797 titles prev 1 2 ... 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 next
Il Contratto (1953)
Financed by loans from a travel agency, four young single Italian men (Giuseppe Michelini, Luigi Borsi, Giuseppe Cusato, Giorgio Mangiamele) arrive by ship in Melbourne, attracted by an Australian government scheme that promises them two years’ guaranteed employment. After settling ... [read more]
Ninety Nine Per Cent (1963)
Italian immigrant widower Joseph Pino (Francesco Pino) and his school-age son Peter (Carmelo Pino) are opposites personality-wise, living a domestically chaotic life after the death of their wife and mother. When Pino – which is what Joseph is usually called ... [read more]
Oscar and Lucinda (1997)
Mid-19th century England. Oscar Hopkins (Ralph Fiennes) is a trainee Anglican priest studying at Oxford University. Taken to the horse races by fellow student Wardley-Fish (Barnaby Kay), Oscar develops an uncontrollable passion for gambling. Despite giving his winnings to charity, ... [read more]
Sleeping Beauty (2011)
University student Lucy (Emily Browning) works a number of jobs – medical researcher’s guinea pig, waitress, part-time escort. Unable to pay her rent, and threatened with eviction by her flatmates, she answers an advertisement in a student newspaper to become ... [read more]
The Odd Angry Shot (1979)
After his 21st birthday, Bill (John Jarratt) goes to fight in Vietnam, as part of the Australian forces. He’s in the Special Air Services, elite professional soldiers who look down on the ‘nashos’, the conscripted troops. Bill’s best mate is ... [read more]
Eureka Stockade (1949)
As thousands of men leave their jobs to search for gold in Ballarat in 1854, the Victorian Governor imposes harsh taxation in the form of a mining licence, to discourage new miners. New arrivals Peter Lalor (Chips Rafferty) and his ... [read more]
Prime Minister Rt Hon. WM Hughes visits Western Front (1918)
On 2 July 1918, in the final stages of the First World War, the Australian Prime Minister, Mr WM (Billy) Hughes and his deputy, Sir Joseph Cook, visited various Australian headquarters in France. They are seen arriving on the steps ... [read more]
The Exploits of the Emden (1928)
In the German colony of Tsingtao (Qingdao), on the Chinese coast, the warship Emden puts to sea as war breaks out in Europe, in August 1914. Reservist Officer Fritz Ackermann must join the ship even though his wife Meta and ... [read more]
Smiley (1956)
Smiley Greevins (Colin Petersen) is a poor but wily boy, growing up in a small country town. His father (Reg Lye) is a drunken drover; his mother (Margaret Christensen) is a workhorse. Smiley is constantly getting into trouble with his ... [read more]
The Tale of Ruby Rose (1987)
Henry Rose (Chris Haywood) traps wallabies and possum for their skins in the Central Highlands of Tasmania in 1933. He and his wife Ruby (Melita Jurisic) have lived here for seven years, in a primitive slab hut. The isolation takes ... [read more]
The Bet (2006)
Will O’Connor (Matthew Newton) accepts a challenge from his rich friend Angus McFarlane (Aden Young). Will is a Sydney stockbroker, Angus is a banker, the son of a tycoon. Whoever can make the most money in 90 days takes the ... [read more]
The Birth of White Australia (1928)
After introductory scenes at the opening of Parliament House in Canberra in 1927, the history of Australia is shown as a series of flashbacks – from Captain Cook’s landing at Botany Bay to the first settlement at Sydney Cove, deadly ... [read more]
Dingo (1991)
On a hot day in Poona Flat, Western Australia, in 1969, legendary American jazz trumpeter Billy Cross (Miles Davis) plays an impromptu concert on the tarmac after his plane makes an unscheduled stop. John Anderson (Daniel Scott), aged nine, decides ... [read more]
Lucky Miles (2007)
An Indonesian fishing boat dumps six Cambodians and six Iraqis on the remote coast of northwest Australia, in 1990. Muluk (Sawung Jabo), the captain, tells them to climb a dune to a bus stop, then sails away, knowing there is ... [read more]
The Sharkcallers of Kontu (1982)
The Sharkcallers of Kontu depicts the ancient tradition of 'sharkcalling’ in the village of Kontu, on the remote west coast of New Ireland in Papua New Guinea. There are only a few men remaining who use magic to call, trap ... [read more]
The Black Balloon (2007)
Thomas (Rhys Wakefield) is 15 and his life is in chaos. His autistic brother Charlie (Luke Ford) creates havoc wherever he goes; their mother Maggie (Toni Collette) is pregnant and has to stay in bed. Their father Simon (Erik Thomson) ... [read more]
Hey Hey It’s Esther Blueburger (2007)
Esther Blueburger (Danielle Catanzariti) is a feisty loner at a private girls’ school who is constantly beseeched by her mother Grace (Essie Davis) to be normal. Esther invents excuses to explain why no friends are coming to her bat mitzvah, ... [read more]
Black Harvest (1992)
By late 1989, filmmakers Robin Anderson and Bob Connolly were ready to go back to the PNG highlands to make the third film in the Highlands Trilogy, Black Harvest. This film follows First Contact (1983) and Joe ... [read more]
Joe Leahy’s Neighbours (1988)
Joe Leahy’s Neighbours is the sequel to First Contact (1983) and is the second documentary in The Highlands Trilogy. This well-constructed film traces the fortunes of Joe Leahy, one of the highlander sons of the gold prospector Michael Leahy. Joe ... [read more]
A Hard Rain (2007)
A Hard Rain explores the global nuclear industry, covering the nuclear fuel cycle from beginning to end, radioactive waste and weapons manufacture. It questions the agendas behind the pro-nuclear push in Australia and debunks the myths that nuclear power is ... [read more]
