Australian
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an NFSA website

Chequerboard – My Brown Skin Baby, They Take ‘im Away (1970)

play May contain names, images or voices of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
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'I'm your little girl, Amy'

This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

Bob Randall packs the car to take his wife Amy back to central Australia to see her mother. Amy talks about the first time she met her mother after being removed from her care as a child.

Curator’s notes

The style of the narration and footage is straightforward and unemotional, similar to news reportage. The family are seen packing the car for the trip but the clip mostly centres on Amy. The camera frames her in close-up as she relates her story. This compels us to focus on her words without any distraction. It makes for a powerful moment as the emotion in her eyes and in her voice lets us see for ourselves what it was like for her to be reunited with her mother after so many years apart.