NAIDOC Week Film Screening The Coolbaroo Club
Next on
Wed 9 Jul
12-2:30pm
Location
State Library Theatre - Ground Floor
This event is for
Adults
Event Type
Join us for a special NAIDOC Week screening of a film from the State Library's collection, The Coolbaroo Club, followed by a talk from leading community member Barbara Hostalek.
In response to this year's NAIDOC week theme of The Next Generation: Strength, Vision and Legacy, this film has been selected from the State Library archive as a powerful example of Aboriginal-led storytelling, activism, and strength-based community-building.
The Coolbaroo Club
The Coolbaroo Club was an Aboriginal-run dance club that operated in segregated Perth from 1946 to 1960, offering a rare space of celebration and resistance amid widespread discrimination. Told through personal memories, archives, and dramatization, the story highlights the Club’s cultural impact—hosting stars like Nat King Cole—and its political legacy through the Coolbaroo League, which advocated for Aboriginal rights.
“A deeply moving film which deserves to be widely seen both in Australia and overseas. It is a testament to a people’s will and their fight for the smallest piece of respect, and their enormous will to express joy in the midst of oppression.”
– John Diaz, Multimedia Film Review
Upcoming dates
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Discover more
Truth, Archives and Exposing Aboriginal Histories
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This NAIDOC week, the State Library is proud to host a night of public lectures from two talented Aboriginal researchers, the State Library’s Battye Fellow Shino Konishi, and the inaugural Aboriginal Research Fellow, Jordanna Yoontj Eades.
The extraordinary life of a Kimberley man
Dates
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An in-depth look at Kimberley icon Sam Lovell’s trailblazing contribution to WA’s cultural tourism industry. Discover Sam’s life as a drover, road builder, storyteller, tour guide and country musician.
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Hear from Di Ryder OAM, a much-loved Aboriginal Elder who got her second chance for education in an unlikely place: the Australian Army.