Australia’s indigenous people and a throwback to the Anglo Celtic base of the country’s white settlement, entertainingly intersect in this soul struck fairy tale about a 1960s girl group who went further than they or their people had ever dreamed. Exquisite casting means that Hollywood-based Irish actor Chris O’Dowd Bridesmaids meets his match in feisty Aboriginal actress Deborah Mailman Rabbit-Proof Fence. Together, the pair add considerable romantic charm to a film that is already empowered by the infectious rhythms of Afro-American music classics such as “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” and “I’ll Take You There”. Like the main characters who journey from the Australian outback to war-torn Vietnam, “The Sapphires” always retains an essentially Australian temperament that combines the hard-nosed with the easy-going. The result ensured local box office success as well as making it popular at both Cannes and Telluride film festivals. (Russell EDWARDS)