All documentaries
544 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 next
P (continued)
Prices and the People 1948
Prices and the People provides a working-class view of price increases, wages and mounting profits and the effects on everyday people in 1948.
Provincial Cities of Australia: Ballarat, Victoria c1932
Frank Thring was an enthusiastic supporter of talking pictures and a great believer in their potential to bolster the Australian film industry.
Public Enemy Number One 1981
Public Enemy Number One gives insight into journalist Wilfred Burchett’s motives in covering wars from the enemy’s point of view.
Pyongyang Diaries 1997
Solrun Hoaas uses a diary-like voice-over to reflect on the gap between what she was able to film and what she could not show.
Q
The Queen Goes West 1988
Queen Elizabeth II opens the Stockman’s Hall of Fame in Longreach, Queensland. Filmaker Christine Olsen went on to write Rabbit-Proof Fence.
The Queen in Australia 1954
The first colour feature made in Australia, documenting the first visit of a reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, in 1954.
R
Raccolta D’Inverno, Winter’s Harvest 1979
The government has now outlawed this traditional Italian community event of slaughtering and butchering a pig and feasting on it.
Rachel: A Perfect Life 2007
An intimate, observational documentary following a young woman as she goes through brain surgery to control her epilepsy.
Rachel’s Story 1997
At 16, Rachel was a prostitute and heroin addict in Kings Cross. Years later, she helps a prostitute reform.
Raoul Wallenberg: Between the Lines 1984
Profile of Raoul Wallenberg, an extraordinary humanitarian who disappeared after performing heroic deeds during the Second World War.
Rare Chicken Rescue 2008
After a battle with depression Queensland chicken breeder Mark Tully embarks on a mission to protect the endangered chickens who, he reckons, saved his life.
Rats in the Ranks 1996
The behind-the-scenes political wheeling and dealing in the countdown to the election of a new mayor for Sydney’s Leichhardt Council.
Rebels With a Cause 1994
Cecil Waters rules the family with a ‘rod of iron’, and is training his sons to be champion boxers.
Red Matildas 1985
Told through the lives of three women, Red Matildas explores the social and political conditions in Australia during the Great Depression.
Research on Survival in Bushfires 1963
This specialist documentary gives a behind-the-scenes look at the Bushfire Research section of the CSIRO.
Reunion 1998
A bio-documentary of filmmaker Lisa Wang revealing her growing awareness of her 'Chinese-ness’ in 1950s Australia.
Riot or Revolution 2005
Three things struck filmmaker Don Parham about the Eureka story – it was a 'ripper yarn’, with a great cast of characters and fascinating politics.
The Rising Generation c1925
This incomplete documentary from 1926 promotes the public education system in South Australia from kindergarten through to university.
Rites of Passage 1994
Exploring the rites of passage that accompany entry into adulthood, three rebellious teenagers and their parents struggle to resolve their differences.
River of No Return 2008
A thought-provoking film that explores the issues involved in living a traditional lifestyle while trying to gain access to the larger, dominant society.
Rocking the Foundations 1985
Rocking The Foundations is more than a film about a union: it’s a film about social change and how ordinary people can make that happen.
The Rocks: Sydney, Australia 1983
The Rocks was considered a slum until it was restored in the 1970s. This sponsored documentary traces its redevelopment as a tourist precinct.
Rodeo c1934
This silent documentary is about a rodeo held in northern Queensland in approximately 1934. It features 500 participants parading through the streets of Townsville.
Rosie 2004
Rosie, a member of the Stolen Generations, started to search for her parents because ‘part of me was still missing’.
Ross Smith’s Flight from London to Australia 1919
In 1919, aviator Ross Smith and crew became the first Australians to fly between England and Australia in under 30 days. Cameraman Frank Hurley joined them.
Rough Riders 1995
This film examines the gladiatorial machismo of the laconic roughriders of the rodeo.
Round About Townsville 1926
Thought to be one of the Know Your Own Country series from the 1920s, Round About Townsville positions Townsville as a veritable paradise.
Rush 1999
This is an observational documentary about three young Melbourne men and their obsession with fast cars and lifestyles.
Rydin’ Time 2005
This documentary about three Indigenous rodeo riders at the 2005 Mt Isa Rodeo has an energetic soundtrack that creates a youthful, lively narrative true to its subjects.
S
Sadness 1999
Australian photographer William Yang explores loss, love and identity as he investigates a family murder and honours the lives of friends who have died from AIDS.
Sammy Butcher, Out of the Shadows 2004
Musician Sammy Butcher played with the Warumpi Band and now invests his energy in young musicians in his community of Papunya.
Sanitation and the City c1957
This documentary outlines the management of water supply and sanitation by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works.
Satellite Dreaming 1991
The creation of CAAMA was designed to produce media that would sustain a strong Indigenous identity with regional variations.
The SBF Story 2007
The amateur production company SBF made travelogues, animations and short dramas in the 1950s and ’60s.
Searchlight on Japan c1948
Made by Ken G Hall, Searchlight on Japan focuses on Japan under Allied occupation at the end of the Second World War.
Secret Fleets 1995
Early in the Second World War plans were made to fight the Japanese enemy on Australian soil. Americans submariners were given a warm welcome.
Seeking Asylum 2002
Three Afghans escaped from the Taliban and arrived in Australia as asylum seekers. Ninety-two per cent of Afghans seeking asylum in Australia are genuine refugees.
Selling Sickness 2004
Direct-to-consumer advertising and newly created diseases such as ‘premenstrual dysphoric disorder’ have led to overuse of antidepressant drugs.
Serious Undertakings 1983
Serious Undertakings breaks new ground in understanding the construction of meaning and exemplifies the impact of 1970s screen theory on making independent films.
Shadow Play 2001
In Indonesia, 1965, a group of President Sukarno’s guards murdered six generals. A history of our closest Asian neighbour, and its postwar political history.
The Sharkcallers of Kontu 1982
Believing that the spirits of their ancestors dwell in the mako shark, shark callers are not only hunting but also maintaining a connection with their past.
A Shifting Dreaming 1982
Ray Barrett stars in this story of Indigenous and non-Indigenous relations spanning from the 1928 Coniston massacre to Land Rights hearings in 1982.
Shifting Shelter 3 2005
Shot over a ten-year period, and reminiscent of the British 7 Up series, Shifting Shelter follows four Indigenous teens into young adulthood.
The Ship That Shouldn’t Have 1984
A scientific expedition aboard the steam-powered Cheynes 2 was beset by disasters. The members of the expedition were lucky to survive.
Shoalwater: Up For Grabs 1992
Shoalwater: Up for Grabs was instrumental in stopping sandmining in the Shoalwater area.
Shooey’s Little World 1984
Keith and Gladys Shoesmith live in the country with their six children. An interesting insight into the family life of a genuine battler.
Siege of the South 1931
Frank Hurley documents Australia’s rich history of scientific exploration of the Australian Antarctic Territory.
Singles Club 2007
Phoenix Lifestyle, founded in 1982, has 1,000 members. Singles Club follows the lives of five members as they seek partners.
Size 10 1978
Size 10 is about how four young women break free of the pressure to conform to beauty and fashion norms.
Skyway Express c1948
One of a series of travelogues produced in the late 1940s when very few Australians had travelled overseas, each is about flying into an 'exotic’ location.
