A Thin Black Line

1942: For young Patima, the war seems a distant threat. But when the bombs reach her hometown of Darwin, she is forced to flee; leaving her father behind. An animated, interactive true story about a family’s struggle to stay together in the face of war.

The bombing of Darwin in 1942 was the first and largest aerial attack on mainland Australia during the Second World War. As bombers strafed the lightly defended city, nearly half the civilian population fled southwards in the belief a Japanese invasion was imminent. Amongst them was Patima, a young Torres Strait Islander girl, just five-years old at the time.

Directed by ATOM award-winner Douglas Watkin, with art by acclaimed Aboriginal artist Vernon Ah Kee, and produced by award-winning VR studio VRTOV for SBS Australia.