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Ronin Films

PO Box 680
Mitchell ACT 2911

p. 02 6248 0851
f. 02 6249 1640
www.roninfilms.com.au

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2 Degrees
- 2013
- Documentary
- 90mins
- Status: Completed
As the world waits in hope for a new dawn on climate change, 2 DEGREES reveals the chaotic failure of the UN negotiations in Copenhagen. It becomes chillingly clear that we cannot wait for governments to lead the way. So if commitment to act won’t come from above, perhaps the voices and actions of communities will bring the revolution that is needed. 2 Degrees takes to the streets of Port Augusta, a small Australian town, and follows the passionate efforts to replace the coal fired power stations with solar thermal power.
Across the Plateau
- 2007
- Documentary
- 97mins
- Status: Completed
Seven retired Chinese from different backgrounds and life experiences come together to form a cycling team. They take an extraordinary journey from Lanzhou in north-west China, across the Tanggula Mountain and Tibetan plateau to Lhasa and finally to the Everest Base Camp. The whole journey is 3,100 kilometres and takes the cyclists across five mountains with altitudes of over 5,200 metres. After conquering countless difficulties, they eventually realise their long-cherished dream, to cross the Roof of the World on bicycles.
Aftershocks
- 1998
- TV drama
- 90mins
- Status: Completed
AFTERSHOCKS tells of the survivors of the 1989 earthquake that devastated the Newcastle Workers Club. They tell their personal stories of tragedy, terror, heroism and healing.
The Agony of Ecstasy
- 2014
- Documentary
- 31mins
- Status: Completed
Convinced that ecstasy use is behind her struggle with anxiety, depression and memory loss, 28-year old Lise sets out to discover how the 'Love Drug' is affecting her brain and those of the half a million Ecstasy users in Australia today.
Artists Up Front
- 1997
- Documentary
- 6 x 28mins
- Status: Completed
This documentary series comprises six half-hour biographies featuring the lives and works of contemporary Australian Aboriginal artists. Each episode profiles an individual artist who is an exemplary exponent working in the visual arts, theatre, music and/or dance. It features male and female points of view, different regions of Australia and different conceptions of Aboriginality.
Baymarrwannga: Big Boss
- 2011
- Documentary
- 28mins
- Status: Completed
BIG BOSS is the story of Baymarrwangga – a 95-year-old Indigenous elder living on Murrungga Island in the top end of Arnhem Land – and her challenge as the remaining leader of the Yan-nhangu speaking people to pass on her traditional knowledge to the next generation. Baymarrwangga was awarded the Senior Australian of the Year 2012.
The Beach
- 2000
- Documentary
- 55mins
- Status: Completed
THE BEACH explores the mythology of the beach by looking at the way it has been portrayed in the written, visual and performing arts.
Bedevil
- 1993
- Feature
- 90mins
- Status: Completed
BEDEVIL is a trilogy of ghost stories that follows characters pestered by visions - real, remembered and imagined. These contemporary tales travel from the sparseness of the outback, through the murky, rotting swamps of the islands, to the Brisbane docks in a stylish vision from writer/director Tracey Moffatt.
Betelnut Bisnis
- 2004
- Documentary
- 52mins
- Status: Completed
In the highlands of Papua New Guinea, a family of landless settlers makes a precarious living from trading in betelnut, one of the world's most widely used narcotics. This is the story of resilient people who have few material possessions but who face each day with dignity and quiet determination. As they go about their daily work, the film presents us with a vivid portrait of present-day life in Papua New Guinea.
Big All At Once
- 2003
- Documentary
- 52mins
- Status: Completed
BIG ALL AT ONCE intimately follows three different 18-year-olds now, as they are spat out of the uniformity of high school and struggle to piece together their adult identities, their own way.
Bikpela Bagarap (Big Damage)
- 2011
- Documentary
- 43mins
- Status: Completed
BIKPELA BAGARAP (BIG DAMAGE) is an independent documentary that reveals the human face of logging in Papua New Guinea. It is a tale of exploitation and broken promises, where local people are treated as second-rate citizens in their own country by Malaysian logging companies and corrupt politicians. Customary landowners are forced into signing documents they don’t understand, for the promise of “development” – fresh water, health and education, but these essential services are rarely provided. Instead, their traditional hunting grounds are destroyed, waterways polluted, and their way of life ruined forever.
Black Magic
- 1987
- Documentary
- 57mins
- Status: Completed
It is through the medium of sport that Aboriginal people have best been able to express themselves to white Australia. Australia's greatest Aboriginal footballers talk about the sources of their motivation, about their family experiences and their roots.
Blackbird
- 2015
- Short film
- 13mins
- Status: Completed
‘Blackbird’ tells the story of Solomon Islander siblings, Rosa & Kiko, who were kidnapped from their island home to work on a sugar cane plantation in Queensland, Australia in the late 1800s. Rosa struggles to keep an eye on her young spirited brother who comes into conflict with their Overseer. And as Kiko journeys into adulthood, amidst oppression and severe loss of culture and identity, he must find his will to survive.
Body Work
- 1989
- Documentary
- 51mins
- Status: Completed
A film about people who touch dead bodies. Morticians, embalmers, and grave diggers describe their work in a down to earth manner. They provide a layperson's guide to the crafts of embalming and autopsy, talking about their macabre and often funny experiences with corpses, and finally, their burial preparations. BODY WORK investigates and revels in the most taboo of taboos.
Born to Shop
- 1991
- Documentary
- 57mins
- Status: Completed
A documentary about the experience of going shopping, about desire and money, and the idea of soul. Exploring shopping is a way of examining the meaning money has in our lives. When we go shopping we are getting in touch with the world of the soul, the world of desire and fantasy, the psychological world of the child, and the transformative power of money.
Broken Bonds
- 2004
- Short film
- 6mins
- Status: Completed
A gritty tale of social realism, portraying both the negative and positive aspects of Indigenous family culture.
The Buddha's Forgotten Nuns
- 2013
- Documentary
- 34mins
- Status: Completed
THE BUDDHA'S FORGOTTEN NUNS is a documentary film that reveals a little-known truth about Buddhism – that women cannot be fully ordained the same way that men can. Produced by South Australian based production company Budaya Productions, the film’s Director Wiriya Sati has spent the past 5 years traveling to monasteries in Thailand, UK, U.S.A. and Australia, to ask why women can’t ordain as a female monk in the Theravada tradition of Buddhism.
Carcrash
- 1995
- Documentary
- 50mins
- Status: Completed
A look at the culture of that frequently lethal contemporary pin-up - the car. A series of ordinary Australians sit, presciently frail, against snapshots of roadside icons, and tell us the almost generic stories of their loves, lives and tragedies in cars. Can the tyranny of distance and scale, so particularly Australian, explain the excessive attachment of Australians to their cars?
The Chifleys Of Busby Street
- 2009
- Documentary
- 75mins
- Status: Completed
A search for the man behind the mask of Australia's Labor Prime Minister, 1945-1949, Ben Chifley.
The Coolbaroo Club
- 1996
- Documentary
- 55mins
- Status: Completed
A portrait of the Coolbaroo Club, an Aboriginal-run dance club which operated in Perth from 1946 to 1960. The film is delivered via the memories of those involved, as well as stills, archival material and extensive dramatisation.
