Film review: The Sapphires has a lot of soul

First-time director Wayne Blair's The Sapphires was the most successul Australian film of last year and received a 10-minute standing ovation at its out-of-competition screening during the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.

A coming-of-age period piece about four young Australian Aboriginal women - who, like the rest of their people, were classified as "flora and fauna" on government census forms prior to 1967 - and an Irishman who shares their love of music, it doesn't shy away from tackling sensitive issues, even while being a genuine crowd-pleaser.