Molly has grown up in the Australian Outback in Jigalong. She appears strong, confident, happy and comfortable in this environment.

She is called a “half-caste” and her white father, a fencer, is gone.

Molly can hunt; she protects her younger sister and cousin.

* The “spirit bird is introduced as Molly’s protector and guide, highlighting the strong spiritual beliefs present in the Aboriginal community and Molly’s connection to her homeland.

14 years old

“The white people called me a half-caste.”

Low-angle close up, looking up at Molly, happy in the Jigalong camp.

Point of view shot (from Molly’s perspective) looking up at the hawk; “That’s the spirit bird. He will always protect you.” (Molly’s mother)

Diegetic sounds of the hawk calling  and non-diegetic didgeridoo sounds can be heard.

“Good hunters in this family.” (Molly’s mother)

“That Molly’s getting to be a big girl.”

“How far that Rabbit Fence go to?” Molly asks the fencer. He replies, “It goes all the way to the sea down that way. Right to the top of Australia…and all the way to the sea down that way. 1500 miles long.”

Molly’s sister; half caste and follows Molly wherever she goes. 8 years old.

Often depicted with Molly and Daisy, as if she is their full-blooded sister.

The women talk in their native language to the girls.

The older women teach the girls to fend for themselves in the Outback.

Molly’s mother jokes about Mr Neville and does not believe her children will be taken from her. (This is her ignorance of Mr Neville’s power.)

Long shots show the family laughing together. A close up shows Molly’s mother staring at Constable Riggs. She shouts in her Aboriginal tongue: “Molly, hide those kids” and “Policeman looking for half castes.”

Later Molly says to the depot manager at Jigalong: “Molly not going. She get married. You tell that Mr Devil, he want half-caste kid, he make his own.”

Has to follow Mr Neville’s instructions- his “go to” man, which causes Riggs to often be in hot, deserted, lonely environments.

Shown in a close-up inside the “Jigalong Depot” building, staring at the three girls.

A.O.Neville was appointed the Chief Protector of Aborigines in Western Australia from 1915 to 1940. All Aborigines: their rights to marry, children, need of resources and rations, were all under his authority.

* The low angle shots make him look powerful and threatening.

A.O.Neville explains to a women’s society (who sponsor Moore River) why their support is needed.

At the end of the film, Mr Neville orders that police continue to look out for the girls. He despairs at the obstacles they are facing, in the attempt to implement the “Aborigines Act.”

An extreme close-up shows a document with the handwritten title: “Chief Protector of Aborigines, Perth.”

A low angle shot focuses on a neatly-dressed white man at an office table.

His secretary comes in and says, “The next batch,” as if the Aboriginal reports are details not people..

“This report from Constable Riggs about the three half-caste girls at the Jigalong fence depot. The youngest is of particular concern. She is promised to a full blood.”

“I’m authorizing their removal. They’re to be taken to Moore River as soon as possible.”

“Notice the half-caste child…there are ever increasing numbers of them. What is to happen with them? Are we to allow the creation of an unwanted third race?…Should they be advanced to white status. And be absorbed in the white population.”

A medium shot shows a slide of three generations of people: “half-blood grandmother”, “quadroon daughter,” “octroon grandson” (with almost no sign of Aboriginal blood). “The continuing infiltration of white blood finally stamps out the black colour. The Aboriginal has simply been bred out.” “And in spite of himself, the native must be helped.”

“We face an uphill battle with these people, especially the bush natives who have to be protected against themselves. If they would only understand what we are trying to do for them.”

It is evident that Moodoo resents the control the white man has over him and his daughter but he will lose contact with her if he refuses to comply.

Nina explains, “She ran away to see her boyfriend.” The supervisor beats the girl and the nun cuts her hair off so that she is “not so attractive.”

– His daughter (or him) may not be free, however he can set the girls free.

Mr A.O Neville, the Chief Protector of Aborigines is the legal guardian of every Aborigine in the state of Western Australia. He has the power to remove “any half-caste child from their family, from anywhere in the state.”

“White people came to our country. They made a storehouse here at Jigalong. Brought clothes, tea and other things- flour, tobacco, tea. Gave them to us on ration day. We came there, made a camp nearby. They were building a long fence.”

– Mr Neville’s office.

As the girls are ushered towards the dormitory, a close-up shows the nun unlocking a pad-locked door.

Inside are a number of half-caste Aboriginal girls in beds. They are told, “the bucket’s in the corner.”

Molly is inspected and a low-angle shot from Molly’s point of view shows Mr Neville staring down at her. Her breathing is heavy and her walking, shaky. Mr Neville checks her skin and writes down in his notebook. He says: “No” because Molly is not fair enough to be chosen for a better education.

Molly answers in a close-up shot: “I got mother.”

A close-up focuses on the vehicle and it breaking the fence.

