Winner, Best Feature Film, 2017
Inspired by real events, Sweet Country is a period western set in the uncompromising outback of the Northern Territory, Australia in 1929. When Aboriginal stockman Sam kills a racist white station owner in self-defense, Sam and his wife, Lizzie, go on the run. They are pursued across the outback, through glorious but harsh desert country, by Sergeant Fletcher who leads the posse with the help of Aboriginal tracker Archie and local landowners Fred Smith and Mick Kennedy. Sam is an expert bushman and he has little difficulty outlasting them. However, when the health of his pregnant wife becomes too much to ignore, Sam decides to turn himself in. But will justice be served?
APSA Winner Clip
Post win interview with Warwick Thornton
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy expresses its respect for and acknowledgement of the South East Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of country, including the custodial communities on whose land works are created and celebrated by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. We acknowledge the continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past and present. We recognise the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and First Nations peoples continue to play in storytelling and celebration spaces.
