The Pearling Industry is often viewed as a romantic and adventurous lifestyle. However, these first hand accounts from a range of Malay pearling workers who came to Broome after WWII reveals the harsh reality of life on the luggers. Malay tenders, Japanese divers, Indigenous shell sorters and others, all lived and worked togerther in the hard, hot and deprived conditions of the tiny shanty outpost called Broome.
Life on the boats was rough, but most men remember the era with incredible affection and retell their tales of the industry, and of growing into manhood, with verve and emotion that is rarely seen on screen.
Ahmat bin Fadal's extraordinary footage from the era brings to life the people and places as a picture of post-war Broome unfolds on screen.
