In 1968, four talented young Australian Aboriginal girls learn about love, friendship, and war when their all-girl group The Sapphires entertains the US troops in Vietnam.

1968 was the year that changed the world. And for four young Aboriginal sisters from a remote mission it was the year that would change their lives forever. Around the globe, there was protest and revolution in the streets. Indigenous Australians finally secured the right to vote. There were drugs and the shock of a brutal assassination. And there was Vietnam. The sisters--Cynthia, Gail, Julie, and Kay--are discovered by Dave, a very kind-hearted talent scout with very little rhythm but a great knowledge of soul music. Billed as Australia's answer to The Supremes, Dave secures the sisters their first true gig and flies them to Vietnam to sing for the American troops. Based on a true story, "The Sapphires" is a triumphant celebration of youthful emotion, family, and music.—Goalpost Pictures

In late-1960s Outback Australia, Irish entertainer Dave Lovelace works as an MC in a small pub. He is impressed by a trio of Aboriginal women who sing country tunes in a pub competition Seeing an advert for musicians needed to entertain the troops in Vietnam, he convinces them to try out for the gig. Their cousin in Melbourne also joins the band. One thing he requires of them: they will sing soul music.—grantss

In 1968, the Aborigines in Australia have recently been granted full citizenship rights in the country but are still largely treated as second class by the white majority. For instance, young-adult sisters Gail, Cynthia, and Julie, whose family has long lived on the Cummeragunja Reserve, are clearly the most-talented performers in a local talent content, but they are all but ignored. Only the show's Caucasian emcee Dave Lovelace, a failed musician who drowns his life failures in booze, sees their talent. So when Julie, the most talented and ambitious but perhaps the most naive of the sisters, suggests that they collaborate to audition to perform for the US troops in Vietnam, they all agree and decide to include their cousin Kay, who was part of the Stolen Generation of Aboriginal children who were taken away by the white authorities and forced to live as white because of her fair skin, but who ultimately made the conscious decision to stay away. However, Dave knows that they must put together a true act as opposed to the girls just standing and singing the country-and-Western songs to which they are most attuned, not because it is the music to which he is most attracted, but because it's what American audiences expect from dark-skinned girls, Dave transforms them into a girl soul group. They pass the audition, but are unprepared for the constant need to prove themselves while in Vietnam or for the country's war-zone conditions. But what may ultimately be their professional failing is their own differences, including their differences with Dave, who most often butts heads with Gail, who as the eldest has always been the de facto leader despite being the weakest performer of the four. But could the old adage be true that there is a fine line between love and hate?—Huggo