This docu-fiction is about the amazing life of Douglas Grant (1885-1951), in the film, Beelang Tom Lewis, a well-known Aboriginal actor, plays the role of Grant. Also an aboriginal, he was adopted when very young by a couple of Scottish immigrants. A soldier, a journalist and an intellectual, he was also a defender of human rights. He played the bagpipes and spoke English with a Scottish accent. He was also declared insane and spent part of his life interned in a military hospital.

THE SKIN OF OTHERS is a story of modern Australia and the way we understand our national history. It is told through two extraordinary lives: Aboriginal WW1 soldier Douglas Grant (c.1885-1951), and Balang Tom E. Lewis, the charismatic actor who plays him in this film. Douglas Grant was a famous man in his day, and can be imagined as a kind of a Forrest Gump figure... if Gump had been black, an intellectual, a journalist, a soldier, and a bagpipe player with a fine Scottish accent. His life is Gump- like in the sense that it connects some of the most famous figures and events of the 19th and 20th Century. These figures include Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Adolf Hitler, and Australia's most famous writer of the time, Henry Lawson. The events include the two foundational conflicts of Australian and world history: the Frontier Wars that remade sovereign Aboriginal nation-territories into the Commonwealth of Australia, and WW1, a conflict that has provided Australian histories with a foundational narrative of tragic heroism and national pride in the ANZAC story.

A compelling portrait of an extraordinary figure, Aboriginal WWI soldier Douglas Grant, featuring late acclaimed Indigenous actor Balang Tom E. Lewis (in his final performance).
Grant (c.1885-1951) was extraordinarily famous in his day, an intellectual, a journalist, a soldier, a reader of Shakespeare and a bagpipe player who could put on a fine Scottish accent. His life story connects Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Adolf Hitler, and Henry Lawson among other famous figures as he moved from Australia to Europe, UK and back. Lewis's thoughtful and often playful reflections on Grant's life, along with guest appearances from Max Cullen and Archie Roach, connect to the larger story of Australia's tragic colonial history and its troubled relationship with First Australians.

A film by Tom MURRAY

Australia, 2020, docu-fiction, 1h31 | In English, Dyirbal with English subtitles

starring Balang Tom E. Lewis (Beelang Tom Lewis), Max Cullen, Archie Roach

Original Title: THE SKIN OF OTHERS
Origin: Australia
Language: English
Subtitles: French
Length: 91 min

"A living, breathing investigation... has a lovely, sometimes thrilling energy... one leaves the film with a powerful impression of Lewis as an artist and an intellect." - Luke Buckmaster, The Guardian

"A fascinating and meticulously crafted tribute" - Jabba's Movies, Weekend Sunrise

Producer: Tom Murray

Director: Tom Murray

Screenwriter: Tom Murray

Cinematography: Allan Collins, Kathryn Milliss

Editing: Hilary Balmond

APPEARANCES
Tom E. Lewis (as Douglas Grant)
Max Cullen (as Henry Lawson)
Archie Roach (as himself)

Production Company:
Tarpaulin Productions

Distribution company:
Ronin Films (Canberra, Australia)


2021 | 18th FIFO (Tahitian Festival of Oceanian Documentary Films) digital edition |broadcast from Papeete, Tahiti.
* FILMS IN COMPETITION
www.fifotahiti.com/movie/the-skin-of-others-2/

2020 | 67th Sydney Film Festival: Virtual Edition and Awards (Sydney, Australia) | 10-21 June 2020
* World Premiere
* FINALIST:'Virtual' Sydney Film Festival's Documentary Australia Foundation Awards
www.sff.org.au/
https://pro.festivalscope.com/film/the-skin-of-others