Starring Peter Norman, Tommie Smith
Directed by Matt Norman

‘He’s the skinny white guy in the photograph.’ Matt Norman’s insightful documentary about his uncle Peter – Olympic champion and holder of the Australian 200m record – is a telling record of politics and sport. 1968 was a year when Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King were assassinated, military forces slaughtered Mexican students and Peter Norman joined activists on the Olympic dais.

He wore a badge in support of the Project for Human Rights – they raised clenched fists in the now-infamous salute. Matt Norman’s Salute premiered to an emotional crowd at the Sydney Film Festival where the director received a standing ovation.

It caught a mood of pride and anger: pride at Peter’s actions, anger at the treatment metered out by Olympic and sporting authorities. Where he was reprimanded, fellow medal winners Smith and Carlos were suspended. Matt Norman secured pivotal interviews with fellow athletes and sporting figures though tellingly, none were Australian.

David Hirschfelder’s brooding score adds texture and helps propel the film through some distracting technical lapses. It’s a minor note in an otherwise compelling feature that fills a large hole in Australia’s sporting and political history.

Salute is a wonderful portrait painted with wit, humour and dignity.

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