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Home > Screenings > SBS International > Once Upon A Time In Cabramatta

Director: Bernadine Lim

Producer: Jacob Hickey

Executive Producer: Sue Clothier and Craig Graham

Writer: Jacob Hickey

Cast: Prof Andrew Jakubowicz,Hien Le,Thang Ngo,Joe Le

Genres: Documentary

Demographics: 18+

People: Bernadine Lim, Craig Graham, Hien Le, Jacob Hickey, Joe Le, Prof Andrew Jakubowicz, Sue Clothier, Thang Ngo

Shows: Once Upon a Time in Cabramatta

Companies: SBS International


3 x 52 minutes

‘Once Upon a Time in Cabramatta’ is the untold story of how the Vietnamese community in Cabramatta overcame the odds and found their place in multicultural Australia.

The story begins with the landmark decision of Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser to open Australia’s doors to thousands of refugees at the end of the Vietnam War. It is a moment in history that finally buries the infamous White Australia Policy and transforms a nation.

The years that follow are as dramatic as they are turbulent. In this one tiny Sydney suburb, the 1980s and 1990s see the emergence of street gangs, a heroin epidemic and the first political assassination in Australia’s history. The Vietnamese people are vilified and demonised. Cabramatta it seems represents all that is wrong with Asian immigration. The universal support for multiculturalism a distant memory.

But as the century draws to a close there is a remarkable turnaround. The Vietnamese people finally find their voice and claim their rightful, democratic place in their adopted home. Cabramatta is a community transformed. Australia, a continent changed forever.