Titles tagged with ‘immigration’
47 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year
1940s
City in the Sun documentary – 1946
Post-war austerity is nowhere to be seen in this romanticised look at the streets of Sydney in the summer of 1946.
Land Short of People documentary – 1947
A narrative of white settlement pioneering against the odds – the tyranny of distance, the harsh conditions, and the massive landscapes.
1950s
Snowy Hydro – The Snowy Mountains Scheme sponsored film – 1952
Interesting as an early document on the Snowy Hydro scheme, it’s an unabashed celebration of the entire endeavour, depicting it as a model of postwar reconstruction.
On Stream sponsored film – 1954
On Stream romanticises the achievements in building an oil refinery and emphasises the benefits for Geelong, its residents and the Australian nation.
Snowy Hydro – The Snowy Flows Inland sponsored film – 1954
Most of the Snowy Hydro productions followed the format and style of this film – a conventional instructional documentary complete with authoritative voice-over.
Snowy Hydro – Conservation in the Snowy Mountains sponsored film – 1955
This film traces the history of soil erosion in the Snowy Mountains and demonstrates the approach taken by the Snowy Mountains Scheme to counteract the problem.
Snowy Hydro – Conquest of the Rivers sponsored film – 1957
This is essentially a recruitment film, targeting the types of workers whose adaptability and skills base would well serve the Snowy Hydro scheme’s requirements.
1960s
Dangerous Immigrant documentary – 1960
This CSIRO documentary alerts the general public to the dangers of the European house borer.
A World for Children documentary – c1962
Siblings Maret, Juri and Yanni convey the experience of European immigrant children arriving at the Bonegilla Migrant Reception Centre in Victoria.
Snowy Hydro – Sound and Safe sponsored film – 1963
Produced in 1963, this safety film focuses on 'drill and blast’ tunnelling on the Snowy Mountains Scheme in an effort to save lives and prevent injury.
They’re a Weird Mob feature film – 1966
An Italian sports journalist arrives in Australia to find his cousin’s new magazine for migrant Italians has folded. He soon gets a job as a builder’s labourer, learns to talk and drink like an Australian, and falls in love with an Australian girl.
1970s
Letters From Poland short film – 1978
While the plight of migrant women was a pillar issue for 1970s and 1980s Australian feminism, this film’s approach to the issue is very much focused on the individual.
Raccolta D’Inverno, Winter’s Harvest documentary – 1979
The government has now outlawed this traditional Italian community event of slaughtering and butchering a pig and feasting on it.
1980s
Bitter Herbs and Honey documentary – 1981
While this study of Jews in Carlton re-enacts how Jewish boys were bullied, it is also a celebration of family and citizenship.
Some of Many: Germans in Australia documentary – 1983
An Australian-based German filmmaker traces the changing fortunes of German immigrants to Australia from the first fleet to the late 1980s.
Yanks Down Under documentary – 1983
This documentary profiles Americans in the entertainment business, including a 16-year-old Marcia Hines brought to Australia by the musical Hair.
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.
D-Generation – Series 1 Episode 1 television program – 1985
While the D-Generation credits read like a who’s who of two decades’ worth of Australian comedy, at the time these comedians were unknowns.
The Dunera Boys – Episode 2 television program – 1985
German Jews who had fled to Britain to escape Nazi persecution were then interned as 'enemy aliens’ in Australia and became known as the 'Dunera boys’.
The Dunera Boys – Episode 3 television program – 1985
Just who or what is a Jew is an important theme of this series. Private Dunstan’s response shows how sheltered Australia was from the maelstrom of Europe.
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.
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 – 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.
1990s
Aya feature film – 1990
The story of a Japanese-Australian marriage in the aftermath of the Second World War.
The Leaving of Liverpool television program – 1992
Lily and Bert are transported from an orphanage in England to Australia, where their childhoods are stolen from them in so-called 'centres of care’.
Romper Stomper feature film – 1992
Romper Stomper makes viewers participants, forcing them to confront how they feel about violence as entertainment.
The Joys of the Women documentary – 1993
As a teenager, singer–songwriter Kavisha Mazzella rejected her Italian heritage, but now wants to keep a dying music tradition alive by recording and performing it.
Billal documentary – 1996
Skilled documentarian, Tom Zubrycki, set out to make a film about young Lebanese-Australians in Sydney but had to change tack.
Floating Life feature film – 1996
Being a new migrant is portrayed with amazing freshness, perhaps because the film’s key creators had not been in Australia for long.
Colour Bars documentary – 1997
Director Mahmoud Yekta’s Colour Bars was nominated for Best Documentary at the 1997 Australian Film Institute Awards.
The Sound of One Hand Clapping feature film – 1997
Sonja Buloh returns to Hobart 20 years after leaving her violent father, Bojan. Their reunion ignites painful memories of shattered family life.
Temple on the Hill documentary – 1997
Social and cultural changes in an Indian community in NSW, where traditional arranged marriages are challenged by contemporary Australian influences.
Reunion documentary – 1998
A bio-documentary of filmmaker Lisa Wang revealing her growing awareness of her 'Chinese-ness’ in 1950s Australia.
Driving Home short film – 1999
In this animated short film, a young Korean immigrant struggles to define her cultural identity.
2000s
Always a Visitor documentary – 2000
The Turkish-Australian Muslim Kuranda Seyit remembers what it was like to be a migrant at school, caught between two cultures.
Delivery Day short film – 2000
A girl is caught between competing demands of family and school. Uncle Le needs help in his garment shop but it’s parent-teacher night.
In Limbo documentary – 2002
Australian lawyer Hoi Trinh attempts to secure citizenship for 2,000 Vietnamese 'boat people’. Thirty-seven families are resettled, the rest remain in limbo.
Mother Tongue short film – 2002
Set in Korea in 1976, this haunting film conveys how a young girl’s relationship with her parents is altered by the loss of her mother tongue.
Seeking Asylum documentary – 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.
Molly and Mobarak documentary – 2003
The emotional journey of a young Hazara refugee from Afghanistan who struggles to adjust to life in regional NSW.
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’.
Compass – Embracing the Enemy television program – 2005
Turkish immigrants in the 1970s found they were forbidden to march with the Australians on Anzac Day.
The Home Song Stories feature film – 2007
The film succeeds on the basis of uniformly superb performances. Joan Chen’s Rose is a tour de force, perhaps the best role of an already distinguished international career.
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.
Mao’s Last Dancer feature film – 2009
A Chinese peasant boy grows up to become a bright star of the United States ballet world.
2010s
Go Back to Where You Came From – Series 1 television program – 2011
An immersive documentary in which six Australians test their prejudices by tracing in reverse the journeys taken by refugees to Australia.
