Best Australian Indigeneous Films
by SmackCheeks | created - 17 Oct 2016 | updated - 30 Nov 2017 | PublicAll titles below are from my Australian collection...
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1. The Blonde Captive (1931)
Passed | 59 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
An expedition is sent into the rugged Australian outback to search for a lost white woman.
Directors: Clifton Childs, Paul Withington | Stars: Clifton Childs, Lowell Thomas, Paul Withington
Votes: 87
2. Jedda the Uncivilized (1955)
101 min | Adventure, Drama, History
Set against the harsh natural surrounds of outback Northern Territory, Jedda captures a rare and honest glimpse into the heart and history of indigenous Australia. Young Jedda is caught ... See full summary »
Director: Charles Chauvel | Stars: Rosalie Kunoth-Monks, Robert Tudawali, Betty Suttor, Paul Reynall
Votes: 401
3. Walkabout (1971)
GP | 100 min | Adventure, Drama
Two city-bred siblings are stranded in the Australian Outback, where they learn to survive with the aid of an Aboriginal boy on his "walkabout": a ritual separation from his tribe.
Director: Nicolas Roeg | Stars: Jenny Agutter, David Gulpilil, Luc Roeg, John Meillon
Votes: 27,340 | Gross: $0.02M
4. Storm Boy (1976)
Not Rated | 88 min | Drama, Family
Mike is a lonely Australian boy living in a coastal wilderness with his reclusive father. In search of friendship he encounters an Aboriginal native loner and the two form a bond in the care of orphaned pelicans.
Directors: Henri Safran, Ian Goddard | Stars: Greg Rowe, Peter Cummins, David Gulpilil, Judy Dick
Votes: 1,516
5. The Last Wave (1977)
PG | 106 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
A Sydney lawyer defends five Aboriginal Persons in a ritualized taboo murder and in the process learns disturbing things about himself and premonitions.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Richard Chamberlain, Olivia Hamnett, David Gulpilil, Frederick Parslow
Votes: 11,023
6. Mabo: Life of an Island Man (1997)
87 min | Documentary
On June 3rd 1992, six months after Eddie 'Koiki' Mabo's tragic death, the High Court upheld his claim that Murray Islanders held native title to land in the Torres Strait. The legal fiction... See full summary »
Director: Trevor Graham
Votes: 31
7. Manganinnie (1980)
90 min | Adventure, Drama, History
Aboriginal woman Manganinnie survives a Black Line raid which claims the life of her husband, Meenopeekameena.
Director: John Honey | Stars: Mawuyul Yanthalawuy, Anna Ralph, Phillip Hinton, Elaine Mangan
Votes: 187
8. We of the Never Never (1982)
G | 134 min | Biography, Drama
Jeannie Gunn faced being the only civilised woman in an uncivilised land. A story of personal triumph about one woman who reached out in a hard, hostile, prejudiced world and managed to find love.
Director: Igor Auzins | Stars: Angela Punch McGregor, Arthur Dignam, Martin Vaughan, Lewis Fitz-Gerald
Votes: 470
9. Lousy Little Sixpence (1983)
52 min | Documentary, Drama
Tells of Aborigines' removal from their families to be sent to work as servants for white people and the rise of the first Aboriginal organisations in the 1930's, in particular the Aborigines Progressive Association.
Directors: Gerald Bostock, Alec Morgan | Stars: Geraldine Briggs, Flo Caldwell, Chicka Dixon, Bill Reid
Votes: 29
10. Where the Green Ants Dream (1984)
R | 100 min | Drama
A geologist employed by an Australian mining company finds himself disputing the rights of some aborigines who believe their land to be sacred.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Bruce Spence, Wandjuk Marika, Roy Marika, Ray Barrett
Votes: 2,631
11. The Naked Country (1985)
90 min | Action, Drama, Romance
A rancher comes in conflict with a gang of renegade Aborigines on the run from their tribe's posse. They try to kill him, but he gets away and hides in the woods. His posh wife and her lover, a local alcoholic cop, go to rescue him.
Director: Tim Burstall | Stars: John Stanton, Rebecca Gilling, Ivar Kants, Tommy Lewis
Votes: 120
12. BabaKiueria (1986 TV Movie)
29 min | Comedy, Drama
Role reversal study of the historically inaccurate "plight" of Australian Aborigines in modern Anglo-Saxon society. Indigenous "whities" [sic] are being persecuted by racist black people ... See full summary »
Director: Don Featherstone | Stars: Michelle Torres, Bob Maza, Kevin Smith, Cecily Polson
Votes: 238
13. Short Changed (1986)
104 min | Drama
In Australia, an aborigine and a white woman battle for custody of the child they had together.
