Ray Martin goes on a grand quest to locate a mysterious outback rock formation he spotted and photographed from an airliner 37,000 feet in the air.
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Narrated by Indigenous elder Balang T E Lewis, this inspiring documentary will take you on an adventure to explore the culture and wildlife of Australia’s remote wild north. Far Northern Australia is a land of extremes, from bushfires to torrential floods. Explore the wildlife and meet the people in Australia’s wild top end, from the Kimberley coast through the mysterious Arnhem Land, and deep into the world’s oldest rainforest in Cape York.
An observational documentary which looks at Sydney’s first community Aboriginal radio station, 88.9 Radio Redfern. Set against a backdrop of contemporary Aboriginal music, 88.9 Radio Redfern offers a special and rare exploration of the people, attitudes and philosophies behind the lead up to a different type of celebration of Australia’s Bicentennial Year. Throughout 1988, 88.9 Radio Redfern became an important focal point for communication and solidarity within the Aboriginal community. The film reveals how urban blacks are adapting social structures such as the mass media to serve their needs.
Blind from birth, Dr G Yunupingu found his identity through song and the haunting voice that has already become legend. His debut album introduced Australia to the Songlines and culture of his Elcho Island community, but now Dr G Yunupingu finds himself increasingly torn between city and country, present and past, self and the community to which he owes so much.
A feature documentary about opera singer Tiriki Onus who finds a 70-year-old silent film believed to be made by his grandfather, Aboriginal leader and filmmaker Bill Onus. As Tiriki travels across the continent and pieces together clues to the film’s origins, he discovers more about Bill, his fight for Aboriginal rights and the price he paid for speaking out.
The story of Dujuan, a 10-year-old Aboriginal boy living in Alice Springs, Australia, who is struggling to balance his traditional Arrernte/Garrwa upbringing with a state education.
During the time of the Stolen Generations, thousands upon thousands of Aboriginal girls were taken from their families and pressed into domestic servitude by the Australian Government. They were supposedly employed as servants, but with total control over their movements, wages and living conditions, their lives all too frequently became an inescapable cycle of abuse, rape and enslavement, with consequences that echo powerfully to this day. Recounting the stories of five of these women – Rita, Violet and the three Wenberg sisters – Servant or Slave is a commanding piece of first-person testimony to a dark and unacknowledged corner of Australian history. Shot with admirable craft and humanity by documentarian Steven McGregor (Croker Island Exodus, MIFF 2012), Servant or Slave is a work of great sadness and urgency, bringing to forceful life the human tragedy of Australia's Indigenous history in the unadorned words of those who lived it.
With a national vote approaching to enshrine Indigenous peoples voice in the constitution, a dynamic Indigenous youth group travel on a pilgrimage across Australia to commemorate a historic civil rights victory. Buoyed by the imminent referendum, the group voyage through ephemeral Australian landscape in the microcosm of a minibus, sharing the rich, multilayered stories of their personal histories, as they dream up a hopeful new vision for Australia. As the results of the vote are counted, it’s impact on their future offer two paths – a hopeful breakthrough or another chapter in the long fight for recognition.
The story of a nation coming together around Indigenous athlete Cathy Freeman who delivered when it mattered on the greatest stage on earth. 20 years on, Freeman sheds light on one of Australia's proudest moments. In 49.11 seconds, Cathy Freeman's win at the 2000 Sydney Olympics brought Australia together as a nation.
Nestled deep in the Australian Outback is the town of Larrimah and its 11 eccentric residents. When one of them mysteriously disappears into thin air, the remaining residents become suspects and a long history of infighting is unveiled.
Taking us through Bangarra Dance Theatre’s spectacular growth, we follow the story of how three young Aboriginal brothers — Stephen, David and Russell Page — turned the newly born dance group into a First Nations cultural powerhouse.
Australia’s El Dorado was found by Lewis Harold Bell Lasseter – if we believe his claims in the late 1800s to have discovered a vast gold deposit in central Australia. This mysterious place has never again been found, and many believe it doesn’t exist. But one thing is certain: Lasseter was a larger-than-life character. Seen by some as an eccentric conman, he was ridiculed for his extravagant assertions, which he held until his tragic end. But Lasseter remains the embodiment of the Australian folk hero, who lived a life full of incredible adventures, tall tales and outrageous claims – including a possible faked death and his insistence that he designed the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Fresh off the plane and in need of money, two Finnish backpackers find themselves the latest batch of “fresh meat” sent to work as barmaids at the only pub in a remote Australian mining town.
A compelling portrait of an extraordinary figure, Aboriginal WWI soldier Douglas Grant, featuring acclaimed Indigenous actor Balang Tom E. Lewis (in his final performance). Grant (c.1885-1951) was extraordinarily famous in his day, an intellectual, a journalist, a soldier, a reader of Shakespeare and a bagpipe player who could put on a fine Scottish accent. His life story connects Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Adolf Hitler, and Henry Lawson among other famous figures as he moved from Australia to Europe, UK and back. Lewis’s thoughtful and often playful reflections on Grant’s life, along with guest appearances from Max Cullen and Archie Roach, connect to the larger story of Australia’s tragic colonial history and its troubled relationship with First Australians.
Ella Havelka made history in 2013 by becoming the first Indigenous dancer at the 50-year-old Australian Ballet. In this engaging, MIFF Premiere Fund-supported world premiere, Ella – a descendant of the Wiradjuri people – charts her inspiring journey from growing up in modest circumstances as the only child of a single mother in rural Australia to gaining entry to National Ballet School, then spending formative years with the acclaimed Bangarra Dance Theatre before accepting the invitation of The Australian Ballet's artistic director David McAllister to join one of the world's foremost ballet companies.
The Ripple Effect is a powerful documentary primarily centred around St Kilda legend and proud Noongar Nicky Winmar's generation-defining stand against racism at Victoria Park in 1993.
A stunning documentary capturing a once in a generation event – the flooding of Lake Eyre and the dramatic transformation of the dead heart of Australia. ABC News mounted two filming expeditions by helicopter to follow the floodwaters from north Queensland down the great outback rivers to Lake Eyre and record the amazing cycle of life, as the deserts bloomed and birds descended from far and wide to capitalise on the short lived boom.
The raw, heartfelt and often funny journey of adult Aboriginal students and their teachers as they discover the transformative power of reading and writing for the first time.
In 1832 the government of Van Diemen’s Land sent the last Aboriginal resistance fighters into exile at Wybalenna on Flinders Island, bringing an end to the Black War and opening a new chapter in the struggle for justice and survival by Tasmanian Aboriginal people. Black Man’s Houses tells a dramatic story of the quest by Aboriginal people to reclaim the graves of their ancestors against a background of racism and denial. Documenting a moving memorial re-enactment of the funeral of the great chief Manalargenna, the film also charts the cultural strength and resilience of his descendants as they are forced to fight for recognition in a society that is not ready to remember the terrible events of the past.
Australian documentary filmmaker Ian Darling re-examines the incidents that marked the final 3 years of Indigenous footballer Adam Goodes' playing career. Made entirely from archival footage, photos and interviews sourced from television, radio and newspapers, the film reviews the national conversation that took place over this period.
An hour-long documentary on the life and career of actor David Gulpilil.
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