Cowboy and Maria in Town
- 1991
- Documentary
- 59mins
- Status: Completed
On rural migrants in the capital city of Papua New Guinea where village traditions and 500 different languages meet with the world of television, nightclubs, and the need to survive - town style; where new cultural identities and a new urban tribalism are emerging.
Cracks in the Mask
- 1997
- Documentary
- 55mins
- Status: Completed
A century ago the Torres Strait Island were the subjects of the famous Cambridge Anthropological Expedition - the resulting depletion of their cultural artifacts left them with nothing but a history of remembered loss. The only people in the Pacific to make elaborate turtleshell masks have none left - they are all in foreign museums. In a quest to reclaim the past, Ephraim Bani, a wise and knowledgeable Torres Strait Islander, travels with his wife to the great museums of Europe where his heritage lies. The film, an SBS Independent production, shows that the thickest of masks cracks when a descendant of the original owners enters a museum.
Dance On Your Land
- 1990
- Documentary
- 28mins
- Status: Completed
1988 tour of the Kimberley region of WA with 50 dancers and song people from Mornington Island and the Northern Territory.
De Anima
- 1991
- Short film
- Animation Experimental
- 13mins
- Status: Completed
To Aristotle the semen was a drop of brain; today it is frozen and banked. DE ANIMA is a heretical framing of ideas about sexual reproduction and the ways that science brings life to life.
Delinquent Angel
- 1999
- Documentary
- 48mins
- Status: Completed
John Perceval, an elderly and famous Australian painter, didn't work much in the six years of filming, but liked to observe and interact. His trip around the world and his meeting family in Wales provided a reflective insight into this 'enfant terrible'.
Delivery Day
- 2000
- Short film
- 26mins
- Status: Completed
For 11-year-old Trang it is one of those days - she has to get her Vietnamese mother to attend her school's Parent-Teacher interview, but it also happens to be Delivery Day for the garments in her mother's sweatshop and her mother is way too busy.
Do Not Resuscitate
- 2006
- Documentary
- 52mins
- Status: Completed
A filmmaker's journey to understand the mystery of death as three characters make choices regarding their own mortality.
Dogs of Democracy
- 2016
- Documentary
- 58mins
- Status: Completed
Dogs of Democracy is an essay-style documentary about the stray dogs of Athens and the people who take care of them. Author and filmmaker Mary Zournazi explores the conditions of austerity and life on the streets through the eyes of the dogs and peoples’ experience. Through her uniquely Australian perspective, the film gives insights into peoples’ lives, hopes and dreams in a time of crisis. This is a universal story about love and loyalty and what we might learn from animals and peoples’ timeless quest for democracy.
Don't Call Me Girlie
- 1985
- Documentary
- 76mins
- Status: Completed
DON'T CALL ME GIRLIE is a history of women in Australian film from 1906 ('The Kelly Gang', our first feature) to 1941 when wartime rationing limited local feature production. Through a combination of archival footage and contemporary interviews with surviving film pioneers: women editors, directors, publicists, writers and performers the role of women as film makers in defined Australian identity and culture is revealed.
Don't Say Sorry
- 2004
- Documentary
- 6mins
- Status: Completed
Christine Jacobs describes how she triumphed over the abuse and shame she suffered as a stolen child.
Doon School Chronicles
- 1999
- Documentary
- 143mins
- Status: Completed
This intimate and groundbreaking study of India's most prestigious boys' boarding school is the work of renowned ethnographic filmmaker, David MacDougall. In this original and beautifully photographed film, MacDougall examines not only the life of the boys in the school and the culture associated with that life; he also inquires into the school's 'social aesthetics', the qualities of place, material objects and social interaction that provide a distinctive backdrop for the everyday life of this community. Shot over a two-year period, the film explores the social aesthetics and ideology of the school through its rituals, the physical environment it has created and its effects upon several boys of different ages and temperaments.
Easter in Jerusalem
- 2014
- Documentary
- 26mins
- Status: Completed
Easter 2014: Media personality Geraldine Doogue makes a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to walk the Stations of the Cross and pray at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where tradition holds that Jesus was crucified before his resurrection. Headlines of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church have caused Geraldine to question her faith. Recently her much loved husband died after a battle with cancer. Geraldine’s pilgrimage is a desire to reconnect with what she believes is the essence of her faith.
Eclipse of the Man Made Sun
- 1990
- Documentary
- 55mins
- Status: Completed
Analysis of the language used to describe nuclear energy since World War II, with emphasis on both US and Australian usage in the 1950s and contemporary international trends.
The Edge of the Possible
- 1998
- Documentary
- 56mins
- Status: Completed
October 20, 1998 is the 25th anniversary of the official opening of the Sydney Opera House by the Queen. Jorn Utzon, the architect, was awarded the first prize in a competition to design an Opera House for Sydney. In 1957 he flew to Australia to begin work on the construction of the greatest building Australia has ever seen and, indeed, one of the finest achievements of modern architecture. Utzon was forced from the project in 1966 and has never returned to Australia. This film will chart the dramatic course of the creation of a masterpiece and the tragic, sometimes funny, and compelling story of its conception and construction.
Emily in Japan
- 2008
- Documentary
- 82mins
- Status: Completed
Emily Kame Kngwarreye was an Aboriginal woman from Utopia in central Australia who began to paint on canvas when she was about 78 years old. The exhibition of Emily Kame Kngwarreye’s paintings which toured to Osaka and Tokyo in 2008 is arguably the biggest, most comprehensive single artist exhibition to travel internationally from Australia. EMILY IN JAPAN is the story of the making of this landmark exhibition, with all of the complex cross-cultural transactions that were involved – from the red desert of central Australia where Emily lived, to the National Museum of Australia in Canberra, where the exhibition was curated, and to the high end of the art world in Japan.
The Enigma of Bradley Barnett
- 1992
- Short film
- 27mins
- Status: Completed
CYRANO de BERGERAC meets NEIGHBOURS in a tale of doomed cross-cultural romance set in Broadmeadows and Richmond. Vinh is learning English from daytime soap opera and Narelle, across town in a juvenile remand home, watches the same show.
E-WASTELAND
- 2012
- Documentary
- 20mins
- Status: Completed
Have you ever wondered what happens to your electronics at the end of their life? Almost 50 million tonnes of e-waste (electronic waste) are generated worldwide every year. A large volume of second-hand and condemned electronic goods arrive in developing countries from the “developed” world, with a significant quantity arriving as e-waste, exported illegally as “second hand goods”. Without dialogue or narration, E-WASTELAND presents a visual portrait of unregulated e-waste recycling in Ghana, West Africa, where electronics are not seen for what they once were, but rather for what they have become.
Facing the Demons
- 1999
- Documentary
- 59mins
- Status: Completed
In 1994 four young men attempted an armed hold-up at a suburban pizza hut. While trying to warn his colleagues, an 18 year-old university student and part time pizza delivery boy was shot in the back of the head at point blank range. The end of the young man's life was the beginning of a totally different life for all those associated with the murder. This highly-charged, emotional story documents the efforts of an ordinary Australian cop as he tries to bring the four convicted criminals together in one room to face the toughest jury they'll ever have to meet - the family of their victim.