A camel roars (adding tension to the scene).

Molly’s mother and Auntie are shown (initially in slow motion) trying to grab their girls.

The mother’s yell at the girls in their native tongue. Non-diegetic drum beats are heard, indicating the fast pace of the girls running and the speed of the vehicle.

Molly runs out the front, shown in a tracking shot. An over the shoulder shot shows Constable Riggs pursuing the girls.

A series of close-ups show the girls and the mother’s screaming.

Constable Riggs continues to point to his order (document) from Mr Neville.

The camera moves to show all three women slapping on the outside of the vehicle.

As the vehicle drives off, the girls hands are shown slapping on the inside of the vehicle.

A final close-up shows the girls staring out the back of the window.

An extreme close-up is shown of Molly’s eye thinking about the horrors of this settlement.

She says, “bad place,” “make me sick.” Flashbacks are shown as if from her mind’s eye: Moodoo walking past, Mr Neville towering over her, Constable Riggs moving towards her with an official document, the nun in front of her. And then Molly pictures the spirit bird over her and imagines her mother holding her in Jigalong.

Molly uses the rain as a means of escape. If the tracker can’t see the tracks, he can’t catch them.

Gracie presents herself as a more hesitant character from the beginning of the journey. She questions Molly and points out potential failings.

Molly uses Daisy’s bag as a decoy. She then makes the girls walk in the river so that there are no tracks.

-The girls stop when they hear Moodoo.

Molly distracts the girls with a game.

Molly connects with Aborigines to get matches, food and directions.

She says to Daisy and Gracie: “Come on. Get your things. We’re going. We’re going home to mother.”

Daisy looks concerned in a close up: “How we’re gonna get there?” Molly replies, “Walk.”

Gracie does not want to go. She says, “We like it here” and Daisy is still concerned, “That tracker, he gonna get us an put us in that room.” Molly sternly says: He not gonna get us. We just keep walking and the rain will cover our tracks.”

Gracie doesn’t follow initially: “too far, Molly” but then runs after the girls outside.

Inspirational music is heard as a long shot shows the girls running into the trees. When it begins to rain, they are shown in a three shot and Molly is laughing. An overhead shot also shows the girls sleeping in the bushland; they look like birds in a nest.

Molly realizes that the fence will guide them home.

Molly has to carry Daisy.

Molly realizes they have been walking along the wrong fence but continues to walk to find the correct one.

After the woman feeds the girls and gives them old coats, she says, “Watch out for those boys, they go hunting along the fence.” A medium shot shows Molly’s revelation: “That rabbit proof fence?” The woman indicates that the fence is East. Molly says to the girls “Find that Rabbit Fence, we go home.”

Because the girls cut across, they miss the  tracker and a police constable.

Molly’s compassion for Mavis almost gets the girls caught.

She tells the girls to stay with her and she will “get you some food.”

A high-angle shot shows Molly take socks from the clothesline.

As the girls wait in Mavis’ room at night time, they hear a man’s footsteps. A close-up shows boots on the ground.  The man takes his boots and trousers off, pulls back the blanket and sees the girls in the bed. A low-angle shot shows the shock on his face. Mavis is outside and she says, “Go away.” The man is angry and leaves. Mavis pleads with the girls to stay, “He come back if you go…He won’t say anything… Please.”

A series of close-ups show Mavis crying and Molly just staring at her (realizing that Mavis is repeatedly molested by the farmer).

As the girls are sleeping, a car’s lights, flash over the room. Molly tells them: you got to get up! The girls run out into the wilderness in a long shot and Molly is shown to cover her tracks with a tree’s branch. The constable states that he and the tracker will pick up the trail in the morning. A final long shot shows Moodoo staring out into the darkness as if he knows the girls are there.

Molly initially lets Gracie go.

Gracie stops walking and says, “Molly, let’s go to Meeka, catch a train to Wiluna.” Molly tries to persuade Gracie: “If they see us, they’ll catch us….We’re nearly there.” Gracie is determined: “But mummy, she at Wiluna.” Daisy tries to drag Gracie but she will not move. A medium shot shows Gracie at decision-point; she lets the girls walk away.

* Do they survive?

All hope of making back to Jigalong and their family, has been restored.

The Aboriginal female community chant as if calling the girls back to them.  Molly’s mother and grandmother force Constable Riggs out of their camp.

The girls and their family re-unite.

A low angle shot. Extreme close-ups show Molly looking at the sky. And a close-up shows Daisy smiling. Molly looks out and a long shot reveals that the fence has returned. She turns her head and an extreme long shot show mountains that are familiar to her. She says: “Home.”

An extreme close-up shows Riggs sweating and moving backwards away from the women.

When Molly reaches her grandmother, she is held; Molly cries, “I lost one. I lost one.”