movie was doing the same scene over and over. It was exhausting. And everybody was talking at me the whole time. Telling me where to go and what to do. It gave me a headache! After the movie I didn’t want to do any more acting. I had enough. But now I think I would like to do another movie. It was a great experience and I would love to do it all again.”

Tianna Sansbury: “When I was a kid I loved the television show Survivor. It was everything to me. My little brothers and I made an obstacle course in the back yard and we would compete to be the best. Being in Rabbit-Proof Fence felt like I was on Survivor. Those three girls had overcome so many obstacles to get home. It was great adventure. So being in the movie was more like a game to me than acting.”

Natasha Wanganeen, who played Nina, the dormitory boss: “One day I got really frustrated with Phillip and told him off in front of the rest of the cast and crew. Everybody said, ‘Oh my god. Did you just do that?’ They were not used to seeing this big Hollywood director being cursed by a 15-year-old bush kid. But Phillip was cool. He just laughed it off. We have built a really strong bond over the past 20 years. He has always been supportive of my acting career and now my film-making. If I jump on to Facebook and complain about something that is happening to me he’ll tell me to get my shit together. Rabbit-Proof Fence changed my life. It opened me up to a world that would otherwise be inaccessible to a kid who grew up on a mission.”

Sansbury: “It was really hard work. But it was fun. Phillip was incredibly patient with us and showed us a lot of respect. All the crew did. I especially loved the time we spent with Deborah Mailman [who played a domestic servant who helps the three children along the way]. Deborah loved us. She was like our mother for the time she was there.”

Sampi: “When I came back to Broome after making the movie everyone said, “So you’re a movie star now. Are you rich?’”

‘They were queens for a night’

Pilkington: They screened the movie in Jigalong and it was an amazing experience. Molly and her sister Daisy were sitting in the middle surrounded by all their children and their grandchildren. They were queens for a night. They didn’t always recognise themselves in the story. “That wasn’t us!” they yelled. But Mum had explained what was involved in making a movie and they were happy with that. So many members of the stolen generations are bitter, and still are to this day. Mum didn’t want to be like that.

Maza: “Phillip was a whitefella doing all the right things. He made sure blackfellas worked in every department, he ensured cultural protocols were followed and engaged in consultation every step of the way. But at the end of the day he didn’t get it right. It was [directed] by a whitefella and written by a white woman. But the film was hugely successful because Phillip was able to peel away all the cultural specificities and get to the heart of the story, that is, the absolute injustice of a child being taken away from their mother.”

Olsen: “If Rabbit-Proof Fence were being made today, it would be directed by one of our amazing First Nations film-makers – someone like Warwick Thornton; Samson & Delilah is astonishing. We were breaking new ground in telling an Indigenous story within the context of a mainstream movie with a big-time Hollywood director, but we were amongst the last to do this. First Nations film-makers are now telling their own stories. And that is absolutely right.”

• Phillip Noyce, Christine Olsen and Maria Pilkington will be joining Mark Naglazas for a 20th anniversary screening and Q&A at the Luna Cinemas in Perth on 25 September