Footprints in the Sand: The Last of the Nomads
- 2007
- Documentary
- 24mins
- Status: Completed
Journey into the Gibson Desert to the country traversed by Warri and Yatungka, the last of the nomads who were brought in to Wiluna in 1977 in a time of drought.
For Love or Money: A History of Women and Work in Australia
- 1983
- Documentary
- 109mins
- Status: Completed
FOR LOVE OR MONEY is a superbly crafted feature documentary which tells the story of women's working lives throughout Australia's history. It is a celebration of women's courage, resilience and humour. Drawing on over 200 films produced in Australia between 1906 and 1983, the film juxtaposes clips from feature films, home movies, newsreels and documentaries with radio shows, diaries, popular songs, letters and interviews. The film chronicles the extraordinary cycles of women's gains and losses as they are moved in and out of the workforce according to the demands of the time. It reveals how women's unpaid and voluntary work keeps an entire system running smoothly, in peacetime and in war. FOR LOVE OR MONEY is also a film about revolt. It shows how women have fought and organised for equality and wage justice for over a century. The film culminates in the 1980s, exploring the challenges that face women in the nuclear age. A film by Megan McMurchy, Margot Nash, Margot Oliver and Jeni Thornley
The Foundation
- 2002
- Documentary
- 26mins
- Status: Completed
During the 1960s a celebrated entity 'The Foundation for Aboriginal Affairs' emerged. Set during a time when change for urban Kooris was on the increase, the Foundation helped the mob to help themselves.
Frohe Ostern! (Happy Easter!)
- 2008
- Documentary
- 26mins
- Status: Completed
The collaged history of a joyful Easter camping ritual celebrates German migrants becoming three generations of Australians.
Ganggu Mama
- 2005
- Short film
- 12mins
- Status: Completed
Ganggu Mama is the Wadjarri term for 'Uncle Daddy'. The story follows the journey of Dave, a skilled didge maker and musician, and his nephew, Jackson.
Green Bush
- 2004
- Short film
- 26mins
- Status: Completed
Every night, DJ Kenny hosts the 'Green Bush' show for Aboriginal inmates and their families. Isolated at the station, he gets many mysterious visitors. Are they escaping the cold, hiding, or trying to control the information?
Green Tea And Cherry Ripe
- 1989
- Documentary
- 56mins
- Status: Completed
Japanese women who married Australian servicemen stationed in Japan after World War II tell their stories. They recall their families' reactions to their marriages, their first impressions of Australia, their part in starting the first Japanese restaurant in Melbourne and their adaption to Australian society.
Handmaidens And Battleaxes
- 1989
- Documentary
- 55mins
- Status: Completed
A television documentary with simple drama sequences which tells the story of how nursing, once seen as women's work, is historically locked into a position of paradox with esteemed but poorly rewarded positions that lower its status as a profession.
Hatred
- 1995
- Documentary
- 55mins
- Status: Completed
An examination of hatred which argues that confronting hatred on a personal level will provide insight into its eruption on a global, political level.
Hell Bento!!
- 1995
- Documentary
- 56mins
- Status: Completed
An inclusive, uncompromising journey into Japanese subcultures including the Yakuza, the nationalists, the gay and lesbian community, the bikers and the homeless. The film also sets out to challenge assumptions about Japan's younger generation and what their rapidly westernising lifestyles might indicate for the future.
Hephzibah
- 1998
- Documentary
- 75mins
- Status: Completed
A film about Hephzibah Menuhin, the celebrated concert pianist and human rights worker. A child prodigy like her brother Yehudi, the violinist, Hephzibah toured the world, giving concerts from an early age. In 1938 Hephzibah and Yehudi married Australian brother and sister, Lindsay and Nola Nicholas. Hephzibah moved from California to live on a remote sheep station in the western district of Victoria. After the Second World War, when giving a concert in Prague, Hephzibah visited the notorious Theresienstadt concentration camp. She realised she could no longer live a privileged life. Her marriage began to disintegrate and she fell in love with Viennese sociologist, Richard Hauser. Together they established a Centre for Human Rights and set out to 'save the world'.
The Highest Court
- 1998
- Documentary
- 55mins
- Status: Completed
Having gained historic access, THE HIGHEST COURT will show first hand the characters and drama of the High Court of Australia, the pinnacle of legal and constitutional processes in Australia.
Honeymoon in Kabul
- 2009
- Documentary
- 87mins
- Status: Completed
The film follows newly weds, clown doctor Jean Paul Bell and midwife Maggie Haertsch, on their whirlwind mission to take medical aid and humour to the children of Kabul. In the process they discover the politics of aid in Afghanistan are as complex and delicate as any second marriage.
Horrible Man
- 1989
- Short film
- Experimental
- 10mins
- Status: Completed
A farmer, his wife and child live in a paradise which is invaded and destroyed by the 'Horrible Man' who represents all of us with his all-consuming greed and disregard for the health of the world and its peoples. It is the story of our planet told in allegory.
A House for the Nation
- 2003
- Documentary
- 4 x 26mins
- Status: Completed
Through the lens of contemporary challenges facing the Commonwealth House of Representatives, A HOUSE FOR THE NATION explores the hundred year history of Australia's central democratic institution. The series examines four themes: the impact of political parties on the House, whether Canberra's growing importance has given us better government, the nature of representation and especially women's struggles to be heard in the House, and how contemporary Members have reformed the House to address the changing demands placed on parliament.
How the West was Lost
- 1988
- Documentary
- 72mins
- Status: Completed
In 1946, 800 Aboriginal people walked off sheep stations in the North West of Western Australia. HOW THE WEST WAS LOST is a documentary about this historic strike. It was more than a demand for better wages and conditions, it was a struggle by Aboriginal people for basic human rights - a struggle which continues today. Ignored by the press of the day, the strike became a bitter battle between the Department of Native Affairs and the strikers. As each found new regulations to attempt to coerce them back to the stations. But by 1949, after three years on strike, a concerted campaign of civil disobedience had left the authorities with 66 strikers in one small gaol and more ready to join them - the authorities could do little except leave the strikers alone. By 1950 the strikers had become self sufficient through alluvial mining. They survived this way until the 1970s when white mining interests once more displaced the group. Today, in the face of increasing interest in the desert from mining companies, the community is returning to its ancestral lands in the great sandy desert.
The Hundredth Room
- 2004
- Documentary
- Animation
- 20mins
- Status: Completed
THE HUNDREDTH ROOM follows the personal journey undertaken by the filmmaker in the 12 months following her partner Caroline's death. We enter into a landscape of grief to discover what death says about life.
Hybrid Life
- 2000
- Documentary
- 13 x 26mins
- Status: Completed
A series of 13 half-hour dramas and documentaries exploring the experience of Australians of second and third generation migrant background. HYBRID LIFE screened in mid-2001, and represents SBS Television's major contribution to the Centenary of Federation.
