In 1964 Francis Roberts travelled to Japan to compete in the Tokyo Olympics. He couldn't use an Australian passport because Aboriginal people weren't considered citizens.
When Widjabul Wiabal and Githabul man Francis Roberts dined with Japanese Emperor Hirohito in 1964, it was worlds away from Cubawee, the Aboriginal reserve where he grew up a few kilometres outside of Lismore. Roberts, a boxer, was one of three Aboriginal people who travelled to Japan to compete in the Tokyo Olympics. Despite his achievement, it was still a time of extreme discrimination; he couldn't even use an Australian passport because he wasn't recognised as a citizen.
"When you talk to all my cousins who grew up there, they always talk about it as being full of love, but it was hard. "They were living in poverty, but there was that real sense of family and community." Page was attracted to the story by its significance and emotional depth, and the chance to work with Rhoda. "These men who endured, it wasn't easy sport. There were deaths," he said.
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