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Salute ****1/2 (92 mins) PG

Rarely has the ability of a documentary to utterly makeover one’s appreciation of a historical event been so superbly harnessed than in Matt Norman’s extraordinary film about the “black power” salute given at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City – and of the remarkable Australian involved who had been scrupulously sidelined by his own country’s history.

On the winners’ dais after the men’s 200-metre final two Americans, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, defied protocol by raising their fists as a signal to the world about the racial tensions ripping through the heart of the US. The image became an iconic gesture of defiance and pride.

The third man on the podium was silver medalist Peter Norman, the director’s uncle. Though he did not feel it was his right to salute, Norman was deeply involved in what occurred. He, too, was troubled by race relations back home, had become friends with his competitors and wore a badge in support of their cause.

Jim Schembri, Reviewer – The Age Newspaper, July 17, 2008

Salute

Review by Anthony Morris – webwombat.com.au

Everyone knows the iconic photo of the two African-American athletes on the winner’s podium at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics raising their fists in a black power salute.

What you may not know is that the third (white) man on that podium was Australian sprinter Peter Norman, and this documentary, made by Peter’s nephew Matt Norman, tells his story.  Read more

Review by Andrew L. Urban: http://www.urbancinefile.com.au
This wonderful humanitarian story – especially relevant on the eve of the Beijing Olympics – deserves to be told and it’s a bit of a surprise it hasn’t been told before, while Peter Norman was still alive. He died of a heart attack at age 64 in October 2006, but luckily his nephew the filmmaker, Matt Norman, recorded a lengthy interview with him earlier, which forms the backbone of the film.

But maybe the bigger surprise is that Norman was not invited to the Sydney Olympics ceremony – considering he is still the record holding 200 metre sprinter in Australian history. This and similar socio-political ramifications that flowed from that famous moment in Mexico in 1968, is what the film tries to be about.

It’s an iconic image that stays with us well after the end.To its credit, the film puts the story in its political context, so much so that we understand exactly how important every action was, from the clenched fist of the two black athletes on the podium with Norman, to the subsequent omission of Norman from the next Olympic team – not to mention the aftershocks experienced by the other two, and by Australia’s team manager. Olympic boss Avery Brundage comes off like a racist pig, so affronted by the salutes he demands retribution. Read more

From Left: Carlos, Smith, Norman

MOVIE REVIEW “SALUTE”

‘He’s the skinny white guy in the photograph.’ Matt Norman’s insightful documentary about his uncle Peter – Olympic champion and holder of the Australian 200m record – is a telling record of politics and sport. 1968 was a year when social activism was reaching a crescendo; the year that Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King were assassinated, and Aboriginal children were forcibly removed from their families. It was the year that military forces shot at Mexican students and, in the Olympic arena, Peter Norman joined activists Tommie Smith and John Carlos on the dais. He wore a badge in support of the Olympic Project for Human Rights, they raised clench fists in the now infamous salute.
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Matt Norman – Director “SALUTE”

The Australian in one of the 20th century’s most famous images is a mystery to many of us. Philippa Hawker meets the nephew trying to change that.

FROM early childhood, Matt Norman knew his uncle was famous. “But that was because I thought he was Santa,” he says. Before long, he realised the red suit and white beard his uncle wore every Christmas was not what made him special.

What was significant was an Olympic medal and a remarkable place in history. In the poignant documentary Salute, Norman explores that place. Read more

Photo: Wayne Taylor

THE funeral service for Peter Norman ended with the theme music from Chariots of Fire and a scene no less dramatic than any in that famous film.

The two pallbearers at the front carrying Norman’s coffin from the Williamstown Town Hall were Tommie Smith and John Carlos, the two black Americans with whom he shared the victory dais at the 1968 Mexico Olympics.

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SALUTE – INTERNATIONAL POSTER RELEASED

For those of you who have waited to see and would like to see the new International release poster of Salute then wait no further. I can now show you the Poster which will be used for all of the international release of the film. Please check back to the official Salute site for competitions to win a signed wall poster closer to the release of the film.

Salute is being released in the USA and UK in July 2012 and released on DVD from July 30 2012. Thank you to all our friends around the World who have supported Salute and thank you for your patience for it’s release. It’s been a long time coming.

As Matt Norman, the films Director and Producer finally gets his wish in bringing SALUTE THE MOVIE to American and UK audiences, he reflects back on the good times and the bad to get this film made. Read more