Titles tagged with ‘desert’
32 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year
1920s
An AIM Patrol documentary – 1927
This film documented outback life in the 1920s and may have been made to accompany a written report.
1940s
The Golden West documentary – 1940
This film was made by William George Alma, a member of the Victorian Amateur Cine Society who was predominantly a magician and collector of material about magic.
The Rats of Tobruk feature film – 1944
The Rats of Tobruk may not be Charles Chauvel’s best movie, but it deserves serious consideration as his best movie about war.
1950s
The Back of Beyond documentary – 1954
Battling heat, dust and flood, Tom Kruse delivers mail, stores and supplies along the 517 kilometre Birdsville Track in central Australia.
1960s
Journey Out of Darkness feature film – 1967
In 1901 Constable Peterson arrives in Central Australia to arrest an Arrernte man who has committed a ritual killing.
1970s
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.
The Last of the Knucklemen feature film – 1979
Near the remote town of Andamooka a group of opal miners work for Tarzan, a tough foreman known as ‘the last of the knucklemen’ for his fighting abilities.
1980s
Peach’s Explorers – East to West television program – 1984
Bill Peach loves Australian history and tells us explorers’ stories by using their words, cleverly recreated from diaries and notebooks, and journeying through the same arid interior.
Peach’s Explorers – South to North television program – 1984
There’s a strong sense that each of these men is very much of his time, imbued with a duty to expand knowledge and a ruthless craving for fame and fortune.
Burke & Wills feature film – 1985
The epic and tragic story of the first expedition to cross Australia from south to north, in 1860–61.
Desert Walker: Gulf to Gulf documentary – 1985
The Flying Doctor base helped Denis Bartell when he became the first white man to walk across Australia from north to south.
Central Australia: The Eighth Wonder television program – 1989
Bushie explorer Ted Egan tours places of wonder in Central Australia.
Nature of Australia – A Separate Creation television program – 1989
This first episode of the most expensive wildlife program ever made in Australia boasts magnificent photography and a great script.
Nature of Australia – The Sunburnt Country television program – 1989
At the time this series was made, the program makers felt they were showing Australian flora and fauna to many Australians for the first time.
1990s
Tim Storrier, ‘Lighting Fires’ documentary – 1993
Painter Tim Storrier journeys to the outback accompanied by his father and his son, and talks about his love of the desert and bush upbringing.
Epsilon feature film – 1995
Rolf de Heer combines extraordinary time lapse photography with a drama that argues that the human race is killing the planet.
Masterpiece Special – Robyn Davidson television program – 1996
Masterpiece specials rely on the strength of the interviews, which can hold an audience especially if the interviewer is someone of the calibre of Andrea Stretton.
Kiss or Kill feature film – 1997
This Australian film stood out from others of the time because of its fresh mixture of genre thrills, narrative intrigue and black humour.
The Last of the Nomads documentary – 1997
A feature-length documentary about an expedition to find the last suriving nomadic couple, who broke tribal marriage laws and fled into the Gibson desert.
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.
2000s
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.
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.
Japanese Story feature film – 2003
An unexpected plot development in the middle of Japanese Story left audiences stunned and disbelieving — and occasionally hostile.
Letters to Ali documentary – 2004
One family’s willingness to embrace 15-year-old Ali stands in contrast to the media’s portrayal of asylum seekers as ‘terrorists’ or ‘people smugglers’.
Warren H Williams, the stories, the songs documentary – 2004
Inspired by his musical family, Arrernte musician Warren H Williams became a singer-songwriter himself.
Black and Dusty documentary – 2005
This is a film for those addicted to speed and dust. Filmmaker Warwick Thornton is one of the Indigenous participants in the 2005 Finke Desert Race from Alice Springs.
Plains Empty short film – 2005
Plains Empty functions as a metaphor for the whole Australian landscape, where the living characters are beset by the spirits of the past, and at no time is the past truly absent.
Bungalung: A Dreaming of Cannibals documentary – 2007
A dramatised documentary about an ancient ghost story told by two Anmatjere elders to a group of children.
Cactus feature film – 2007
Cactus, while full of thrills and suspense, gradually reveals a more humanistic agenda as it employs genre conventions to explore notions of masculinity, class and power.
Children of the Silk Road feature film – 2007
A love story set against the backdrop of the Japanese occupation of China prior to the Second World War.
Double Trouble – Episode 7 television program – 2007
Double Trouble has entertaining and likeable characters and boasts an experienced cast. It also wonderfully captures an Indigenous sensibility and humour.
Lucky Miles feature film – 2007
Few Australian films have dealt with illegal immigration and refugees. Lucky Miles does so through comedy, but without losing its sense of compassion.
