Salute is a feature length documentary that follows Peter Norman’s involvement in the black power salute at the 1968 Olympics. This salute is one of the most famous images of the 20th Century. Peter Norman was the silver medalist in the 200m final and part of the iconic silent protest of Tommie Smith and John Carlos. Peter was not simply an unaware bystander to this famous moment in history but an active supporter, not just of the events of the day but of the sentiment behind it. Salute documents for the first time the role a white man from Australia had in an important symbolic moment in the American Civil Rights Movement.
This documentary is the only film ever made with all three men included. With Dozens of International Awards to it’s name, SALUTE is the must see Documentary of the year.
The film itself starts by setting up the world of 1968, a world that was just three years from the brink of nuclear war with the Cuban missile crisis and was being ripped apart by the Vietnam war. In a time that involved the assassinations of John F and Robert Kennedy, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, frightened, scared and desperate people were rioting in the streets of Europe and throughout the US where the need for civil rights was becoming a major issue. Black nations were threatening to boycott the Olympics in protest and black athletes within the US team were being urged by people like Harry Edwards to boycott and by others like Avery Brundage to keep politics out of sport.
We meet the three finalists and hear their reasons for starting to run in the first place and the worlds they came from. Tommie Smith ran so he didn’t have to pick cotton in the fields the next day, John Carlos chose running over other sports after a trip to Jamaica showed him not all the pretty girls came from Harlem and we look at Peter Norman’s conservative Salvation Army background.
The athletes talk through their preparations for the games and then we show that in the weeks leading up to the games hundreds, if not thousands of Mexican students who were protesting about the games being held in Mexico when Mexico couldn’t even afford to feed its poor were slaughtered from helicopter gun ships.
We contrast this scary and violent world with the focused innocence of the athletes, from whom the true horror of the Mexico riots was kept, as they prepare for and compete in their races. We follow their progress through the heats and look at the mind games and politics that were being played out on an international stage. As Tommie and John expected to finish first and second they had agreed they had to make their stance on the Olympic dais.
Into this fraught atmosphere, walked Peter Norman, whose performance had taken the U.S. team by surprise. Who was this unknown sprinter from Australia? He wasn’t a typical sprinter – he was quietly spoken, short legged and white.
In the 200-metres final, he ran the race of his life and split Tommie and John, winning silver. As they waited for the presentation ceremony, Tommie and John told Peter of their plans but John had left behind a pair of black gloves he planned to wear, but Tommie had his, and at Peter’s suggestion, they wore one each.
Despite it not being a situation that affected him directly Peter asked the Americans if he could join their protest. He felt there was a moral imperative on him to stand up against something he felt was wrong. Like Tommie and John, Peter wore an Olympic Project for Human Rights badge in support of their silent protest.The image of the three of them on the dais, heads bowed, the Americans delivering the “Black Power Salute”, is regarded as one of the most powerful of the 20th century.
Lasting repercussions followed. Smith and Carlos were dropped from the relays and the team. They were kicked out of the Olympics and banned for life. Back home and friends deserted, money became scarce and with threats to family it tore up Tommie’s marriage. John’s wife committed suicide.
The punishment of Peter was less dramatic but far more insidious and equally painful. Coming from a conservative family in a country that still had a white only immigration policy his stance caused a storm. He was hated in parts of the Australian establishment and the media turned on him.
These forces tried to eradicate Peter’s stand from history, to stop people knowing about the man and his brave stand. His chance to win gold at the 1972 Munich Olympics was stolen from him. Despite him being the favorite to win gold, qualifying 13 times for the 200m and 5 times for the 100m, the powers that be refused to take him to Munich. So for the first time even Australia was not represented in the sprint events at an Olympics. They would rather take no one than take Peter.
At the 2000 Sydney Olympics in Australia, Peter Norman was not even invited to attend in any official capacity. Australia’s best sprinter ever, whose 200m Mexico games time of 20 seconds flat would
have won the gold medal at Sydney and whose Australian record still stands nearly 40 years later, wasn’t even invited to the 200m final by the Australia authorities. He was invited by the U.S. team who flew him to Sydney and got him in to various events as an American guest.
US athletes and civil rights supporters talk about the significance of what Peter did and how important his stance was to them. We see that eventually Tommie Smith and John Carlos were honored for their convictions with a statue in their honor. Peter’s silver medal place is left bare in this statue. Many people, including John Carlos, felt this was ignoring Peter’s contribution to both the athletic and human rights significance of the moment but again Peter selflessly sacrificed his personal glory for the good of the cause.
At the end of the film Peter talks about his desire to finally see someone break his Australian record and for the human rights cause to be carried on by a new generation. He felt that finally Australia needed a sprinter capable of breaking his 40 year old record and his wish is that this film will help inspire a new generation to have the courage to stand up for what they feel is right.
Due to his unique connection with the story the film maker, Matt Norman (Peter’s nephew) has been able to get an extraordinary level of access to the three medalists and has even managed, for the first and last time ever, to film the three of them around a table, talking about the event and their lives.
The music for the film was composed by David Hirschfelder who was nominated for an Oscar for his work on both Shine and Elizabeth and whose other work includes Sliding Doors, Baz Lurhmans “Australia” and The Truman Show. Jane Moran, whose credits include Moulin Rouge and Aquamarine edited the film.
We feel the ongoing interest in this moment in history and the iconic nature of the salute itself combined with the never before seen nature of the material Matt has been able to get will make this film appeal to a wide audience.
Tragically Peter died soon after seeing a rough cut of the film and one of Peter’s last wishes was that his story be told.