I Remember 1948
- 2005
- Documentary
- 24mins
- Status: Completed
In Australia's first bilingual Arabic/English film, four Palestinian elders give eye-witness accounts of the tumultous days of Al Nakba, the catastrophe, May 15th, 1948, and its aftermath. As children and young adults, they and their families were among 750,000 Palestinians fleeing for their lives as Zionist terror gangs began seizing villages to enlarge the recently created State of Israel. The stories told by these speakers are poignant, unexpected and sometimes surprising, expressing not only the tragedies but also the small miracles which occur in a human catastrophe of such dimensions.
In a League of Their Own
- 2008
- Documentary
- 3 x 26mins
- Status: Completed
After a campaign spanning three decades, an Aboriginal community fields a football team in the regional competition and sets out to prove their mettle by winning the premiership in their first year. Follow the Tiwi Bombers through their first season in the big league as they strive to fulfil the dreams of their grandfathers. This inspirational series examines the struggle of a disadvantaged Aboriginal community as they try to compete with mainstream Australia on the sporting field.
In the Beginning There Was Shopping
- 1991
- Documentary
- 59mins
- Status: Completed
A documentary about the experience of going shopping, about desire and money, and the idea of soul. Exploring shopping is a way of examining the meaning money has in our lives. When we go shopping we are getting in touch with the world of the soul, the world of desire and fantasy, the psychological world of the child, and the transformational power of money.
Innocence Betrayed
- 2014
- Documentary
- 52mins
- Status: Completed
INNOCENCE BETRAYED follows the parents of three murdered Aboriginal children and their long fight for justice. Aunty Muriel, Aunty Rebecca and Uncle Thomas share their tragic story of loss, which happened in the small NSW town of Bowraville within a five-month period in the early 90’s. There has only ever been one suspect - a white man known to sell drugs and alcohol to Aboriginal people and who was last seen with the missing children.
Intervention: Stories from the Inside
- 2008
- Documentary
- 46mins
- Status: Completed
On June 21 2007, the Howard Federal Government launched an intervention into Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. It was one of the most dramatic policy shifts in the history of Aboriginal affairs. Relentless media attention focuses on ideological arguments for and against the Intervention, while the voices of those affected by the policy are rarely heard. For this film more than 40 Alice Springs town camp residents were interviewed in depth over the course of eight months to find out the answer to the question - is it working?
Into the Shadows
- 2009
- Documentary
- 90mins
- Status: Completed
INTO THE SHADOWS explores the untold story of the rise and fall of Australian independent art house cinemas and their important contribution to Australia’s film renaissance of the 1970s and 1980s. It puts into focus the failure of Australian films to connect with local audiences over the past 15 years and concludes by recognising that it is time for challenge and change, to find new ways forward for Australia’s cinema culture.
Island of Lies
- 1990
- Documentary
- 55mins
- Status: Completed
When Eliza Fraser was shipwrecked on Fraser Island in 1836, there were up to 3000 Aboriginal people living there — by 1905, there were perhaps a dozen left. What happened to those people is buried and unknown. Inspired by a No drama based on the story of Eliza Fraser, filmmaker Gillian Coote follows the route of early settlers north out of Sydney to Fraser Island to uncover the lies and secrets of Australia's settlement.
Just Desserts
- 1993
- Short film
- 15mins
- Status: Completed
JUST DESSERTS is a reflective and evocative film which looks at the development of Maria Stroppi's sexuality through food. Set in 70s' suburban Australia, the film deals with fragments of Maria's memories of her turbulent past growing up in an Italian Catholic family.
Kampuchea
- 1988
- Documentary
- 58mins
- Status: Completed
This film exposes the nightmare of the revolution unleashed by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge after their victory in 1975. It explains the paranoia and provocation's that led to the Vietnamese invasion; the famine, exodus and grinding war of resistance that followed; the struggle for peace in Kampuchea that continues to the present day. KAMPUCHEA draws on unique propaganda film and archival material from the Khmer Rouge, Vietnam and other sources.
King Of Belle-Ile
- 2001
- Documentary
- 52mins
- Status: Completed
THE KING OF BELLE-ILE is a celebration of the life and work of Australia's first Impressionist painter, John Russell, who was an eyewitness to the massive changes in art at the end of the 19th century, while making his home on Belle-Ile, off the coast of Brittany.
Knot at Home
- 2004
- Documentary
- 8 x 30mins
- Status: Completed
From 1998 to 2004 over 500 people of different ages and backgrounds were asked to tell stories about when they felt 'not at home'. This series presents their stories using interviews, narratives, songs, animations, dramatised scenes and memories, mentored by experienced filmmakers in the process of filming, writing and editing.
Koories and Cops
- 1993
- Documentary
- 33mins
- Status: Completed
Koorie people (Aboriginal Australians) of Victoria have been in conflict with police ever since white settlement. Many Koories were taken from their families and communities by police under successive so-called 'protection' laws. Today most Koories see police as the agents of white oppression.
Kotla Walks Performing Locality
- 2006
- Documentary
- 93mins
- Status: Completed
This is a story about Sarita and Raman Bhardwaj, their friends and neighbours in the 'urban village' of Kotla Mubarakpur, South Delhi. It explores the way the texture of urban spaces is woven into ideas of belonging, intimacy, friendship, ambition, and the desire to be 'here' but also somewhere else.
Land of the Little Kings
- 2000
- Documentary
- 78mins
- Status: Completed
'Life is (or ought to be) a journey that ends where it begins' is a fundamental tenet of Aboriginal law. It underpins a view that has meaning and importance to many Australians, black and white. Singer and songwriter Archie Roach, a 'stolen' person, takes us in a circle around Australia beginning at the place of his earliest memory. What happens when circles are broken, particularly early in life's journey? Archie's journey symbolises the search for wholeness and identity. In his modest and non-judgemental way, Archie reveals a path towards the healing of broken circles in this inspirational and moving journey.
The Last Violin
- 2023
- Documentary
- 75mins
- Status: Completed
Charalambos Vatiliotis, or Harry, is considered Australia's greatest living violin maker. He and his wife Maria came from Cyprus in the 1950s. Romano Crivici, a professional violinist and composer, has known Harry for 48 years. Together they share the making of Romano's last violin which also threatens to be Harry's last, as the ravages of old age take their toll on each of them.
Least Said, Soonest Mended
- 1999
- Documentary
- 52mins
- Status: Completed
Dispatched at age 15 to an institution, where she was hidden away and arrangements made for the subsequent adoption of her baby, filmmaker Steve Thomas' twin sister, Val, spent the next 25 years not knowing where her child was, or whether it was alive or dead. Val's determination and her relinquished daughter's curiosity brought about their eventual reconciliation. This event generates new encounters and provokes fresh revelations as the family motto 'least said soonest mended' is challenged in favour of an atmosphere of truth unthinkable 30 years ago.
Life of the Town
- 2009
- Documentary
- 13 x 30mins
- Status: Completed
Ongerup faces extermination. Not by drought, or natural disaster, or locust plague, although this Southwest rural community has had it's share of those. The football club, which binds the small town together, is failing.
Light From the Shadows
- 2012
- Documentary
- 29mins
- Status: Completed
A documentary about Danny Eastwood, an influential and groundbreaking Australian Indigenous artist who has been working in the Blacktown community in Sydney for over 20 years. He practices as a cartoonist, illustrator, industrial and product designer and painter. As well as doing commissioned work, Danny travels across Sydney teaching art to inmates from corrective institutions, Indigenous elders, school kids and community groups.
