Overview

Outspoken leader Charles Perkins grew up on a reserve, separated from his relatives. He was shunned by white Australian society and his early experiences of racism spurred him to go on to university and to challenge racial inequality. One of the first Aboriginal people to graduate from university, he soon came to the forefront of direct action against oppression and injustice, leading the 1965 freedom rides that challenged apartheid practices in northern NSW. Freedom Ride takes Charles Perkins back to Moree and Walgett and uses newsreel footage and dramatic reconstructions to retrace his story. The program was directed and produced by his daughter Rachel Perkins; his son Adam Perkins plays Charles as a young man.