Film & Television with Indigenous content
142 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year prev 1 2 3 next
Film and television titles written and/or directed by a non-Indigenous person.
0-9
900 Neighbours documentary – 2006
Big hART, a community group, allowed residents of Sydney’s Northcott public housing estate to give their own views on living there.
A
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert feature film – 1994
The most unforgettable scenes in Priscilla feature excessive costumes on incongruous characters in vast, humbling spaces.
After Mabo documentary – 1997
The most respected Indigenous commentators on native title are featured here, thus adding to the documentary’s historical importance.
An AIM Patrol documentary – 1927
This film documented outback life in the 1920s and may have been made to accompany a written report.
The Alice television program – 2004
A disparate group of people are heading for the outback to watch a solar eclipse. Strange things begin to happen as their fates entwine.
Art From the Heart documentary – 1998
White collectors and gallery owners have benefited from indigenous art since the 1970s yet this issue is not vigorously pursued here.
At The Movies – Series 2 Episode 20, Ten Canoes television program – 2006
Margaret reviews Ten Canoes, a story of forbidden love and bloody retribution, followed by an interview with director Rolf de Heer and co-creator David Gulpilil.
Australasian Gazette – 10,000 Miles around Australia newsreel – c1926
In this Australasian Gazette newsreel from approximately 1926, Mr and Mrs F Dean arrive in Melbourne after their Shell-sponsored trip around Australia by touring car.
Australia Daze documentary – 1988
An observational documentary shot by 29 different camera crews on the bicentennial anniversary of Australia’s European settlement on 26 January 1988.
Australian Movie Magazine No 7201 newsreel – 1971
This 'year in review’ edition is not a typical example of the newsreel’s format. It presents some of the significant events of 1971 and includes a range of story types.
Australian Rules feature film – 2002
This drama, with its racist theme, in turn sparked very heated debate about white filmmakers telling stories with indigenous content.
Australia Post – Joint Stamp Issue sponsored film – 1988
This program consists mainly of footage shot at the celebratory launch of the Australian–USA bicentennial stamp in Sydney’s Martin Place.
Australia’s Land of Tomorrow sponsored film – 1962
An Australian Inland Mission patrol witnesses a prospering region where industry and agriculture have grown and the population has greatly increased since the last visit.
B
Babakiueria short film – 1986
A mockumentary surveying the culture and customs of the white native people of the land of ‘Babakieuria’, from the perspective of the country’s black colonisers.
Backlash feature film – 1986
Much of the dialogue in Bill Bennett’s film, about two police officers and a young indigenous woman, was improvised on location.
The Back of Beyond documentary – 1954
The real-life outback characters in this phenomenally successful film were painted as survivors and battlers with hearts of gold.
Backroads short feature – 1977
Backroads (1977) is the first feature (albeit, a short one) by Phillip Noyce, who would go on to make Newsfront (1978) and Rabbit-Proof Fence.
Bad Boy Bubby feature film – 1993
Bad Boy Bubby was conceived as an experiment on virtually every level. It had 32 different cinematographers, for example.
The Balanda and the Bark Canoes documentary – 2006
There are many humorous moments when director Rolf de Heer’s directions to the actors get lost in translation.
The Barefoot Bushman: Dancing With Dingoes documentary – 1997
The film includes footage of Bruce Jacobs, who established a dingo sanctuary in Victoria and bred dingoes for domestic sale.
Beyond the Furthest Fences sponsored film – 1947
This is an abridged version of the feature-length documentary The Inlanders. Both follow the Australian Inland Mission through central Australia in 1947.
The Big Boomerang documentary – 1962
This promotional film about Qantas has information about the company’s only foray into aircraft construction, which was in 1926.
A Big Country – Peninsula People television program – 1968
An early episode of this iconic series. A Big Country aimed to bring country Australia into the lives of urban Australians.
Bigger than Texas documentary – 1992
WA’s need for a hero and corporate excess created Alan Bond, who features heavily in this quite personal documentary.
