ABOUT

Tom’s body of work as a producer & director spans 45 years. His personal films are renowned for their distinctive observational story-telling style and closeness to the subjects.

Tom Zubrycki (1946-) is one of the key Australian filmmakers of the last 50 years. His documentaries - as director and producer - reflect the shifting political. social and cultural landscape while remaining committed to social justice, human rights and the ethics of filmmaking.

Tom is the son of a Polish immigrant family who settled in Canberra in 1955. After completing a Bachelor of Science at the ANU he moved to Sydney where he worked as a Science and Maths teacher before enrolling in a masters degree at UNSW in Sociology.

In early 1970’s Tom was a leading participant in the video access movement set up by the Whitlam government before starting work on his first film WATERLOO (1981), an historical account of a battle by residents against redevelopment of their inner Sydney suburb. This was soon followed by KEMIRA - DIARY OF A STRIKE(1984), a day-by-day account of a 16 day underground colliery sit-in strike which led to the storming of Parliament House. and FRIENDS AND ENEMIES (1986),a blow-by-blow account of a landmark industrial dispute in Queensland which saw the emergence of the New Right. In the course of making these films Tom evolved a distinctive engaged observational story-telling style marked by an ability to get close to his subjects.

In the 1990’s he turned his attention to migrant and refugee stories. BILLAL (1995) traced the impact on the life of Lebanese family disrupted by a racially motivated attack. HOMELANDS (1992) told the story of a refugee family torn apart by their conflicting desire to return to their homeland.

After a short stint as commissioning editor at SBS in 1996, Tom returned to filmmaking.  His documentaries include the highly regarded THE DIPLOMAT (2000) about East Timorese independence leader Jose Ramos Horta, MOLLY & MOBARAK (2003) a story of a young Afghan asylum seeker on a temporary visa who finds work in a small country town and falls in love, THE HUNGRY TIDE (2011) about climate change in the Pacific nation of Kiribati, and HOPE ROAD (2017)  the story of a South Sudanese refugee who sets out to build a school back in his home village with a group of dedicated Australian supporters.

As well as making his own films Tom has produced and mentored several early career writer/directors, many of them First Nation. The documentaries include STOLEN GENERATIONS (2000). GULPILLIL - ONE RED BLOOD (2002), MAD MORRO (2009), THE PANTHER WITHIN (2006), TEACH A MAN TO FISH (2018), ABALZE (2021) and KINDRED (2023).

All up Tom has produced and/or directed more than 36 documentaries, several of which have received awards including AACTA’s for Best Documentary (KEMIRA - DIARY OF A STRIKE, and THE DIPLOMAT) and an International Emmy for EXILE IN SARAJEVO. They have also screened in film festivals around the world.

In 2009 Tom was presented with The Cecil Holmes Award for his ongoing career support for directors. In 2010 he received the Stanley Hawes Award in recognition of outstanding contribution to documentary filmmaking in Australia.

Tom has served on the  board of the Australian Directors Guild, ASDACS, Metro Screen, the program committee of OZDOX – the Australian Documentary Forum, and is a member of the Sydney Film Festival Film Advisory Panel. Tom lectured in documentary for 10 years at the University of Technology, Sydney and taught master-classes in documentary for 8 years at Australian Film, Television and Radio School.

In 2022 Tom and colleague John Hughes jointly directed and produced SENSES OF CINEMA - about the history of the filmmaker co-operatives in Sydney and Melbourne, the passionate individuals who moved through them and the powerfully independent films they made. The film, 10 years in production, premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival and won the Critics Circle of Australia prize for Best Documentary.

In 2023 Tom completed 3 films as producer: THE CARNIVAL about a fifth-generation carnival family, the Bells, KINDRED - the story of two best friends navigating the emotional rollercoaster of being Aboriginal and adopted, and MEMORY FILM - A FILMMAKER’S DIARY - an immersive, poetic diary film about transformation and ‘the personal is political’. He is currently in development on new projects.