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- Pianist David Helfgott, driven by his father and teachers, has a breakdown. Years later he returns to the piano, to popular if not critical acclaim.
- With intimate interviews, dance sequences, and archival material, this documentary follows Ella as she explores her identity and offers a glimpse into her life as an elite ballet dancer in the largest company in the southern hemisphere.
- Early in 2017, Gulpilil was diagnosed with lung cancer. His doctors estimated six months for him but David, being David, was always likely to defy the odds. And he continues to do so with probably his last great work, My Name is Gulpilil.
- A documentary about one of Hollywood's most prolific yet forgotten filmmakers John Farrow. Part mystery, part biography, part film noir it follows the life and films of this Australian Oscar winning director.
- In 1971, author and film scholar Donald Richie published a poetic travelogue about his explorations of the islands of Japan's Inland Sea, recording his search for traces of a traditional way of life as well as his own journey of self-discovery. Twenty years later, filmmaker Lucille Carra undertook a parallel trip inspired by Richie's by-then-classic book, capturing images of hushed beauty and meeting people who still carried on the fading customs that Richie had observed. Interspersed with surprising detours-a visit to a Frank Sinatra-loving monk, a leper colony, an ersatz temple of plywood and plaster-and woven together by Richie's narration as well as a score by celebrated composer Toru Takemitsu, The Inland Sea is an eye-opening voyage and a profound meditation on what it means to be a foreigner.
- One of three cars carrying lady bowls players is overdue. Unsure about which car, who the occupants might have been, or what might have happened to them, the locals embark on a chaotic course of action to try to solve the mystery.
- Real-life story of Sylvia Ashton Warner's pioneering work teaching Maori children to read in the 1940's.
- Jack Buckskin is the sole teacher of a once extinct language. From the northern Adelaide suburb of Salisbury, Jack's mission is to teach the Kaurna language, the language of his ancestors, to as many people as he can in his lifetime. But this is not easy. The language was driven to near extinction over a century ago. Now, Jack and fellow language speakers are sculpting a new Kaurna language and culture, and through that bring a new way of being to the youth of suburban Adelaide, in the form of a new Aboriginal identity, and with that, hope.
- NEON is a celebration of the beauty, invention, design and heritage of the neon sign from internationally award-winning Director Lawrence Johnston.
- The Coolbaroo Club was the only Aboriginal-run dance club in a city which practiced unofficial apartheid, submitting its Aboriginal population to unremitting police harassment, identity cards, fraternization bans, curfews, and bureaucratic obstruction. During its lifetime, the Club attracted Black musicians and celebrities from all over Australia and occasionally from overseas - among them Nat "King" Cole, Harold Blair and the Harlem Globetrotters. Although best-remembered for the hugely popular Coolbaroo dances attended by hundreds of Aborigines and their white supporters, the Coolbaroo League, founded by Club members, ran a newspaper and became an effective political organization, speaking out on issues of the day affecting Aboriginal people. "More shaming than a hundred news stories, this chirpy, dignified and scathing documentary by Roger Scholes does more than just recall a less tolerant time and place. In a modest way, it lifts the lid on postwar relations in this country. Some wonderful interviews with feisty former club members, especially several still remarkably articulate old women. This is a shaming documentary but an educative and surprisingly forgiving one.
- Grant Leigh Saunders is an Aboriginal filmmaker, teacher and song-writer. Despite a promising artistic career, Grant is unsettled and feels there is something missing in his life. As a fair skinned, middle-aged, Aboriginal man, with a Norwegian wife and two young "Koori-Wegian" kids, Grant is still struggling with his identity. Compounding this feeling is that Grant has been away from his home country of Taree for over twenty years. Grant has secretly always wanted to be a fisherman, just like his father Ray and his grandfather Horry before him. When his uncle Steve, his father's main fishing partner, decides to quit fishing, Grant latches onto the opportunity to quit everything to go fishing with his father. On the eve of Ray's retirement, he finally convinces him to pass on the family trade, leaving his family in Newcastle through the working week to pursue his dream to be a fisherman in his home country on the beautiful Manning River. It is an opportunity for him to spend time with his father to hopefully salvage a relationship he spoiled sometime ago but as Grant asks more questions of his father, we learn that there is infinitely more to this father and son fishing trip than learning how to fish. Throughout Grant's journey, the push and pull between his life in Newcastle with his wife and kids and his re-connection with his family up north in Taree, leads Grant to make some big life changing decisions.
- At the end of the nineteenth century soldiers from Australia came under fire in Africa - they were the first of one and a quarter million Australian men and women to serve their country in war and conflict and in every continent except the one they call home. Amongst them were the first of more than one hundred thousand to die in the service of Australia. The chronicle of Australia's soldiers from then till now is full of heroism, humour, mateship and larrikinism. It has bred perhaps the most enduring Australian icon - the digger. This is his story.
