Film & Television with Indigenous content
192 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year prev 1 2 3 4
Film and television titles written and/or directed by a non-Indigenous person.
2000s
Painting Country documentary – 2000
Indigenous paintings are maps of the artists’ country. They trace the land’s topography, but also contain personal history, mythology and Dreaming tracks.
Hey Sista! short film – 2001
A coming of age story about a girl who just wants to play basketball … and have straight hair.
Kimberley Cops documentary – 2001
Stories of rogue crocodiles, tipped cattle trucks and search-and-rescue operations for lost tourists emphasise the dangers and harsh realities of life in the outback.
Mullet feature film – 2001
Mullet is about how people behave and about how men don’t talk and women do.
The Secret Life of Us – Now or Never television program – 2001
This final episode of the first season makes reference to the desirable 'trifecta’ of partner, job and home first raised in episode one but adds an unspoken fourth element – friendship.
Australian Rules feature film – 2002
This drama, with its racism theme, in turn sparked very heated debate about white filmmakers telling stories with Indigenous content.
Black and White feature film – 2002
The film presents both the defence’s and the prosecution’s version of what might have happened in the controversial Max Stuart case, so that there is no easy path to the truth.
Rabbit-Proof Fence feature film – 2002
For many white Australians, this popular film was the first direct emotional experience of what it meant to be one of the 'stolen generations’.
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.
The Finished People feature film – 2003
This ultra-low budget feature cuts between three stories of disadvantaged young people struggling to survive on the streets of Cabramatta.
Japanese Story feature film – 2003
An unexpected plot development in the middle of Japanese Story left audiences stunned and disbelieving — and occasionally hostile.
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.
The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant television program – 2004
An epic period adventure, full of swash and buckle, sweeping landscapes, high seas and romance.
John Safran vs God – Episode 2 television program – 2004
Nothing is sacred in John Safran’s comedy-documentary series about religion.
The Life and Times of Malcolm Fraser television program – 2004
A portrait of Malcolm Fraser, Prime Minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983.
Four Corners – Inside the Circle television program – 2005
Inside the circle’, a new way to deal with offenders who come up before the legal system. Robert is face-to-face with his victim and four Aboriginal Elders.
Grange short film – 2005
Grange is an irreverent story of the extremes two young lawyers go to in order to get promoted in the corporate sector.
The Proposition feature film – 2005
Many Australian films present the outback as a dangerous place but probably only Wake in Fright can offer an outback with predatory instincts to match The Proposition.
We Can Be Heroes – Episode 3 television program – 2005
Chris Lilley’s mockumentary follows five very different nominees for the Australian of the Year award in the lead-up to the event.
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.
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.
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 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.
Footy Legends feature film – 2006
Anh Do, best known as a stand-up comedian, gives a heartbreakingly real performance as a man of limited education trying to keep his family together, and get back into the economic mainstream.
Jimmy Little’s Gentle Journey documentary – 2006
Jimmy Little’s softly softly style came under scrutiny during the heyday of 1970s Indigenous politics.
Jindabyne feature film – 2006
Jindabyne is based on a 20-year-old short story by American Raymond Carver, but it’s been so well adapted to the Australian milieu that it feels home-grown.
Ten Canoes feature film – 2006
The jumping-off point for Ten Canoes was a 1930s photo of Indigenous people taken by anthropologist Donald Thomson.
Boxing Day feature film – 2007
The unconventional production method helped give Boxing Day an unusually intense sense of foreboding, danger and unpredictability.
Dr Plonk feature film – 2007
One of a tiny number of silent movies made since ‘the talkies’ arrived in the late 1920s, Rolf de Heer’s Dr Plonk is a high-spirited throwback to the days of pure visual slapstick.
Lucky Miles feature film – 2007
Few Australian films have dealt with illegal immigration and refugees. Lucky Miles does so through comedy, but without losing its sense of compassion.
Night documentary – 2007
The real time and time-lapse images in Night are edited seamlessly and, in combination with the music, become very meditative.
One Shoe Short short film – 2007
On a town camp in Alice Springs, a boy searches for a pair of shoes so he can go to school. His friend tries his best to help him out.
Rogue feature film – 2007
A US travel writer and a group of tourists on a boat trip in the Northern Territory are menaced by a giant crocodile.
September feature film – 2007
September is an engrossing film about the economic co-dependency between blacks and whites, made intensely dramatic and personal through the story of a friendship.
Australia feature film – 2008
Three outsiders – an aristocrat, a stockman and a vulnerable child – are set against the malevolent forces of greedy neighbours, a world war and assimilationist policy.
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.
Not Quite Hollywood documentary – 2008
Not Quite Hollywood is a good-humoured, highly entertaining look at the exploitation movies made in Australia in the 1970s and ’80s.
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.
Last Ride feature film – 2009
On the run in rural South Australia, a former convict and his 10-year-old son get to know each other for the first and last time.
2010s
Beneath Hill 60 feature film – 2010
During the First World War, a Queensland miner learns the true cost of war when he leads Australians in a project to tunnel beneath enemy lines to plant explosives.
