The Panther Within

Streaming video - 2016

Filmmaker Edoardo Crismani and his mother Barbara embark on a search to unravel the mystery surrounding Barbara’s father, Joe Murray, an indigenous boxing champion known as “The Black Panther” who danced and sang in vaudeville shows, and married a blue-eyed blonde white woman in 1930's Australia.. Joe never revealed where he came from and together, and to find out his background, mother and son journey across the land to libraries, and meet researchers and Aboriginal elders, in the hope of shedding light on Joe’s life and the family’s Indigenous heritage.. Emotional and heart-warming, THE PANTHER WITHIN is poetic in its storytelling and celebrates the fighting spirit of Aboriginal people from the past and the enduring quest t...o belong that’s felt by those they leave behind.. "AN EMOTIONAL KNOCK-OUT OF A FILM … a striking documentary … entertaining and enlightening … knocking the Who Do You Think You Are? concept out of the ring. It’s about ordinary people, determined to connect with their past, doing it for and by themselves, exploring heritage and driven by an extraordinary yearning to belong.” - Richard Cotter, Sydney Arts Guide. more