In 1910, a scientist called Erik Mjoberg led the first Swedish
expedition to Australia. An entomologist by trade, Mjoberg's brief
was to document the native wildlife, but his underlying motivation
was to explore the idea that Aborigines were the missing link
between ape and man. Landing in Derby, Western Australia, he bought
supplies, hired a bullock team and set off into the Kimberley with
his increasingly fractious team, battling heat and flies until they
got their first glimpse of "one of the oldest races in the world -
the Australian negroes".
Describing the Aborigines as "ugly", "Neanderthal-like" and
possessed of an "animalistic cunning", Mjoberg set about plundering
their grave sites and smuggling the remains back home - actions
that were to have lasting consequences for all concerned.
With narration by Jack Thompson and haunting original footage,
this artfully composed documentary provides a chilling glimpse into
the mind of a 20th-century explorer.