- Throughout history, the perception of nurses has ranged from wise women to witches, sots to ministering angels, handmaidens to battleaxes.
- VOTE YES FOR ABORIGINES interrogates the success of the Referendum and addresses current debates about what is meant by Australian citizenship and values and how they relate to Aboriginal history, identity and culture.
- Teenagers from the documentary series On The Edge (2009) are reunited five years later in Over The Edge as young adults facing a turbulent world. The mentor of the group, Fran Dobbie, a Yuin woman, has worked extensively in programs designed to help young people, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to build resilience and self-esteem. Offering the participants guidance and support, Fran takes us into their homes and talks with their families. We see their successes, joys and their fears. Alan, Muriel and Lillian are already parents. How have their babies changed their dreams for the future? We replay what they said in 2009, and hear about their aspirations now. How are they coping? What would they say to others confronting teenage pregnancy? One of the group has discovered whats its like to be behind bars at a young age. What does he say now about walking on the wrong side of the law? Others are now employed. Did Tai follow his dream of becoming a lawyer? Did Yulara's dream, to represent World Vision as an Indigenous Youth Ambassador come true? What does it mean to them now being Aboriginal? Are they proud or has discrimination kept their culture a hidden secret? Are they owning their identity? Over the Edge is more than a sequel: It is an intensely moving story of growth and adjustment, high aspirations and profound challenges. Matched with the earlier series, the film is a stimulating discussion-starter for all ages.
- Master violin maker, Charalambos Vatiliotis, is 85 and retired from making. When Romano, a violinist and friend of 48 years, persuades him to make one final violin, a heart-warming story unfolds.
- Documentary telling the story of 5 stolen children and how they were taken from their Aboriginal heritage and community.
- Legendary Aboriginal Australian actor and dancer David Gulpilil discusses his life and career from his home in Yolngu country in Arnhem Land, NT.
- 'Don't cry, be a man!'. A mother's concern for her son and his abuse of alcohol takes her on a journey of her own self-discovery. She reflects on the past and her concerns for young people and their determination to experience life to its fullest. For years she watched helplessly, seeing the harm being done by high consumption levels of alcohol to young bodies, minds and emotional well-being. The film observes the pain and hardship of alcohol abuse on families, and the internal pain of a mother feeling 'useless' as she observes the self-destruction of her child as he tries to become 'a man'. Determined and persistent, she meets inspiring people such as Rev Bill Crews from the Exodus foundation, and hits the streets with Bill to meet kids struggling with addictions. She witnesses the miracles of individuals 'broken from the ruins of alcohol abuse' who are now repairing their lives. And finally, she is guided by her ancestors to meet Uncle Bob Randall, a traditional owner of Uluru in the Northern Territory, and hears his simple message of wisdom for healing one's addictions. She learns that her son's journey is as much hers as it is his. 'Men Don't Cry' is a hard-hitting, raw but compassionate and positive look at alcohol and young people: their feelings, their concerns, the harm done, and the preventative tools that are available - all leading to hope and a healthier life. Men do cry ..
- 75 years of Australian Animation rolled into 80 minutes. Made for and paying homage to the many people who form an important part of our film history.
- A film about the Australian landscape as portrayed in the myths, maps, painting, writing, photography and cinema of white Australians.
- Filmed during the inaugural year of the Ramsay Art Prize, Making a Mark is a chronicle of passion and creative trailblazing as a selection of finalists, all aged under 40, vie for the $100,000 prize. In a story that spans the globe from Europe to Outback Australia, we explore one of the most personally challenging and financially tenuous vocations, and find out just what it takes to live a life in the world of visual arts.
- A personal record of the director's encounter with the closed society of North Korea.
- A personal essay documentary about growing up with mental illness in the family, about a confusing and destructive mother/daughter relationship and about repressed grief and family secrets.
- At the urging of a socialist fellow Australian, filmmaker David Bradbury travels to Cuba and documents the current economic, social and cultural realities and disappointments of post-revolutionary Cuba.
- HOPE IN A SLING SHOT is a hard-hitting documentary about the ongoing conflict between Palestinians and Israelis on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It is a film about power and control, exploitation and dispossession, injustice and persecution. Through dynamic maps, statistics, interviews (with lawyers, ex-prisoners, Israeli soldiers, wounded teenagers, farmers and settlers) and the personal experiences of the filmmaker just what is happening to Palestinians and their human rights as their daily lives and opportunities are increasingly restricted by the actions of Israeli soldiers and civilians. The film also explores the way in which the United Nations and other countries are unable - or unwilling - to halt these incursions.
- Biography of Lachlan Macquarie and his wife, Elizabeth, who arrived to govern the colony of New South Wales in Australia in 1810. In just over a decade, the couple transformed the prison colony into a proto nation.
