From KCRW in Santa Monica, this is The Treatment.

Welcome to The Treatment. I'm Elvis Mitchell.

You can also hear this show at KCRW.com.

Imagine a musical comedy about race in Australia in the 70s.

It's exactly what Rachel Perkins has given us in her new film,

Brand New Day.

Rachel, thanks so much for being here.

Thank you for having me.

I know I've talked a little bit about what the pictures about,

but explain a little bit more for the audience if you would.

Well, it's based on a play that a guy called Jimmy Chai wrote, and he grew up in this

really little town in Broome, which is on the far northwest coast of Australia.

And it's sort of autobiographical.

He grew up in the 60s, and he used to sit in this open-air cinema, which is still

exist today, and he used to dream about making a musical, because he used

to watch all the Hollywood musicals come through, but one that put his own people in there. So

he wrote a play. He's a musician, and he had a band and wrote songs, and then those bands sort

of morphed into the play. And then in 1991, the play came out on Australia. It was really

popular, and I remember seeing it back then.

And then 20 years later, we've made a film of it.

So that's sort of loosely the genesis of the project.

And what kind of movies that you grew up watching?

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