All titles in the ‘Drama’ genre
407 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 next
S (continued)
The Sundowners feature film – 1960
The Sundowners is remarkable for the number of Australian actors it showcases. Chips Rafferty plays Quinlan, the contractor at an outback shearing station.
Sunshine Sally feature film – 1922
The working-class Sally falls in love with the adopted son of wealthy parents from whom she was kidnapped as a child.
Sunstruck feature film – 1972
Welsh schoolteacher Stanley Evans takes a posting in Kookaburra Springs, a tiny outback town. He forms a children’s choir which travels to Sydney for a national competition.
Sweetie feature film – 1989
Ambiguity is filmmaker Jane Campion’s preferred method in Sweetie, and it works superbly as a destabilised narrative because of it.
T
Tabaluga – The Last One of His Kind television program – 1997
With an eclectic mix of animals and accents from around the world, Tabaluga is a very international looking and sounding series.
The Tale of Ruby Rose feature film – 1987
In 1933 Ruby Rose leaves her isolated home in the Tasmanian highlands to rediscover her past.
Ten Canoes feature film – 2006
The jumping-off point for Ten Canoes was a 1930s photo of Indigenous people taken by anthropologist Donald Thomson.
Thank God He Met Lizzie feature film – 1997
This romantic comedy helped launch Cate Blanchett’s cinema career. It intercuts two stories to create a very satisfying contemplation on romantic love and commitment.
That Eye, the Sky feature film – 1994
Twelve-year-old Morton ‘Ort’ Flack lives in the outback. When Ort’s father is paralysed in an accident, a stranger named Henry arrives, offering to help.
Third Person Plural feature film – 1978
A look at the emotional entanglements of four Sydney friends who take a weekend boating trip.
Three Dollars feature film – 2005
Australians have decided to live in an economy and not a society’, were the words on a banner that partly inspired this film.
Thunderstone – Episode Three television program – 1999
This episode showcases the fabulous production design and high production values that are the feature of this quality children’s series.
Tom White feature film – 2004
Colin Friels’s performance in the title role is one of the best of his career, and it is a key factor behind the film’s artistic success.
Toomelah feature film – 2011
A hard-hitting film about the impact of poverty, drugs and alcohol on the life of a young boy living in an Aboriginal community.
Touch the Sun – Captain Johnno television program – 1988
Captain Johnno is a significant Australian children’s film which won the 1988 International Emmy Award for Children and Young People’s Programming.
Touch the Sun – Devil’s Hill television program – c1988
With his gap-toothed smile and great integrity, Badge is the delightful hero of this adventure story based on the classic Australian children’s novel.
Touch the Sun – Princess Kate television program – c1988
This is a story of insecurity, snobbery, fear, love and hope as this young girl takes herself and two families on an emotionally painful journey to find out who she really is.
Touch the Sun – The Gift television program – c1988
This film offers a glimpse into the lives of a Greek-Australian family as they struggle with cultural differences, materialism, environmental issues and family relationships.
Touch the Sun – Top Enders television program – 1988
This lovely production captures the exotic frontier feel of Darwin, as it explores human survival and the challenges and rewards of family relationships and friendship.
A Town Like Alice television program – 1980
This mini-series, based on the novel by Nevil Shute, tells an epic love story that begins in Malaya during the Japanese occupation of 1941–45.
The Tracker feature film – 2002
A series of paintings by South Australian artist Peter Coad are used throughout The Tracker in place of visual depictions of violence.
Travelling North feature film – 1987
Casting Leo McKern was a coup because he almost never accepted roles in his place of birth once he’d become successful in England.
The Trespassers feature film – 1976
Many films reflected the sexual revolution of the 1970s but few male directors explored what women wanted from it. This one does.
U
Underbelly – Series 1 television program – 2008
This 13-part crime drama is based on real events in Melbourne from 1994–2004. Dealing with gang warfare-related murders, it was controversial even before it was completed.
