The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (film)

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith
US film poster
Directed by	Fred Schepisi
Screenplay by	Fred Schepisi
Based on	The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith by Thomas Keneally
Produced by	Fred Schepisi
Starring	Tommy Lewis Freddy Reynolds Ray Barrett Jack Thompson Angela Punch Steve Dodd Peter Carroll Ruth Cracknell Don Crosby Elizabeth Alexander Tim Robertson Peter Sumner
Cinematography	Ian Baker
Edited by	Brian Kavanagh
Music by	Bruce Smeaton
Production companies	The Film House The Australian Film Commission The Victorian Film Corporation Hoyts Theatres
Distributed by	Hoyts Theatres
Release date	21 June 1978 (1978-06-21)
Running time	122 minutes
Country	Australia
Language	English
Budget	A$1.2 million[1]
Box office	A$1.021 million (Australia)

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith is a 1978 Australian drama film directed, written and produced by Fred Schepisi, and starring Tom E. Lewis (billed at the time as Tommy Lewis), Freddy Reynolds and Ray Barrett.^[2] The film also featured early appearances by Bryan Brown, Arthur Dignam, and John Jarratt. It is an adaptation of the 1972 novel The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith by Thomas Keneally.

The story is about an exploited Aboriginal Australian who commits murder and goes into hiding. It is based on actual events surrounding Jimmy Governor.

The film was critically acclaimed, but lost A$179,000 at the box office. For Schepisi, the film's reception was a disillusioning experience and he left Australia soon after to work in Hollywood, returning to Australia ten years later to make Evil Angels.^[3][4]

While not prosecuted for obscenity, the film was seized and confiscated in the UK under Section 3 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 during the video nasty panic.