In answer to Silver's question "Who do you think you are?", Dougie answers "@#!$% Lionel Rose". Lionel Rose was an aboriginal boxer who won the world Bantamweight title in 1968, becoming the first aboriginal to become a world boxing champion.
A poster on Valerie's refrigerator is for the theatre show "Munjong" written by Richard Walley and starring Ernie Dingo. Ernie Dingo has a small part in this film.
Writer-director James Ricketson learnt of the film's source story when he was directing the 'Alinta, the Flame' (1982) episode of the four part mini-series 'Women of the Sun' (1982).
The film's script was developed with the assistance of the Australian Film Commission (AFC). The film was made with the assistance of the
Western Australian Film Council (WAFC) and was made in association with the
Australian Film Commission (AFC) and the
Australian Broadcasting
Corporation (ABC), and made in association with and the participation of the
Australian Film Finance
Corporation (AFFC) Pty Ltd.
The film was made and first released about twelve years after its source novel 'The Day of the Dog' by Archie Weller had been first published in 1981.