Director: George Ogilvie | Stars: David Kennedy, Susan Leith, Jamie Agius, Ray Meagher
Votes: 56
14. The Fringe Dwellers (1986)
PG | 98 min | Drama
Story of an aboriginal family who tries to move out of the fringe into the main white community.
Director: Bruce Beresford | Stars: Kristina Nehm, Justine Saunders, Bob Maza, Kylie Belling
Votes: 443 | Gross: $0.15M
15. Nice Coloured Girls (1987)
16 min | Short, Drama, Romance
Nice Coloured Girls is a short film classic by Tracey Moffatt, one of Australia's foremost visual artists. Three Aboriginal women cruise through Kings Cross and pick up a 'captain' (a ... See full synopsis »
Director: Tracey Moffatt | Stars: Gayle Mabo, Cheryl Pitt, Janelle Court, Fiona George
Votes: 84
16. Tudawali (1987 TV Movie)
PG-13 | 87 min | Biography, Drama, History
Biopic that traces the life of Robert Tudawali, the first Aboriginal film star, whose lead role in Jedda the Uncivilized (1955) is iconic in Australian cinema.
Director: Steve Jodrell | Stars: Ernie Dingo, Peter Fisher, Charles 'Bud' Tingwell, Jedda Cole
Votes: 63
17. Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy (1990)
19 min | Short, Drama
A middle aged Aboriginal woman nurses her dying old white mother till the mother dies.
Director: Tracey Moffatt | Stars: Marcia Langton, Agnes Hardwick, Jimmy Little, Alkira Fitzgerald
Votes: 296
18. Blackfellas (1993)
95 min | Drama
An Aboriginal man is caught between his allegiance to his people and his aspirations to escape the cycle of self-destructive behaviour.
Director: James Ricketson | Stars: John Moore, David Ngoombujarra, Jaylene Riley, Lisa Kinchela
Votes: 129
19. The Life of Harry Dare (1995)
90 min | Comedy
Harry Dare (John Moore) is a shambolic Adelaide private investigator. He's still not certain why he's in the business; perhaps to understand his father's disappearance, 20 years earlier? ... See full summary »
Director: Aleksi Vellis | Stars: John Moore, Nicholas Hope, Tommy Lewis, Ullie Birve
Votes: 12
20. Two Bob Mermaid (1996)
Drama, Short
Director: Darlene Johnson | Stars: Carrie Prosser, Tessa Leahy, Jie Pitman, Stephen Blair
Votes: 19
21. Dead Heart (1996)
104 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A no holds barred look into the gaping divisions which exist within an Aboriginal settlement in outback Australia. These separations split the inhabitants, straining relationships until something has to give.
Director: Nick Parsons | Stars: Bryan Brown, Ernie Dingo, Angie Milliken, Gnarnayarrahe Waitairie
Votes: 301
22. Radiance (1998)
83 min | Drama
Three sisters reunite after some years apart, for their mother's funeral. Cressy (Maza), the eldest of the three, is a diva - an opera singer who is reluctant to visit the past and ... See full summary »
Director: Rachel Perkins | Stars: Deborah Mailman, Trisha Morton-Thomas, Rachael Maza, Russell Kiefel
Votes: 352
23. Yolngu Boy (2001)
88 min | Adventure, Drama
An Indigenous teen and his friends embark on a challenging journey to Darwin from Arnhem Land to meet a tribal leader with the aim of creating a better future after troubles take them away from their dreams.
Director: Stephen Johnson | Stars: John Sebastian Pilakui, Nathan Daniels, Sean Mununggurr, Lirrina Mununggurr
Votes: 378
24. Australian Rules (2002)
95 min | Drama, Romance, Sport
In Prospect Bay, a remote outpost on the South Australian coast, two communities, the Goonyas and the Nungas, come together on the one field they have in common, the football field. But the... See full summary »
Director: Paul Goldman | Stars: Nathan Phillips, Luke Carroll, Lisa Flanagan, Tom Budge
Votes: 853
25. Beneath Clouds (2002)
Not Rated | 90 min | Drama, Romance
Lena is the daughter of an Aboriginal mother and Irish father and Vaughn is a Murri boy doing time in a minimum security prison in North West NSW. Dramatic events throw them together on a journey with no money and no transport.
