The Bowraville Murders, a feature-length documentary for SBS, is in production, with the first block of filming completed in the northern NSW town of Bowraville.
The two-week shoot was mainly based in Bowraville, with shoots in Sawtell and Nambucca. Master interviews were shot with key family members, in addition to filming with Gary Jubelin, the former homicide detective who investigated the case for 20 years, and Stan Grant, who is on-camera putting Bowraville in the wider context of institutionalised racism.
The documentary, a co-production between Mint Pictures and Jumping Dog Productions, investigates the unsolved murders of three Aboriginal children who were killed in 1990-91 in rural NSW, and follows their families’ 30-year battle for justice.
The legal battle went all the way to the High Court of Australia, which in 2019 upheld a prior NSW Court of Criminal Appeal ruling thatrefused to allow the retrial of the only suspect, a white man who cannot be named for legal reasons.
The families have long claimed that they have been denied justice – first from the police, then from the courts – because they are Aboriginal.
Directed by award-winning journalist and Gomeroi man Allan Clarke, Stefan Moore and Dan Goldberg are co-producers and co-writers on the project. Adam Kay and Susan Lambert are executive producers.
The project is financed by SBS with support from Screen Australia and Screen NSW as well as philanthropy through the Documentary Australia Foundation.
The feature-length documentary is expected to air in 2021.