Unfinished Sky feature film – 2007
The same Dutch actor plays the lead role in this Australian remake of a Dutch film, and the original.
V
Vacant Possession feature film – 1994
Margot Nash’s ambitious feature debut has a strong political basis, but it’s ultimately a very personal story.
W
Waiting feature film – 1990
A surrogate mother’s home birth turns out more complicated than expected.
The Waiting City feature film – 2009
The marriage of an Australian couple hits a crisis point as they wait to finalise the adoption of a child in Kolkata, India.
Wake in Fright feature film – 1971
A young schoolteacher loses all his money in an outback two-up game, while en route to Sydney. In the next two days he loses a lot more – self-respect, inhibitions, almost his life.
Walkabout feature film – 1970
A 16-year-old English girl and her 8-year-old brother are stranded in the desert, after their father shoots himself. They are rescued by a young tribal Aborigine.
Walking on Water feature film – 2002
Friends and family euthanise a young man dying of AIDS and then deal with their grief and guilt.
Wandjina! – Episode 5 television program – 1966
Strange events occur when people search for two boys missing in the bush.
Waterfront – Episode 1 television program – 1984
Wharfies involved in a worker’s dispute and Italian refugees desperate to work during the Depression clash with tragic consequences.
Waterfront – Episode 2 television program – 1984
The series tells of the determination to stand up for what is right in a world that is rapidly slipping into a showdown between the extremes of fascism and communism.
Water Rats – Dead in the Water television program – 1996
This feature-length pilot packs in more action, location shoots and story strands than a standard episode of Water Rats.
Water Rats – Goes With the Territory television program – 1999
This episode marks the introduction of Steve Bisley’s character to the long-running crime drama. Of note is the economy with which this major change in cast is addressed.
We of the Never Never feature film – 1982
Race relations is the theme that is constantly lurking in this story about one woman’s life on an outback station.
What I Have Written feature film – 1995
A layered mystery that revolves in part around the classic question of the unreliable – or perhaps reliable? – narrator.
White Collar Blue – Series 1 Episode 21 television program – 2002
White Collar Blue follows the lives and criminal cases of the police at a Sydney beachside police station.
Wicked Science – Episode 1, The Gift television program – 2003
The spectacular dinosaur scenes and the transformation from nerd to villainous ice queen make this a not-to-be-missed episode.
Wildside – Series 1 Episode 1 television program – 1997
The raw style of Wildside is characterised by intense, semi-improvised performances, observational camerawork and sometimes frenetic editing.
Winging It short film – 1998
A short animation about a young man who recalls a piece of family lore which helps him out of a potentially tricky situation.
Winners – Just Friends television program – 1985
Just Friends reveals the hard asks of a young teenager – trying to fit in, standing up for yourself and resisting peer pressure to do things you’re not comfortable with.
Winners – On Loan television program – 1985
This is a strong and very painful story as Lindy is forced to make a difficult choice between her natural father and her adoptive parents.
Winners – Room to Move television program – 1985
The script of this telemovie (starring a young Nicole Kidman) was criticised at the time for undermining parental authority but that seems hard to understand now.
Winners – The Other Facts of Life television program – 1985
Ben’s over-the-top campaign to right the wrongs of the world is funny to watch but at the same time confronts viewers with some serious global and local issues.
Winners – The Paper Boy television program – 1985
The Paper Boy is a beautifully shot period film that captures the era and gives a realistic insight into the lives of struggling people in the Depression.
Winners – Top Kid television program – 1985
A compelling moral drama, made more powerful by its refusal to deal in absolutes, Top Kid draws on the real-life rigging of top American quiz shows in the 1950s.
Winner Take All – Downside Risk television program – 1982
An ABC TV series about the fast-paced world of big business, Winner Take All is an early ‘80s time capsule.
Winter of Our Dreams feature film – 1981
It was surprising that this uncompromising film about a junkie prostitute’s failure to find love, would work so well with audiences.