Director: Ivan Sen | Stars: Dannielle Hall, Damian Pitt, Jenna Lee Connors, Terry Dahlstron
Votes: 1,188
26. Black and White (2002)
99 min | Drama
Recreation of the landmark 1958 South Australian Court trial of young aboriginal Max Stuart.
Director: Craig Lahiff | Stars: Robert Carlyle, Charles Dance, Kerry Fox, Colin Friels
Votes: 879
27. Gulpilil: One Red Blood (2002 Video)
56 min | Documentary, Biography
Legendary Aboriginal Australian actor and dancer David Gulpilil discusses his life and career from his home in Yolngu country in Arnhem Land, NT.
Director: Darlene Johnson | Stars: David Gulpilil, Ronnie Barramala, John Cann, Roger Climpson
Votes: 86
28. Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)
PG | 94 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
In 1931, three half-white, half-Aboriginal girls escape after being plucked from their houses to be trained as domestic staff, and set off on a journey across the Outback.
Director: Phillip Noyce | Stars: Everlyn Sampi, Tianna Sansbury, Kenneth Branagh, Laura Monaghan
Votes: 30,252 | Gross: $6.17M
29. The Tracker (2002)
Not Rated | 90 min | Drama, Western
Fanatic is a government trooper who is heading an expedition to find an Aboriginal man accused of murdering a white woman. Others in the expedition are the Follower, a greenhorn trooper, the Veteran, and the Tracker.
Director: Rolf de Heer | Stars: David Gulpilil, Gary Sweet, Damon Gameau, Grant Page
Votes: 3,296
30. Ten Canoes (2006)
Unrated | 90 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
In Australia's Northern Territory, a man tells us a story of his people and his land. It's about an older man, Minygululu, who has three wives and realizes that his younger brother Dayindi may try to steal away the youngest wife.
Directors: Rolf de Heer, Peter Djigirr | Stars: Crusoe Kurddal, Jamie Gulpilil, Richard Birrinbirrin, Peter Minygululu
Votes: 5,106 | Gross: $0.28M
31. Kanyini (2006)
TV-PG | 53 min | Documentary
Australian Aborigine Bob Randall presents his spiritual philosophy.
Director: Melanie Hogan | Star: Bob Randall
Votes: 73
32. Bastardy (2008)
83 min | Documentary
An intimate documentary of Jack Charles, a.k.a. "Jackie", the legendary Australian aboriginal actor who co-founded Australia's first indigenous theatre company and struggled with his identity later in life.
Director: Amiel Courtin-Wilson | Star: Jack Charles
Votes: 186
33. First Australians (2008)
52 min | Documentary
First Australians chronicles the birth of contemporary Australia as never told before, from the perspective of its first people. First Australians explores what unfolds when the oldest ... See full summary »
Stars: Aaron Pedersen, Ernie Dingo, Ursula Yovich, Richard Frankland
Votes: 121
34. Bran Nue Dae (2009)
PG-13 | 85 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
An Aboriginal student on the west coast of Australia in the late '60s runs away from a Catholic boarding school with his cruel headmaster in hot pursuit, meeting eccentric characters along the journey back to his hometown.
Director: Rachel Perkins | Stars: Rocky McKenzie, Jessica Mauboy, Ernie Dingo, Missy Higgins
Votes: 2,012 | Gross: $0.11M
35. Samson & Delilah (II) (2009)
Not Rated | 101 min | Drama, Romance
A glue-sniffing boy and his girlfriend escape the government-controlled no-hope Aboriginal community they live in and go to the city, Alice Springs, looking for a better life.
