In 2004, Aboriginal man Cameron Doomadgee swore at a police officer in the street. 45 minutes later, he was dead in a police cell, having sustained injuries more typical seen in high-speed car crashes.
The man accused of killing him, Chris Hurley, was a police officer in Cameron’s hometown of Palm Island, a seemingly idyllic island off the coast of Queensland with one of the highest rates of crime and violence in Australia.
The investigation into Cameron’s death was politically charged as two very different elements of Australian society clashed over the tragedy of what had happened.
Journalist Chloe Hooper’s award-winning book on the case, The Tall Man, has been adapted into a documentary.
I spoke with the film’s producer, Darren Dale, about making a film when one of the main characters is dead and the other won’t talk.