Trivia

The whole story of the green ants was made up by Werner Herzog, it's not a part of genuine Aboriginal folklore. However the courtroom incident where a secret artifact is revealed, to the bemusement of the judge, is based on a real incident.

Werner Herzog has revealed on DVD commentary that this movie is dedicated to his mother, who died at the time when the movie was made.

Two names used for characters ("Baldwin Ferguson" and "Miss Strehlow") provide links with anthropologists noted for their work on Australian aborigines. Baldwin Spencer (1860-1929) was a British-Australian anthropologist who did pioneering studies on aborigines. Theodor George Henry Strehlow (1908-1978) was noted for his studies on the Arunta/ Arende people of Central Australia.

Cast members Wandjuk and Roy Marika had both previously in 1971 been witnesses in the actual real life Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd court case which inspired this film.

Director Werner Herzog on the commentary speaks of how he came to make this film: ''I visited Australia a few years before making this film. I think I was at a festival and I had read lots of excited newspaper articles in Australia at that time. A trial had taken place that became quite famous. It was the first time that Australian Aborigines had sued a mine company. It was Nabalco, an Australian-Swiss company, a consortium, that I think was digging for bauxite, the basic material of aluminium. They had destroyed sacred Aboriginal places in the desert. The Aborigines lost the case and the judge expressed regret at the end of the trial that the existing law at the time forced him to make a judgement in favour of the Nabalco consortium. That caused a lot of commotion in Australia. Educated people started to realise that this was a question regarding their own identity, of how they were dealing with the Aborigines, and of how they were dealing with their history. After this case several other cases came to court that were won, in large part, by Aborigines. I happened to be in Australia during this time and got interested in this issue. I read all the court records of the Nabalco case. It's a strange situation because the film starts with such a strange calmness.''

Bob Ellis: The Australian writer and director as a supermarket manager.

Werner Herzog: As the lawyer that shakes Hackett's hand outside of the court room when the trial is over.