AustLit

'This article analyses the leitmotif of the fence in two Australian films from around the turn of the twenty-first century, Rabbit-Proof Fence and One Night the Moon. Drawing on the work of theorists such as Bhabha, Certeau and Morson it argues that in the aftermath of the landmark decisions acknowledging Aboriginal title to land in Australia these films revisit the legal past to make new claims with regard to sovereignty and to address the possibilities and barriers for reconciliation. In these contrasting films, the fence functions as a border, a 'space in-between' where new identities and visions of property are adumbrated.'