It has only been screening to a wider audience for a couple of weeks, but the documentary recounting the booing saga of AFL champion Adam Goodes has led to an outpouring of fan apologies.

Key points: Those close to Adam Goodes say the film has led to fans apologising for their previous behaviour

Those close to Adam Goodes say the film has led to fans apologising for their previous behaviour School kids were among those shown the film during test screenings

School kids were among those shown the film during test screenings The filmmaker says Goodes always had power of veto over the project

The CEO of the not-for-profit GO Foundation, founded by Goodes and former Sydney Swans teammate Michael O'Loughlin, said emails had been coming in from all across Australia since The Final Quarter screened at the Sydney Film Festival earlier this month.

"At GO we have always received letters and emails from people who have said they were one of the people who booed Adam during that time, and that they have now listened and learnt," Shirley Chowdhary said.

"It has been less than two weeks since the film launched, so we are talking about a small group of people, but I think the quantity has probably tripled.

"It is so courageous and heartfelt that these people who were the booers — the ones who were attacking Adam — were big enough and gracious enough to admit that they have gone through a learning journey."

GO Foundation co-founders, and former Sydney AFL teammates, Adam Goodes and Michael O'Loughlin. ( Supplied: Nic Walker )

The film's director, Ian Darling, said the fact that some people felt the need to put an apology in writing was encouraging.

"At the end of the day there were hundreds of thousands of people across the country who booed. Not everybody is going to change their mind," Darling said.

"We have done test screenings and when you show it to school kids there is a real honesty and a number of them after 70 minutes said, 'Wow, I got this so wrong'."

A chance for the public to reflect

Darling said one of the main aims of the documentary was to ensure Goodes's voice was finally heard by re-compiling the events of his final three years in the game, in chronological order.

During that period, Goodes was targeted by fans who booed and jeered him whenever he touched the ball. It led to his exit from the game in 2015.

"I just hope everyone is honest enough to say whether or not they feel they got it wrong. They do need to look at this with open eyes and an open heart," Darling said.

The film highlights the disconnect between Goodes's Indigenous expression and the predominantly white, male Australian media.

It includes vision of prominent personalities discussing their view on racism and the role it played in the booing — along with press conferences featuring Goodes — who is regularly confronted with a series of wide-ranging questions from reporters.

Adam Goodes was not required during the filmmaking process of The Final Quarter documentary. ( AAP: Dean Lewins )

"It showed me how frustrating it must have been for him to have been so misquoted and misunderstood," Darling said.

"It was incredible to see in the heat of battle how gracious he was and how he was able to just articulate what his plans were and what his beliefs were."

After gaining approval to make the film, the Swans champion was still given the right to veto the project at any stage.

The use of archival vision meant Goodes was not required in the making of the documentary.

"The last thing I wanted to do was create any more harm or angst for him," Darling said.

Educating the next generation

Eventually, all schools and registered sporting clubs across Australia will have the opportunity to access and screen the documentary, while a deal has been struck with Network Ten to air it at a later date.

Darling said based on the trial screenings at select schools, young Australians will get a lot out of the film.

"Sport is such a great way in to have those difficult conversations," he said.

"The kids were just so engaged, that was one thing. If you take a documentary and say this is a film about racism, it may not have had that engagement."

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At one screening, Darling recalled a poignant moment with a young fan who was the only one in his family who had refrained from jeering Goodes.

"He said: 'I am the only one in our family who didn't boo Adam, and I used to get abused by my dad and my brothers and now I am going to show them this film'. For me, that was a very powerful moment," he said.

Hawthorn, who faced Sydney in two grand finals during Goodes's career, have decided to show their support for the two-time Brownlow medallist by wearing the number he made famous — 37 — on the back of their warm-up guernseys ahead of Friday night's clash with the Swans.

"With Adam's documentary coming out, it was a good chance to reflect on where we are as an industry and where we've come from," Hawk Shaun Burgoyne said.

"On reflection, clubs and players have come out and admitted that at the time, our response wasn't good enough.

"Obviously we can't turn back time, but as we're playing Sydney in Sydney this Friday night, we thought it was a perfect opportunity to show our support for Adam publicly.

"We want to show that we're all beside him, united in stamping out racism."