Titles tagged with ‘Indigenous peoples’
62 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year prev 1 2 next
A
Aunty Connie documentary – 2006
Narration by Deborah Mailman reading from Connie’s life story told in her book, When You Grow Up is skillfully blended with Connie speaking to camera.
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.
B
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.
Beating About the Bush documentary – 1993
The filmmakers set out to record a music documentary with a happy ending but end up with coverage of a goodwill disaster.
Beneath Clouds feature film – 2002
While the narrative devices that director Ivan Sen uses to communicate his themes are firmly located within Indigenous sensibility and cultural perspective, the subject matter is universal.
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.
Black Robe feature film – 1991
In 17th century Canada a Jesuit missionary confronts his faith and mortality while travelling up river to reach a settlement of Huron Indians.
Black Talk short film – 2002
Wayne Blair fits a lot into 12 minutes of drama, weaving Indigenous language through the dialogue and exploring spiritual aspects of Indigenous culture and community.
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.
Bread and Dripping documentary – 1981
Four women recall raising families during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The film also looks at the activism of women and the beginnings of the early feminist movement in Australia.
C
Cannibal Tours documentary – 1987
Dennis O’Rourke highlights the absurdity of the interactions between 'civilised’ tourists and 'primitives’ in a PNG village.
Confessions of a Headhunter short film – 2000
Based on a short story by Archie Weller, this short drama speaks about the conflict between the Indigenous people of the Perth area and colonial culture.
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.
D
Desert Tracks short film – 1997
Desert Tracks – a business established without government funding – is a community’s attempt to sustain itself culturally and an important initiative for self-determination.
The Djarn Djarns short film – 2005
The Djarn Djarns is a comedy-drama very much suited for young people. It is a dance film with a sports feel, so culture and sport are not in competition.
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.
F
Flat short film – 2002
A short drama about the day in a life of a young teenager. Marnie lives in a housing commission estate and captures Alice Springs through a video camera given to her by her mostly absent father.
Footy The La Perouse Way documentary – 2006
Sydney’s La Perouse had an all-black football team in the 1930s but all nationalities were being welcomed by the 1950s.
The Fringe Dwellers feature film – 1986
This film has an Aboriginal ensemble cast, but a narrative based on a Western woman’s experience of an Aboriginal community.
From Sand to Celluloid – No Way to Forget short film – 1996
Writer-director Richard J Frankland drew on his experience as a field officer for the Royal Commission into Deaths in Custody to compose this story.
G
Green Bush short film – 2005
Warwick Thornton began his film career as a cinematographer and moved into directing and writing. In Green Bush, his visual aesthetic complements his storytelling strengths.
H
Harold documentary – 1994
A big man with a big voice. As the first Indigenous man to sing on national radio, Harold Blair carried huge responsibilities on his shoulders.
Harry’s War short film – 2000
Richard Frankland, writer and director of the short drama Harry’s War, is from the third generation of Indigenous men to have served in the Australian army.
Hula Girls, Imagining Paradise documentary – 2005
Western imagination has transformed the spiritual hula dance of traditional Polynesian society into a (male) fantasy presenting the Polynesian woman as beautiful and exotic.
I
Island Fettlers documentary – 2006
In the 1960s, Torres Strait Islander men moved to the Pilbara for work and stayed on. Island Fettlers starkly contrasts two cultures – visually, physically and aurally.
L
Lord of the Bush documentary – 1990
Through the complex character of McAlpine, Zubrycki reveals the issues confronting the rapidly expanding town of Broome.
Loved Up – Endangered documentary – 2005
While parts of Endangered have a light, Sex and the City feel to them, the undertones are serious and speak of cultural responsibility.
Loved Up – The Dream of Love documentary – 2005
Do blackfellas love the same way as everyone else?’ One of four films in this series which engages with themes of Indigenous love, family and identity.
Loved Up – Yellow Fella documentary – 2005
Tommy E Lewis, Indigenous star of the stage and screen, identifies as a 'yellow fella’ – both black and white.
M
Message Stick – Bill’s Wake television program – 2001
Bill Neidjie, a traditional owner of Kakadu, had a wake while he was alive, rather than waiting until his death, to hear what people wanted to say about him.
Message Stick – Koori Court television program – 2005
The Koori Court in Victoria was set up to reduce high imprisonment rates by combining Aboriginal beliefs with the white legal system.
Message Stick – Kurtal: Snake Spirit television program – 2002
A beautiful story about Kurtal, an ancestor and Dreaming song, and the Elder Spider, whose responsibility it is to perform the dance as well as pass it on.
Mimi short film – 2002
Warwick Thornton’s satirical short film stars Sophie Lee and Aaron Pedersen and pokes fun at white art collectors who purchase Indigenous art purely for its investment value.
Mparntwe Sacred Sites documentary – 2004
This documentary about Mparntwe (Alice Springs) provides a history of the region and the journey of the ancestral beings that gave Mparntwe its form.
My Brother Vinnie documentary – 2006
When Vinnie made actor Aaron Pedersen his carer, he saw something in Aaron that Aaron himself could not understand.
My Country documentary – 1994
My Country is about the impact of the Native Title Act on relationships between Indigenous peoples and pastoralists.
My Mother’s Country Part 1 documentary – 2001
Oral history is an important feature of Indigenous culture. The stories told by family members give the Coniston massacre of 1928 a human face.
My Mother’s Country Part 2 documentary – 2001
Japanangka’s act of retaliation for the theft of his wife sparked one of the last-known massacres of Aboriginal people in Australian history.
N
Narbalek documentary – 2001
Narbalek is one of more than 100 documentaries made in the Nganampa Anwernekenhe Series, designed primarily for Indigenous audiences.
O
One Night the Moon feature film – 2001
One Night the Moon, from director Rachel Perkins, reintroduces song into the Australian landscape. For Indigenous peoples, song has been one of the central means of land management.
P
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.
R
Radiance feature film – 1998
This is a rare exploration of the emotional interior lives of Indigenous women, in this case, three sisters.
Rosie documentary – 2004
Rosie, a member of the Stolen Generations, started to search for her parents because ‘part of me was still missing’.
S
Sa Black Thing short film – 2005
This romantic comedy explores the role that cultural values play in the romance between two Indigenous characters.
Sammy Butcher, Out of the Shadows documentary – 2004
Musician Sammy Butcher played with the Warumpi Band and now invests his energy in young musicians in his community of Papunya.
Saturday Night, Sunday Morning short film – 1999
The film offers few answers or a resolution and presents a possibility of characters trapped in an experience from which all are seeking liberation.
The Sharkcallers of Kontu documentary – 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 documentary – 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 Sands – Grace short film – 1998
This short drama from Wesley Enoch depicts the emotional journey of an Indigenous woman back to Australia for the funeral of her sister.
