“Australia’s own buried idol… he was a world champion, a former Australian of the Year, a musician with Number 1 hits and the greatest Aboriginal boxer of all time.” – filmmaker Eddie Martin
Tokyo 1968, Japanese boxer Fighting Harada loses the world bantamweight title after 15 rounds, propelling the victor Lionel Rose into the history books as the first ever Aboriginal world championship boxer. Returning to Melbourne, Lionel was greeted by 250,000 people filling the streets to hail him a hero; he went on to become Australian of the Year, and an icon of interracial politics.
Combining vibrant long-lost archival material, modern day footage and candid interviews, Lionel is a biopic about an often-forgotten Australian champion who took on the world against all odds and won.
Edward Martin, Lizette Atkins and Lionel Rose are guests of the festival.
When's it on?
Where is it on?
LIONEL (80 mins) Sat 2 Aug 5:00 PM ACMI
LIONEL (80 mins) Tue 5 Aug 7:00 PM Greater Union 5
$16.50 full $13.50 con
''Buried''?
ACMI, Saturday, 5pm, Ben.
This movie has some very effective street-teamers working for it.
ahh sweet.. thanks
Buried!? Poor ole Lionel! I hope he has a wash before he comes to the screening. Covered in dirt isnt a conventional look for a world champ
There's a great photo of him with Elvis actually. Elvis in a karate posture, Lionel in a boxing one.
Damned if I know the story behind that one.
Elvis and the World Champ!
Whoop. There you go.
ha! triple snaps!
That is not a karate stance Alex.
Hey Alex, in this film Lionel tells the story of that photo... all your dreams come true today hey!
sooo sooft!
not only is the doco a fantastic and true piece of work, but......
...Im still nursing the hangover..
....Man the rose family know how to hold a party!
Lionel used to live across the road from a mates place in Mordialloc in the late 90's, every time i went over Lionels place was rocking!
haha! Yeah.. that'd be right
The second screening of LIONEL will be Tue 5 Aug 7:00 PM at Greater Union
get along folks
In the after-screen QnA that the MIFF lady held with the director and producer after the screening.. Director Eddie Martin made the point that the Aust Govnmt archival mob should made some high quality transfers of degrading film of some of Lionel's historic fights before they're lost...
I must say I agree.
where did lionel live in mordy?
crackwhore??
that my homesuburb.. i own it
owen st, right in the guts of mordy.