Light Years
- 1991
- Documentary
- 47mins
- Status: Completed
On the life and work of Australian photographer Olive Cotton.
Lousy Little Sixpence
- 1983
- Documentary
- 54mins
- Status: Completed
Through archival film footage, photographs and interviews with five Aboriginal elders, LOUSY LITTLE SIXPENCE presents a moving account of Aborigines' oppression and resistance. It shows how Aboriginal people forced the State Government to change its policy, and how the foundations for today's Aboriginal organisations were laid.
Loyal To My Image
- 1991
- Documentary
- Experimental
- 21mins
- Status: Completed
'Who decides who has the right to mother and what are the emotional, financial and social costs in human terms?' LOYAL TO MY IMAGE is a powerful documentary about adoption, mothering and personal identity examining one woman's experiences both as an adopted person and as a mother who relinquished her child.
Lurujarri Dreaming
- 2013
- Documentary
- Animation
- 28mins
- Status: Completed
This beautifully crafted animated documentary retraces the Lurujarri Dreaming Trail from the Goolarabooloo community in the Western Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Making Traps
- 1993
- Documentary
- 27mins
- Status: Completed
We follow Vietnamese-Australian filmmaker Pauline Chan back to Vietnam to make her first feature film. Pauline left Vietnam when she was 16-years-old. The feature film is TRAPS.
Man Without Pigs
- 1991
- Documentary
- 90mins
- Status: Completed
In the virgin rainforests of northern Papua New Guinea, wealth is measured by the number of pigs a man owns. The story of a man without pigs. (90 min and 50 min)
Marn Grook: Football Dreaming
- 1996
- Documentary
- 52mins
- Status: Completed
Using the vehicle of the Australian Football League and the history of Aboriginal stars past and present, this documentary examines the contributions Aboriginal players have made to Aussie Rules, Australia's national game.
Mary
- 1994
- Documentary
- 72mins
- Status: Completed
Excommunication in the 19th century, sainthood in the 20th. Mary MacKillop is one of Australia's unsung heroes. Despite excommunication and exile, Mary remained determined to bring education to the poor and underprivileged. In January 1995 Mary was beatified by Pope John Paul II as Australia's first saint. This is Mary's story.
Memory Tree: David Boyd
- 2003
- Documentary
- 52mins
- Status: Completed
The life journey of Australian artist David Boyd is, on many levels, a journey through the dark side of Australia's history. He has fought a long and passionate fight against injustice, prejudice and racism and has fearlessly shown us our hidden history. MEMORY TREE is also a revealing and emotional insight into David's personal world. The film delivers the workings of a powerful and controversial artist who continues to give us images for our time.
Men Don't Cry
- 2014
- Documentary
- 26mins
- Status: Completed
Generation Y & alcohol abuse: A mother shares & explores her personal journey as she helped the tortured soul of her teenage son fight the demons of a difficult past. The struggles, the internal pain and finally self-preservation. There is a way out!
Message From Mungo
- 2014
- Documentary
- 70mins
- Status: Completed
Lake Mungo, an ancient Pleistocene lake-bed in south-western New South Wales, is one of the world’s richest archaeological sites. The film focuses on the interface between the archaeologists and the Indigenous communities who identify with the land and with the human remains revealed at the site. This interface has often been deeply troubled and contentious, but within the conflict and its gradual resolution, lies a moving story of the progressive empowerment of the Indigenous custodians of the area.
Messenger
- 1993
- Short film
- Animation
- 7mins
- Status: Completed
An allegory on change. Travelling from a distant galaxy, a winged horse arrives in a futuristic city. It enters a vast mansion, finding its way to the inner sanctum - a giant chess board. Here the horse is confronted by the animal overlord and an amazing transformation takes place.
Milli Milli
- 1993
- Documentary
- 53mins
- Status: Completed
MILLI MILLI tells the story of the Kimberley people from their point of view. Using the Kimberley people's traditions of storytelling, painting, dancing and taking into account Aboriginal law and culture, the film records a cultural revival from within.
The Miniskirted Dynamo
- 1996
- Documentary
- 55mins
- Status: Completed
The story of an extraordinary woman as told by her daughter with whom she had a problematic relationship. Dr Dora Bailestock was a tiny dynamo; brilliant, quirky and years ahead of her time. It wasn't easy being her daughter. Moments of hilarious black comedy punctuate the ultimately tragic story.
Minister without Money
- 2005
- Documentary
- 28mins
- Status: Completed
In the cut-throat world of tribal politics, a bitter and betrayed politician fights to expose an election scandal…In 2002 Papua New Guinea held one of it’s controversial and violent elections since gaining Independence in 1975. Dr John Waiko lost his electoral seat and his coastal Papuan supporters believe their election was tainted by illegal voting, bribery and voter harassment. MINISTER WITHOUT MONEY offers a rare insight into the explosive tribal hostilities and high stakes of election time in a Melanesian culture striving to balance traditional values with western democratic principles.
A Mirror to the People - The Governor-General
- 2000
- Documentary
- 56mins
- Status: Completed
With unprecedented access to the highest constitutional office in Australia, this film charts for the first time a year in the life of the Governor-General of Australia. Not just any year - the 12 months leading up to the national referendum on the Republic of Australia.
Miss Coolbaroo
- 2005
- Documentary
- 8mins
- Status: Completed
Monica Jones returns to Government House ballroom where, as 'Miss Coolbaroo', she was belle of the ball 50 years before. MISS COOLBAROO is a haunting biography of hope, loss and courage.
Molly and Mobarak
- 2004
- Documentary
- 87mins
- Status: Completed
Twenty-two-year-old Mobarak works in a small town Abattoir with 90 other Afghan refugees. With his temporary visa fast running out he falls in love with a local teacher Molly. The film follows their burgeoning relationship against the backdrop of a divided community.
My Grandparents
- 2012
- Documentary
- 26mins
- Status: Completed
A cross-generational documentary in which filmmaker Joshua Marks sets out to find out more about his grandparents – what drives them, what fears and hopes they have. Over a two-year period, with a great deal of humour on both sides, they exchange ideas and challenges. It’s a journey of awareness in front of and behind the camera. Gradually, we ask who is the real subject of the film, who is really in control?
My Mother My Son
- 2000
- Short film
- 27mins
- Status: Completed
Mona and her adult daughter, Kymmy, set out from their country home to get Kymmy's young son from foster care in the city. As they travel they face and overcome many setbacks, and their past and future are explored. They argue and part ways. Kymmy gets to the foster home only to find another obstacle in her way. Mona arrives later and brings about a surprising and provocative resolution.
My Mother's Village
- 2013
- Documentary
- 95mins
- Status: Completed
In the late 1970s Aaron Burton's anthropologist mother, Sharon Bell, lived for two years in Sri Lanka researching village life. Together with his cinematographer father, Geoff Burton, they made a series of films documenting this experience. Three decades later, in this journey back to the sites of his parents’ work, Aaron Burton meets people who appeared in the original films and discusses with them their perspective on the films and their lives since that time. My Mother's Village explores how they, like the filmmaker, navigate heredity and inheritance. It is also a poignant reflection on his mother’s research and his father’s art as photographer.