- Travel guidebooks describe Thailand's "long neck" villages as human zoos. Tourists pay big money to gawk at women with brass rings around their neck and take photographs. Filmed over three years, My Long Neck follows the stories of three young Kayan sisters forced to live in the past and desperate to move into the future.
- An aboriginal musical from Australia, set in a late hippie era and featuring production numbers with a dash of Bollywood.
- Australian documentary about the New South Wales Builders' Labourers' Federation, 1940-1975.
- Jacob Nayinggul is a charismatic elder from Gunbalanya, an isolated settlement in Arnhem Land, northern Australia. Aboriginal people in this area believe that the landscape is inhabited by the spirits of their ancestors whose bones can be seen in crevices and caves. Nayinggul is aware that many of the old burial sites have been disturbed by scientists who collected human remains for museums. This presents the terrifying possibility that ancestral spirits were wrenched from their traditional country. Drawing on original footage from National Geographic, this carefully crafted documentary explores the impact of one notorious bone theft by a member of the 1948 American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land. Hundreds of bones were stolen and deposited in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC. When the location of the bones became known to Arnhem Landers in the late 1990s, elders called for their return. This resulted in a tense standoff with the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian-and eventually in the repatriation of the bones. Made over eight years, Etched in Bone gives extraordinary insight into the deep and enduring conflict between scientific and traditional forms of knowledge. In moving footage, we see how the repatriated bones are removed from their museum boxes, coated in red ochre and wrapped in paperbark. In this way, Jacob Nayinggul draws on ancient knowledge to create a new form of ceremony that welcomes home the ancestor spirits and puts them to sleep in the land where they were born.
- Australian feature length documentary about a poverty stricken family living in a squatter's dwelling in Manila, Phillipines. Doc is set during a three month period and tells the story of two parents with two little children who must sell cigarettes to survive. Ethnographic and anthropological film shows the crises the impoverished family must face and is the winner of a number of awards.
- Inspired by the cinema of Lumière and the ideas of the 20th century Indian thinker Krishnamurti, David MacDougall this time explores a famous progressive school in South India, the Rishi Valley School. This is a film dedicated to the simple act of looking, in which each scene is a single shot.
- As China emerges as the new economic powerhouse of the 21-century, no one can disrupt the biggest construction boom in the world's history. We marvel at the Beijing's bright new face as international architects create new icons - the Watercube, Birds Nest, Stadium, and National Theatre. The architects of the iconic buildings and their visions for the future contrast with those of heritage activist Zhang Jinqi. His photography exhibition 'Memories of China' documents the last heritage districts of the old city which are soon to be demolished. With 400 cities of the size of Beijing to build by 2020 the China has little time to reflect on the past.
- This documentary follows a genial Muslim Australian host of Iraqi descent as he traces the origins and general excitement of Iraqi music, which has a strong Jewish component. He travels to several countries, including Iraq, Israel, The Netherlands and England to interview musicians involved with this music. They are nearly all (but not all) older men and they seem genuinely delighted with his interest. We see a lot of individual homes, and some groups of folks in these countries. This is an important documentary of record, and leads into a really satisfying conclusion.
- Follows newly weds Maggie Haertsch and clown doctor Jean Paul Bell, on their whirlwind mission to take medical aid and humour to the children of Kabul.
- In 1937 a young missionary, Father John Nilles, arrived in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. There he stayed for the next 54 years, living with the people of the Chimbu, learning their language and way of life, introducing them to his God and Western culture. More than just a priest, he became an anthropologist, linguist, politician and revered clan leader. Through Nilles' extraordinary archive of photos, diaries and letters as well as interviews with those who knew him, filmmaker Verena Thomas pieces together a portrait of this fascinating man - her great-uncle. What she discovers is an unexpected new family, who had made 'Papa' Nilles one of their own. Presenting a personal perspective on 'big picture' history, Papa Bilong Chimbu offers a thought-provoking insight into the complexity of cultural exchange.
- The extraordinary story of Chinese-Australian artist Zhou Xiaoping and his inspiring but sometimes controversial collaboration over 23 years with Aboriginal artists in remote Arnhem Land.
- In September 2004, a diverse group traveled through the Top End of Australia meeting representatives of the traditional landowners, and engaging in a dialogue about Indigenous history.
- The possibility of sex with a football player is a fantasy for many women and a reality for some. Footy Chicks explores the scene off the football field - a colorful world of sex, male bonding and the women who pursue them. It can be a fun, alluring and sometimes dangerous game
- As 'Auntie Joyce' struggles to save her home from the encroaching bulldozers, it becomes a symbol for preserving the first Aboriginal land grant.
- An exploration of the concept of 'community' in the far northwest of New South Wales - an intimate expedition through the townships of Walgett, Lightning Ridge and Sheepyard.