Documentary 'Salute' opens at Sydney Film Festival

Salute, a documentary film about the so-called Black Power Protest on the podium during the medals presentation ceremony for the men's 200m at the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games, premiered to a standing ovation at the annual Sydney Film Festival on Sunday 8 June.
 
The film is directed by Matt Norman, a nephew of Australian sprint great Peter Norman who won the silver medal behind the phenomenally gifted black American Tommie Smith and just ahead of another US titan of the track, John Carlos.
 
The photograph of Smith and Carlos standing on the dais in their long black socks, heads bowed, each with one arm raised with a clenched fist gloved in black leather while the American national anthem played is one of the iconic images of the turbulent 1960s.
 
Standing at attention in the foreground on the second tier of the podium - wearing a button upon which was printed Olympic Project for Human Rights - Norman
was far more than a mere bystander to this moment in history, but his name had been largely lost, even to Australians, over the last 40 years.
 
This then is Norman's story, lovingly revealed by his proud nephew so that "the white guy in the picture" should be acknowledged by name and the basis of his respect for men of all races and denominations be understood.
 
Extensive exclusive interviews with Smith, Carlos and Norman as well as many other players in the events of 1968 are interspersed with rare and restored archival newsreel footage of the Games themselves and explosive incidents of social upheaval that year around the globe - but especially in the US.
 
And it becomes clear the causes and conflicts in the new millennium remain substantially those of 40 years ago - racism and US military adventurism, Islam and the West, black leadership and social justice in the US and elsewhere.
 
Salute represents the first time a comprehensive effort has been mounted to explain in social context the deep-rooted feelings, personal histories, and the courage of the individuals - especially Smith - who participated in the first and most controversial protest in the history of athletics and the Olympics.
 
It is an emotional whirlpool which drags the viewer into the maelstrom of 1968 leading to that fateful moment on the podium, inducing tears on a couple of occasions from this writer - especially in the knowledge that Norman never got the chance to see this wonderful tribute; Peter died in his early sixties of a heart attack in late 2006. Smith and Carlos were among the pall-bearers at his funeral in Melbourne.
 
"It is a film everyone should see," said Keith Connor, the world No.1 ranked triple jumper for Great Britain in 1982, LA Olympic medallist and head coach of the Australian team at the Athens Olympics four years ago.
 
"Every athlete who goes to the Australian Institute of Sport should be sat down and obliged to watch this film before they can be given a scholarship. It's a great education, a history lesson."
 
In fact the Australian airline Qantas will screen Salute on all flights, including those bound for Beijing from the date of general release on July 24.
 
Whether the activism of Smith, Carlos and Norman will inspire present generation Olympians to protest in some way in Beijing remains to be seen but certainly the controversy over the alleged mistreatment of indigenous Tibetans by China which has accompanied the torch relay has fuelled speculation as the August 8 Opening Ceremony for the Games approaches.
 
In the film, Norman defended the right of medallists to make whatever statement they feel appropriate.
 
During one of the last conversations I had with Norman he showed he was still an activist with a strong social conscience when he said: "Today there is a whole new generation but someone still has to stand up and make a statement on behalf of the down-trodden.

"Once you've earned the right to stand on that podium you've got that square metre of the world that belongs to you. What you do with it is up to you - within limits.

"I'm not sure a rehashing of what happened in 1968 would have the same impact.

"And if a Chinese gold medallist made a civil rights protest the risk to them would probably be far greater (than it was in 1968 to Tommie Smith and John Carlos) because they're doing it on home turf.

"We're not advocating a repeat of '68 but people should be aware of the civil rights situation in China. It's a wonderful opportunity to do something of a positive nature.''

Australian Olympic Committee spokesman Mike Tancred said despite an International Olympic Committee rule prohibiting any form of protest at the Games, Australian team guidelines had been redrafted to permit freedom of expression.

"The team will be able to express a point of view on human rights, Tibet and any other issue in media interviews and, for the first time ever, in blogs,'' he said.

"However, they won't be allowed to stage demonstrations of political, racial or religious origin - certainly not in venues - and that would include wearing a 'Free Tibet' t-shirt.

"We'd be encouraging our team members not to do what they [Norman and the Americans] did in '68 - that black power salute - which would be a breach of IOC Rule 51.

"In saying that, AOC president John Coates will deal with any breach on a case by case basis.

"We are mindful of the fact that in 1968 the then chef de mission of the Australian Olympic team, Julius 'Judy' Patching, dealt with the matter in this way: He spoke to Norman, slapped him on the wrist and offered him some free tickets to the hockey and told him to go and enjoy himself.

"So it's highly unlikely we'll be heavy-handed for any breach in Beijing.

"We have no problem with our athletes watching that film if it's on the plane on the way up to Beijing. That's fine.''

Norman set an Australian record of 20.06sec - which still stands - in winning the silver medal.
 
Salute goes into some detail of the tremendous hardship Smith and Carlos endured after they became social pariahs in the US following their Olympic protest.
 
Norman too had his problems and paid a price, perhaps the least of which was missing selection for the following Olympics in Munich despite running the Games qualifying time for 200m on 13 occasions.

Mike Hurst for the IAAF

http://www.salutethemovie.com/teaser.html