Nganampa Anwernekenhe series 22
- 2010
- Documentary
- 5 x 30mins
- Status: Completed
A series of 5 half-hour documentaries on aspects of Australian Indigenous culture, both ancient and modern, and featuring Australia’s foremost Aboriginal filmmakers.
Ngangkari
- 2002
- Documentary
- 26mins
- Status: Completed
Ngangkari Way is so important to Anangu. It is a stark contrast to the Western world's approach to medicine and the Ngangkari Way certainly shines through. This film will highlight that from the beginning, through Aboriginal law and culture, Ngangkari Way is determined and sustained.
Night Patrol
- 1997
- Documentary
- 27mins
- Status: Completed
The story of the heroic struggle of the all female night patrol at Yuendumn in the Tanami desert.
No More Needles...Please
- 1997
- Documentary
- 55mins
- Status: Completed
Twelve-year-old James Jarvis lives with diabetes and has to inject himself in the stomach twice a day to stay alive. This film takes James and his journalist mother Catherine on a global journey to find out whether scientists are on the threshold of preventing and subsequently curing the disease.
Ok, Let's Talk About Me
- 2004
- Documentary
- 26mins
- Status: Completed
'Next year I'm gonna be 18; when I'm 18 I'm gonna get my own place, have a car, have a nude girlfriend and you can come around to my place for pizza'. Meet Eddie. He's a 17-year-old boy with Down Syndrome. He's stubborn and charming, funny and sometimes temperamental. Through the course of this documentary the viewer is invited to get to know Eddie - a rare treat - and journey with him as he turns 18 and prepares to leave school.
On the Banks of the Tigris: the hidden story of Iraqi music
- 2015
- Documentary
- 79mins
- Status: Completed
On the Banks of the Tigris celebrates Iraqi music and the cultural ties that link Iraqis of all faiths. It tells the story of Majid Shokor, an Iraqi-Australian from a Muslim background who seeks the source of songs he loves and discovers a hidden history. To find out more, Majid embarks on a bold journey from Australia to Israel, Europe and Iraq to meet top Iraqi musicians, hear their music and stories, and unite them in a concert for peace and reconciliation.
One Day In Fatulai
- 2001
- Documentary
- 18mins
- Status: Completed
While showing us the daily medical work of a volunteer doctor in East Timor, ONE DAY IN FATULAI also provides insight into daily life for many East Timorese, especially their health and education.
Our Backyard
- 2003
- Documentary
- 32mins
- Status: Completed
Forty-two islands, billion dollar industries and amazing marine life all exist in relative harmony - or do they? Join Anita and Laban as they take you on a journey through their backyard - the Dampier Archipelago, off Western Australia's Pilbara coast. Two local Pilbara students, Anita and Laban, with scientists from the Western Australian Museum, are about to take you on a journey of discovery through the forty-two islands of the Dampier Archipelago. They will reveal the secrets of their amazing backyard - made up of equal doses of heavy industry and natural wonders!
Our Community
- 2005
- Documentary
- 24mins
- Status: Completed
An exploration of the concept of 'community' in the Walgett Shire of rural north-west NSW propels an intimate expedition through the townships of Walgett, Lightening Ridge and Sheepyard. The journey reveals that despite the cultural diversity and the imperfections of these challenging communities, resilience, pride and an empowering and inexorable spirit of belonging prevails. Along the way, misconceptions are clarified and benevolent bonds are celebrated.
Our Park
- 1998
- Documentary
- 53mins
- Status: Completed
OUR PARK was meant to be a nice quiet film about the filmmaker's local park, an essay on the notion of the wild and the tame in the inner city suburb of Leichhardt - a portrait of her neighbours, the dog club, Tiny the horse, the teenagers who created the labyrinth in the overgrown weedy patch. And nice and quiet it was - until the neighbourhood became embroiled in a fight between two of the filmmaker's neighbours, Kerry and Kostas, over the use of the community shed. Suddenly the film took an unexpected turn and became a film about the politics of a neighbourhood and the difficulties of grass roots democracy - how people interact, how they solve disputes - or how they don't. It's also about a small community trying to save their own little patch of 'the wild'.
The Panther Within
- 2016
- Documentary
- 53mins
- Status: Completed
Filmmaker Edoardo Crismani and his mother Barbara embark on a quest to find out her father Joe Murray’s country. Joe was an Aboriginal boxer and vaudevillian who was also known as “The Black Panther” in the boxing ring. He never revealed where he came from and the family feel that now is the time to find out. Together, mother and son journey across the land to libraries, researchers and Aboriginal elders with the hope of shedding light on Joe’s life and finding their connections. This is a personal story about courage and the talents of a famous lightweight boxer and vaudevillian who is unknown by history. It is also a story of the impact that Australia’s race relations have upon a family through two generations, and how to connect back and allow future generations to carry the torch forward proudly.
A Passion Play
- 1993
- Short film
- Animation
- 7mins
- Status: Completed
A cathartic act of violence that galvanises a vision of self.
Paying for the Past
- 2000
- Documentary
- 52mins
- Status: Completed
PAYING FOR THE PAST is an inside view of the world's biggest class action. In World War II concentration camp inmates and prisoners from the occupied territories were selected by the Nazis and forced to work in appalling conditions for some of Germany's most wealthy and prestigious companies. Many died. US government and German government now want the past put right, while lawyers and Jewish organisations want the survivors compensated and their suffering acknowledged. But the past that caused the legally complex and highly political case is too painful for the claimants to ever achieve emotional closure.
Plead Guilty, Get A Bond
- 1990
- Short film
- 30mins
- Status: Completed
Amy Winthrop is a young Aboriginal woman who has been charged with wounding her husband Freddie during a domestic argument. It is expected by all concerned that she will simply plead guilty and receive a good behaviour bond. Colin McKenzie, the newly appointed and inexperienced Legal Aid Lawyer, is outraged by this expectations and persuades Amy to plead her innocence. This comedy of errors raises the issue of how inaccessible a non-Aboriginal judicial system can be when applied to Aboriginal culture.
Poles Apart
- 2000
- Documentary
- 56mins
- Status: Completed
Places the acquisition, by the Whitlam government 25 years ago, of Jackson Pollock's 'Blue Poles' in a social and political context and looks at what the painting means today.
The President Versus David Hicks
- 2004
- Documentary
- 88mins
- Status: Completed
The story of the Australian Taliban fighter David Hicks. The film explores David Hicks' journey from stockman and rodeo rider to holy warrior, ending up in the legal limbo of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. David Hicks was one of the first detainees at Guantanamo Bay to be singled out to appear before the USA military tribunal.
The Prodigal Son
- 2005
- Documentary
- 27mins
- Status: Completed
THE PRODIGAL SON is the emotional story of a gay man in his forties who is reunited with his traditional Macedonian family after being estranged from his father for 15 years. The documentary explores how first-generation migrant parents have struggled to come to terms with their son's sexuality. When Ted came out as gay, his mother Ljubica insisted it was a passing phase and his father Alex refused to speak to him. Fifteen years passed with no communication between father and son - until Alex discovered he was suffering from a serious illness.
