Synopsis

In 1968, Aboriginal boxer Lionel Rose became the the first Indigenous world bantamweight boxing champion when after 15 rounds he defeated Fighting Harada in Tokyo. He returned home to a hero's welcome by a crowd of 250,000.

Lionel is a very lucid documentary which tells Lionel Rose's story from his childhood in rural Victoria to the present day. It's a story that's both triumphant and rather bitter-sweet, because after his success and fame in the 1960s Rose found it difficult to adjust to a more normal life.

Four years after winning his crown, Rose lost his title to Ruben Olivares. He became tangled with the law and spent all his winnings on family, gambling and drugs. His marriage to Jenny, the daughter of his first trainer, Frank Oakes, broke up for a while.

Combining vibrant long-lost archival material, modern day footage and candid interviews, Lionel is a biopic about an often-forgotten Australian champion who took on the world against all odds and won.

Australia's own buried idol... he was a world champion, a former Australian of the Year, a musician with Number 1 hits and the greatest Aboriginal boxer of all time.

— Eddie Martin, director

His success came just months after the passing of the 1967 Australian referendum, which saw Aboriginal people counted in the census for the first time and allowed the government to make laws for them. In this climate, Rose was more than a black sporting hero - he was also a symbolic figure in the interracial politics of the time.

If he'd fought the year before he wouldn't even have counted as an Australian citizen.

— Jenny Rose, Lionel's wife

I didn't realise how massive he was back in 1968, 69, 70.

— Eddie Martin, director