The Birth of White Australia feature film – 1928
This early feature depicts racial tension in NSW in 1861. Despite its offensive representation of Aboriginality, the film has cultural and historic value.
Bitter Springs feature film – 1950
A family of white farmers fight to take possession of land and water that is home to a well-established Aboriginal clan.
The Blainey View – Footprints television program – 1982
Geoffrey Blainey, one of Australia’s foremost and most controversial historians, later coined the term 'black armband view of history’.
Blood Brothers – Broken English documentary – 1993
Arrernte man Max Stuart was sentenced to death in 1959 for murder but, nearly 35 years later, he talks about the case on camera.
Blood Brothers – From Little Things Big Things Grow documentary – 1993
An exploration into the life of Kev Carmody, portraying the years he spent in an orphanage when forcibly removed from his family by Queensland authorities at ten years old.
Blood Brothers – Jardiwarnpa documentary – 1993
The orchestration of Warlpiri ceremonies in this film challenges the concept that indigenous culture is stagnant.
The Book of Revelation feature film – 2006
The Book of Revelation is based on a simple, powerful idea: most films about rape are about women as victims of men, so reversing that idea allows men to experience the trauma of violation.
Boxing Day feature film – 2007
The unconventional production method helped give Boxing Day an unusually intense sense of foreboding, danger and unpredictability.
Bran Nue Dae documentary – 1991
There’s nothing I would rather be than to be an Aborigine’ is probably the most famous line from the successful stage musical.
Brisbane Dreaming documentary – 1994
Historical footage and re-enactments help tell stories about the Indigenous people who were displaced by Brisbane.
Broken Sun feature film – 2008
Imagination and resourcefulness helped this small filmmaking team, lead by Brad Haynes, overcome the constraints of having only $50,000.
Brothers and Sisters documentary – 1997
Actor Rachael Maza and her sister are among the people featured in this look at sibling behaviour.
Bush Christmas feature film – 1947
In a rare villainous role, Chips Rafferty plays a horse thief, Long Bill. He is tracked by five kids spending Christmas in the Blue Mountains.
C
Cactus feature film – 1986
Cactus explores both the horror of not being able to see and the notion that blindness can sharpen the senses and lift the spirits.
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith feature film – 1978
This is one of the key Australian films of the 1970s, because it speaks about the unspeakable with a depth of rage that was absolutely unprecedented and has never been repeated.
Chez les Sauvages Australiens historical – 1917
An engaging and respectful insight into Aboriginal people’s culture and their interaction with the filmmaking process, made in 1917.
The Combination feature film – 2009
After serving a jail term a young Lebanese Australian man struggles to stop his wild younger brother from making the mistakes that he made.
Conrad Martens documentary – 1978
Conrad Martens, whose watercolours are a valuable record of colonial Sydney, is reputed to be its first successful artist.
Couldn’t Be Fairer documentary – 1984
This film, to some degree, is a tribute to Mick Miller, who was committed to fighting for the rights of Indigenous peoples.
Crocodile Dundee feature film – 1985
This is not just the most commercially successful Australian film ever made, but also one of the most successful non-Hollywood films.
Crocodile Dundee II feature film – 1988
This sequel, in which Mick Dundee battles drug dealers, asserts more stridently that he is more like an Aboriginal than a white man.
D
Dead Heart feature film – 1996
Bryan Brown plays a second generation Northern Territory cop caught up in a power struggle over whether black or white law is supreme.
Desert Walker: Gulf to Gulf documentary – 1985
The Flying Doctor base helped Denis Bartell when he became the first white man to walk across Australia from north to south.
Dingo feature film – 1991
Dingo is a French-Australian co-production starring an American jazz legend. According to director Rolf de Heer, Miles Davis turned out to be a wonderfully instinctive actor.
Dot and the Kangaroo feature film – 1977
A generation of Australian school children grew up on Dot and the Kangaroo and the six other Dot films that followed it. Really.
The Dream and the Dreaming documentary – 2003
When Lutheran missionaries arrived in Central Australia, the strength of the existing culture made it challenging to make converts.