Director: Warwick Thornton | Stars: Rowan McNamara, Marissa Gibson, Mitjili Napanangka Gibson, Scott Thornton
Votes: 3,763
36. Here I Am (III) (2011)
90 min | Drama, Family
'Here I Am' is driven by three generations of Aboriginal women - Karen Lee Burden, her mother Lois and her daughter Rosie. When Karen is released from prison, through a series of chance ... See full summary »
Director: Beck Cole | Stars: Shai Pittman, Marcia Langton, Quinaiha Scott, Bruce R. Carter
Votes: 140
37. Mad Bastards (2010)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama
TJ's quest to find the son he's never known, takes him on a journey across the remote and stunning Kimberley landscape. On the road, TJ questions his life of violence... he meets a host of ... See full summary »
Director: Brendan Fletcher | Stars: Dean Daley-Jones, Lucas Yeeda, Greg Tait, Ngaire Pigram
Votes: 557
38. Our Generation (2010)
73 min | Documentary, History, News
A documentary on the Australian Aboriginal struggle for their land, culture and freedom - a story that has been silenced by the Government and mainstream media. Featuring the stories of the... See full summary »
Directors: Sinem Saban, Damien Curtis | Stars: Jonny Burrmula, Judy Djanunbe, Djiniyini Gondarra, Marcus Lacey
Votes: 54
39. Jandamarra's War (2011 TV Movie)
55 min | Documentary
In Jandamarra's War, we learn how in the 1890's the European colonialists arrive in the Kimberley with vast herds of sheep and cattle, determined to make their fortune by feeding a rapidly ... See full summary »
Director: Mitch Torres | Stars: Ernie Dingo, Darcy Anderson, David Beurteaux, Emmanuel J. Brown
Votes: 17
40. Murundak: Songs of Freedom (2011)
85 min | Documentary, History, Music
A documentary following the Black Arm Band, a gathering of Australia's finest Aboriginal musicians, as they take to the road with their songs of struggle, resistance and freedom.
Directors: Natasha Gadd, Rhys Graham | Stars: The Black Arm Band Artists, Bart Willoughby
Votes: 21
41. The Tall Man (2011)
79 min | Documentary
Documentary about the events on Palm Island that follow the death of local indigenous man Cameron Doomadgee on November 19, 2004.
Director: Tony Krawitz
Votes: 165
42. Toomelah (2011)
Not Rated | 106 min | Crime, Drama
In a remote Aboriginal community, 10 year old Daniel yearns to be a gangster, like the male role models in his life. Skipping school, getting into fights and running drugs for Linden, who leads the main gang in town.
Director: Ivan Sen | Stars: Daniel Connors, Christopher Edwards, Michael Connors, Dorothy Cubby
Votes: 458
43. Yudum (2011)
66 min | Drama
A young Aboriginal man heads north in search of a girl, but discovers much more than he ever expected.
Director: Nicholas Cleary | Stars: Jermaine Hampton, Gemma Theatre-Riley, Ronald Lennon, Anna Lennon
44. Mabo (2012 TV Movie)
105 min | Biography, Drama
Mabo tells the story of one of Australia's national heroes - Eddie Koiki Mabo, the Torres Strait Islander who left school at age 15, yet spearheaded the High Court challenge that overthrew the fiction of terra nullius.
Director: Rachel Perkins | Stars: Jimi Bani, Deborah Mailman, Ewen Leslie, Tom Budge
Votes: 364
45. Charlie's Country (2013)
Not Rated | 108 min | Adventure, Drama
Displeased with the intervention of whitefella laws, Charlie takes off to live the old way and sets off a chain reaction of enlightening difficulties.
Director: Rolf de Heer | Stars: David Gulpilil, Peter Djigirr, Luke Ford, Lizzie Durrurrnga
Votes: 2,794
46. Mystery Road (2013)
Not Rated | 121 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
An indigenous detective returns to the Outback to investigate the murder of a young girl.
Director: Ivan Sen | Stars: Aaron Pedersen, Hugo Weaving, Ryan Kwanten, Jack Thompson
Votes: 8,534
47. Satellite Boy (2012)
90 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
Ten-year-old Pete lives with his grandfather in an old abandoned outdoor cinema in the desert. When the old drive-in is threatened with demolition by developers, Pete and a friend set off on an epic journey in the hopes of saving his home.
Director: Catriona McKenzie | Stars: David Gulpilil, Cameron Wallaby, Joseph Pedley, Rohanna Angus
Votes: 444
48. Utopia (II) (2013)
112 min | Documentary, History, News
Exploring offenses practiced by popular media, big business, police forces and Governments helping the Australian 225 year campaign of genocide continue against Aboriginal Australians.
Directors: Alan Lowery, John Pilger | Stars: John Pilger, Jon Altman, Pat Anderson, Mal Brough
Votes: 445
49. Around the Block (2013)
Not Rated | 104 min | Drama
An Aboriginal boy is torn between his unexpected love of acting and the disintegration of his family.
Director: Sarah Spillane | Stars: Hunter Page-Lochard, Christina Ricci, Aaron L. McGrath, Elias Reese
Votes: 1,445
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