Pumphead
- 2020
- Documentary
- 74mins
- Status: Completed
PUMPHEAD is a documentary feature film exploring patient experiences following major heart surgery. Through the stories of seven patients, including the filmmaker himself, this observational documentary indicates the complex diversity of emotional and cognitive changes that often occur after open-heart surgery, simultaneous with physical recovery.
Punished not Protected
- 2004
- Documentary
- 4 x 15mins
- Status: Completed
Four short films for use in schools and community groups analysing the political and public attitude to the plight of asylum seekers.
Pyongyang Diaries
- 1997
- Documentary
- 68mins
- Status: Completed
A documentary that records a filmmaker's personal encounter with the closed society of North Korea, first during the Fourth Pyongyang Film Festival in 1994, only three months after Kim Il Sung's death, and on a return visit two years later. Between showcase monuments and images of progress, pride and unity, the film offers glimpses of the people who live there through conversations and personal diary reflections.
Red Matildas
- 1985
- Documentary
- 50mins
- Status: Completed
Through the lives of three women, RED MATILDAS explores the social and political conditions in Australia during the Great Depression - conditions of massive unemployment, widespread malnutrition and growing militarism at home and abroad - that provoked many people to political activity. For these women, the Communist Party was one of the few avenues then available for political activity. Like all Party members, women were involved in political organising work. The story of their stand against injustice, illustrated by carefully selected archival footage (much of it unavailable since the 1930s), gives a rarely seen 'grass roots' perspective on the turmoil of the Depression - not only on domestic issues affecting women but also on international events leading up to the Second World War.
Resonance
- 1991
- Short film
- Experimental
- 12mins
- Status: Completed
This film deals with homophobia and misogyny. It begins with a gay bashing, then explores the resonance of this violence within the relationship of the people involved, between the 'victim' and his 'rescuer'. Later, at a martial arts class, a demonstration of a defence hold by the rescuer brings the first flashback to the bashing. We are introduced to the basher's girlfriend, and her growing desire to leave him. The film culminates in two dance sequences.
Risking Our Kids
- 2008
- Documentary
- 52mins
- Status: Completed
The life and work of Fiona Stanley takes us to dizzying heights of excellence and damaging lows of despair as she predicts a 'modernity paradox' could shorten life expectancy of the next generation.
River of Dreams
- 1999
- Documentary
- 52mins
- Status: Completed
The Fitzroy River, in the Kimberley region of Australia's north west, is a location of contending readings of 'landscape' and 'country', promising radically divergent futures for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians as developers seek to dam the river and develop huge cotton plantations. RIVER OF DREAMS explores the implications for Indigenous people.
Rocking The Foundations
- 1986
- Documentary
- 92mins
- Status: Completed
Rocking the Foundations is a passionate documentary about the controversial New South Wales Builders Labourers Federation (BLF). Filmmaker Pat Fiske, herself one of the first women members of the BLF, develops a portrait of this once-powerful union through interviews with former union members and officials, archival film, and television news coverage of some of its actions.
Rosie's Secret
- 1994
- Documentary
- Experimental
- 11mins
- Status: Completed
History does not repeat itself, historians repeat each other. ROSIE'S SECRET uncovers one of Australia's forgotten heroes, Rosie Foster. Talking to an array of identities, including Phillip Adams and Dale Spender, we discover the pivotal role Foster played in the construction and celebration of one of Australia's national icons, the Sydney Harbour Bridge. But more importantly, we discover why she was omitted from history.
Rough Riders
- 1995
- Documentary
- 53mins
- Status: Completed
ROUGH RIDERS tells the story of two champion Australian rodeo riders, one of whom lost his life in a bull-riding accident. Through their story the film explores the rituals of competition, the endless travel, the friendship and loyalty, courage and determination that the sport of bull-riding entails.
Rushing to Sunshine
- 2001
- Documentary
- 73mins
- Status: Completed
South Korea's 'Sunshine Policy' under President Kim Dae-Jung's presidency has opened up unprecedented business and cultural contact with the communist North. These Seoul diaries from March 1998 to October 2000 follow the rush North and its paradoxes through personal encounters. It raises the issue of the anachronistic National Security Law, which prohibits 'praising and encouraging' North Korea, through cases against the producers of a children's book and an artist. At the time of completion of the film the law still has not been amended. The film gives voice to hopes and aspirations for reunification, as well as anxiety and resistance in a range of people in the South and shows changes in attitudes and openness in post-summit Korea.
Saturn's Return
- 2000
- Short film
- 26mins
- Status: Completed
Barney and Dimi are young and in love. Barney's father, Dan, is dying of AIDS. Dan wants to get out early; Barney wants him to face up to the mistakes of his past. Dimi, suddenly an outsider, feels like he is losing Barney and wants to connect with his own father. A journey of remembering, grief and reconciliation.
Seriously Singing
- 2011
- Documentary
- 30mins
- Status: Completed
At a small school in the Victorian Mallee, indefatigable 91-year-old choral conductor Jessie Carmichael works with a group of novice singers to revisit a legendary moment in local history.
Shake Rattle Roll
- 2005
- Documentary
- 52mins
- Status: Completed
Ross Collins is on a journey. Over 10 years ago, at the age of 33, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's. Now he wants to be the man he was.
Songs for Kate
- 2013
- Documentary
- 50mins
- Status: Completed
SONGS FOR KATE is a documentary following the writing and staging of a chamber opera about the short, tragic life of Kate, sister of Australia’s famous bushranger Ned Kelly.
Sparky D Comes to Town
- 2000
- Short film
- 26mins
- Status: Completed
DJ Sparky D is in town and Stretch is planning a wild night of dancing and drug-crazed debauchery. But when Stretch's Dad pushes him into picking up a family friend from the airport, things start going very wrong.
Stone Country
- 2006
- Documentary
- 26mins
- Status: Completed
Set in the remote township of Ngukurr on the southeast border of Arnhem Land, this documentary is a snapshot of the community as seen through the eyes of Ngukurr residents, from the local radio DJ to community elders.
Strong Men of Nguiu
- 2007
- Documentary
- 25mins
- Status: Completed
The problems that confront the remote communities on the Tiwi Islands of the Torres Strait are similar to those that confront young people everywhere - but isolation and a lack of things to do make the young people of these communities particularly vulnerable to crime and substance abuse. The strong men of the community is a group determined to solve the problem themselves, by offering positive role models and beneficial activities to the young people. In this documentary, we see these leaders take young people away from the township to experience traditional hunting and living, and to hear the stories of their elders.
Sugar Bag
- 2004
- Documentary
- 9mins
- Status: Completed
Seventy-year-old Laurel Cooper recounts her childhood experience of the dilemma faced by her traditional mother and father in their struggle to retain control of their family under the Australian Government policy of forced removal of fair-skinned Aboriginal children.
