Titles tagged with ‘death’
50 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year
B
Birthday Boy short film – 2004
This Oscar-nominated short, set during the Korean War, is about a boy who receives an unexpected birthday present with tragic consequences.
Bit of Black Business – Custard short film – 2007
A young woman’s grandfather has died. She returns to Stradbroke Island to comfort her grandmother and discover the truth about her grandfather’s death.
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.
Body Work documentary – 1988
Death is a taboo subject but not in this stylised documentary about those who 'make a living out of dead bodies’.
The Boys are Back feature film – 2009
A successful journalist learns the true meaning of fatherhood and domestic responsibility after losing his wife to cancer.
Bright Star feature film – 2009
A chronicle of the platonic love affair between poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne in early nineteenth century England.
Burke & Wills feature film – 1985
The epic and tragic story of the first expedition to cross Australia from south to north, in 1860–61.
C
Cartoons of the Moment – Crown Prince of Death newsreel – c1915
This First World War anti-German propaganda cartoon represents fighting countries as animals and employs puns in the titles and accompanying captions.
Cartoons of the Moment – The Kaiser War newsreel – c1918
This edition of Cartoons of the Moment was probably made in 1918, after Prime Minister Hughes’s second visit to England to attend the Imperial War Cabinet.
Cartoons of the Moment – Today the German Monster Threatens the World newsreel – c1916
This powerful piece of anti-German propaganda was a recruitment tool to persuade Australian men of fighting age that their help was urgently needed in the war effort.
Chandon Pictures – Champion Charles television program – 2007
Chandon Pictures is a comedy that takes an uneasy look at the notion of 'chasing your dream’.
Clara short film – 2004
A stop-motion animation that explores the grief experienced by a young girl.
Cousin short film – 1998
The biography of a cousin, his special arm, pet rocks and shopping trolley.
The Cremation of a Balinese Chief at the Hotel Bali home movie – c1930
This Balinese cremation was apparently the first such ceremony to be witnessed and filmed by a white man.
Cyclone Tracy television program – 1986
A fictional account of one of Australia’s worst natural disasters – a major turning point in the history of Darwin.
D
Dad’s Clock short film – 2001
This stop-motion animation short film celebrates the life of the animator’s late father.
Death Defying Acts feature film – 2007
Filmmakers often tell imagined stories to explore a famous figure or incident and this love story involving Harry Houdini in 1926 is a good example.
Don’t Blame the Koalas - Episode 1, Fate Steps In television program – 2002
Gregory has placed magnets in his shoes and hat so that he won’t fall into outer space when he gets to Australia.
E
Episodes in Disbelief short film – 2000
This short animation is a reflection on childhood loss as the narrator attempts to come to terms with the death of her father.
The Eye of the Storm feature film – 2011
The expatriate, grown children of an ill Sydney matriarch return to her bedside with more than love on their minds.
F
Four Corners – Blue Death television program – 1988
A chilling program about Australia’s greatest industrial disaster: years after the mine closed, Wittenoom residents are dying of asbestos-related illnesses.
The Fourth Wish television program – 1974
An obstinate single father struggles to grant his terminally ill son three wishes.
H
A Hard God television program – 1980
A Hard God, based on the play of the same name, is the story of a working-class Irish-Australian Catholic family in Sydney in the 1940s.
Harvie Krumpet short film – 2003
Adam Elliot combines darkness and humour, tragedy and triumph, Alzheimer’s and living life to the full, so that we may learn more about what it means to be human.
Heartbreak High – Series 7 Episode 210 television program – 1998
Stolen goods, lawn bowls and a séance feature in this final episode of the groundbreaking 1990s teen drama.
The Henderson Kids – Series 1 Episode 2 television program – 1985
Teenage actors Nadine Garner, Kylie Minogue and Ben Mendelsohn feature in this classic 1980s children’s drama from Crawford Productions.
I
In a Savage Land feature film – 1999
Evelyn’s misadventures in the Trobriand Islands are in the foreground of this exploration of racism, colonialism and voyeurism set during the Second World War.
L
Look Both Ways feature film – 2005
Rather than having just one viewpoint, Sarah Watt’s hit debut explores the emotions of six major characters, all connected by a tragedy.
Losing Layla documentary – 2001
A painfully explicit depiction of grief, for some reviewers the film was seen as too raw, albeit courageous in its exposure of the subject.
The Luminary short film – 2005
In this animated short without dialogue, a moth collector searches for a lost moth and more.
M
Mother and Son – The Funeral television program – 1984
This sitcom shows the fraught relationship between 40-year-old Arthur and his mother Maggie, who is at turns forgetful, quick-witted and manipulative.
My South Polar Expedition spoken word – 1910
Sir Ernest Shackleton tells how the loss of a pony affected his attempt to reach the South Pole in 1908.
P
The Picture Woman short film – 1997
Over a series of seemingly unrelated images, a woman speaks in voice-over of taking a photo of herself every other day.
Q
Queen of Hearts short feature – 2003
Framed by Indigenous relationships to place, Queen of Hearts offers the audience the chance to see the land through the eyes of people to whom the land is of great significance.
R
Raoul Wallenberg: Between the Lines documentary – 1984
Profile of Raoul Wallenberg, an extraordinary humanitarian who disappeared after performing heroic deeds during the Second World War.
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.
S
Shadowland short film – 1988
In Anthony Lucas’s animated student film, humanity evolves in a savage landscape.
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.
Short Cuts – Wheels on Fire television program – 2001
Set in a year 9 media studies class, Short Cuts is about teenagers making films and exploring how the camera can be used to communicate, but also to manipulate and lie.
Small Treasures short film – 1995
In this animated short, a pregnant woman imagines the worst domestic disasters befalling her unborn child.
Soft Fruit feature film – 1999
This comedy, drenched in grief and family conflict, would be a tragedy if it were not so funny and affectionate.
Suzi’s Story documentary – 1987
A mother who has contracted AIDS bravely decides to make a film of the experience.
T
The Tale of Ruby Rose feature film – 1987
In 1933 Ruby Rose leaves her isolated home in the Tasmanian highlands to rediscover her past.
Tombstone Unveiling documentary – 2000
In Torres Strait Islander culture, unveiling the tombstone of the deceased a year after death marks the end of the mourning period.
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.
U
W
Walking on Water feature film – 2002
Friends and family euthanise a young man dying of AIDS and then deal with their grief and guilt.
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.
Wrap Me Up in Paperbark documentary – 1999
At the heart of this documentary is the struggle to reclaim a mother’s remains and return her to the country and people from whom she was taken.
Wrap Me Up With My Stockwhip and Blanket music – 1936
New Zealand-born Tex Morton created an awareness that country and western music could be an Australian form as much as it was an American form.