Surfing the Healing Wave
- 1998
- Documentary
- 49mins
- Status: Completed
Aboriginals come from all over Australia to compete in a most unique and colourful event - the annual Indigenous surfing contest at Fingal on the far north coast of New South Wales. This contest, with its celebration of Indigenous culture is an opportunity for people to renew lost family connections and meet with other Indigenous surfers from Bali, New Zealand and other close regional neighbours. This film is a lively and uplifting look at the positive steps taken by an Indigenous community as it strives for cultural continuity for future generations.
Taking Pictures
- 1996
- Documentary
- 52mins
- Status: Completed
An examination of the documentary filmmaking process and the way one culture attempts to translate another. This film explores the processes and issues of the documentary experience by sampling award-winning Australian films about Papua New Guinea, and through interviews with the filmmakers about their strategies used during filming.
The Tenth Dancer
- 1993
- Documentary
- 52mins
- Status: Completed
Under the brutal regime of Pol Pot over 90 percent of Cambodia's artists were killed, including most of the classical dancers of the Royal Court Ballet. Only one in ten survived. This is the story of the tenth dancer. THE TENTH DANCER is an intimate portrait of the relationship between a teacher and her pupil set against the backdrop of war-torn Cambodia. The film weaves betwen the past and the present, memory and dream, to reveal a story of human dignity and survival.
Terra Nullius
- 1993
- Short film
- 21mins
- Status: Completed
The story of Alice, a young Aboriginal girl who absorbs the fear and shame of her adoptive white parents. The film links the denial of Aboriginality to an invasive scene of incest which occurs throughout the film. A look at how untreated fear and shame get passed from one generation to the other. Expressionist images repeatedly disrupt the narrative to haunt us with the denial of racial and sexual abuse – legacies of colonisation.
Thanks Girls And Goodbye
- 1988
- Documentary
- 51mins
- Status: Completed
THANKS GIRLS AND GOODBYE is a documentary about the Australian Women's Land Army. In 1942, during World War II, women were called on to relieve the labour shortages on farms, replacing the increasing number of men going to the front. For three years 7,000 women tilled, sowed and harvested their expectations to feed a nation at war. When the war ended in 1945 and the men returned to their jobs, the Land Army 'girls' had no option but to return to their homes. But for many of them, the experience of working in the Land Army had changed their expectations of what women were able to do. Unlike those in the three official women's armed services, the work of the volunteers for the Women's Land Army was not recognised by the RSL nor in the historical records. They were the 'forgotten army'. Through interviews with former Land Army members, combined with home movies, photographs, original Land Army songs and archival newsreels, the film represents an engaging account of women work against the backdrop of World War.
The Tightrope Dancer
- 1990
- Documentary
- 58mins
- Status: Completed
A buoyant and exuberant portrait of the eccentric Australian artist Vali Myers. Vali is unknown in Australia but in North America and Europe she fetches major prices for her drawings. She now lives in a secluded valley in Southern Italy accessible only by foot.
To Get Rich is Glorious
- 1998
- Documentary
- 55mins
- Status: Completed
This unusual film presents a privileged view of a highly-talented double act: Vincent, a Hong Kong Chinese entrepreneur with a need to succeed and Mart, a New York banker with global know-how, are scrutinised by Chinese officials as they try to buy the perfect run-down state enterprise - to take advantage of Hong Kong's reunification and Deng Xiao Ping's capitalist road. Throughout this quest, Vincent - like Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark - has the long shadow of his father looming over him.
Union Street
- 1990
- Short film
- Animation
- 14mins
- Status: Completed
Union Street is a typical inner-city Sydney street, opposite the train line and underneath the flight path. None of the residents see eye to eye but when the Armstrong-Taylors decide to renovate it sets off an unexpected chain of events which changes the face of Union St forever.
Veiled Ambition
- 2007
- Documentary
- 26mins
- Status: Completed
Frida Dakiz is a young Muslim woman with a thick Aussie accent and a dream to create a fashion Mecca for Islamic women. But the idea of marriage and children also has it’s appeal. Albert, Frida’s long distance fiance, supports her vision for the business but he can’t wait forever. He has set a deadline and has plans for a Sydney wedding. Meanwhile Frida’s hunger for success intensifies and she ditches the slow selling hijabs to make room for her new range of Miss World dresses in the revamped boutique. Relationships come under strain.
Vote 'Yes' for Aborigines
- 2007
- Documentary
- 52mins
- Status: Completed
VOTE 'YES' FOR ABORIGINES recognises and celebrates the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Referendum, the political milestone that overturned Australian constitutional law to allow Aboriginal people to be counted as Australian citizens in their own country.
Ways of Thinking
- 1991
- Documentary
- 28mins
- Status: Completed
A young Warlpiri Aboriginal man wants to leave his traditional community to seek work in a town. His wife is against this move; she wants to remain in the community, to be part of the traditional life of her tribe and to bring up their children in their ancient culture. She fears that the children will lose their language, their identity and their place in the world.
Wedding Sari Showdown
SERIES OVERVIEW
- 2006 - 2006
- Documentary
- 2 x 25mins
- Status: Completed
Three years after they defied their families by marrying secretly in a Melbourne registry office, Sikh-Australian Ramona and her Marwari husband, Anurag, are expecting their first child. A child who will belong in two worlds. But while Ramona is prepared to welcome her mother-in-law into her Melbourne home prior to the birth and to accept advice on all things baby, there is a limit to how far she will acquiesce and relinquish power. That is, until she gets to India...
Wee Jimmy
- 2000
- Short film
- 26mins
- Status: Completed
On a painful journey of self-discovery, Wee Jimmy is forced to confront questions of his own idenity as he learns what it means to be Australian.
Who We Are: Brave New Clan
- 2014
- Documentary
- 52mins
- Status: Completed
Introducing the Brave New Clan. We six young Indigenous Australians welcome you into our lives and invite you on a journey across the country. From the bustling streets of Sydney to the aquamarine vistas of the Torres Strait, from the spectacular gorges of the Kimberly to the lush falls of Kakadu, we explore the cultural traditions of our forebears, the contemporary paths we have chosen and our struggles along the way. These are our stories of courage and this is WHO WE ARE today.
Woman With an Editing Bench
- 2016
- Short film
- 15mins
- Status: Completed
Inspired by a true story, 'Woman with an Editing Bench' pays homage to the creativity of Elizaveta Svilova – the unsung editor behind Dziga Vertov’s 1929 documentary masterpiece 'Man with a Movie Camera' (No 1 on the 'Sight and Sound' list of Best Documentaries of all time). It uses her revolutionary editing techniques to reveal her thoughts and recuperate her legacy in the history of cinema.
Women of the Sun
- 1990
- TV drama
- 4 x 60mins
- Status: Completed
Four self-contained stories of Aboriginal women from the 1930s. A first-time opportunity for one of the world's most oppressed minorities to tell a part of their history in their own words.
Women of the Sun: 25 Years Later
- 2006
- Documentary
- 80mins
- Status: Completed
Twenty-five years ago an amazing four-part series hit Australian TV screens. 'Women of the Sun' (1990) depicted the lives of four Aboriginal women between the 1820s and the 1980s. The first TV series made in their own language, it was an instant classic. Producing the mini-series had a major impact on the director Bob Weis, and 25 years on he decides to reassess its importance to others, revisiting the women who played the leads to find out what they experienced, producing a fascinating and profoundly moving account.

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