MY REMBETIKA BLUES
Rembetika music or the Greek blues is a music of the streets and a music of refugees. In this essay style documentary filmmaker Mary Zournazi explores the heart and soul of Rembetika music through peoples’ stories of love, loss and belonging, as well as her own. (Producer: Tom Zubrycki)
ABLAZE
Opera singer Tiriki Onus sets out to uncover the mystery surrounding the life of his Indigenous grandfather, William Bill Onus – charismatic Aboriginal cultural leader, entrepreneur, theatre impresario and, probably, the first Indigenous filmmaker. (Directors: Alec Morgan and Tiriki Onus, Producer: Tom Zubrycki)
THE WEATHER DIARIES
Sydney filmmaker Kathy Drayton muses on what the future holds for her musician daughter amidst the threats of climate change and mass extinction. (Producer: Tom Zubrycki)
UNDERMINED -TALES FROM THE KIMBERLEY
Australia’s vast and unspoiled Kimberley region is under threat, with mining, pastoralism and irrigated agriculture driving an unprecedented land grab. What will be left of over 200 remote Aboriginal communities?
TEACH A MAN TO FISH
Teach a Man to Fish is a warts-and-all autobiographical, lyrical, cinematic and comedic documentary, following Grant Saunders emotional journey from Aboriginal filmmaker, writer and musician to fisherman.
FAIR GAME
A profile of controversial football player, Heritier Lumumba, whose journey to understand his black identity collides with an AFL struggling with race issues. Through exclusive access, FAIR GAME uncovers the personal and professional life of an extraordinary Australian - a man who at the top of his game dares to hold a mirror to a nation that doesn’t like what it sees.
DOGS OF DEMOCRACY
Filmmaker Mary Zournazi explores life on the streets of Athens through the eyes its stray dogs and the people who look after them. The documentary is about how Greece have become the ‘stray dogs of Europe’, and how the dogs have become a symbol of hope for the people and for the anti-austerity movement. This is a universal story about love and loyalty and what we might learn from animals
THE PANTHER WITHIN
Joe Murray, a member of the stolen generation, was a chameleon. In his early years Joe was a part of a boxing tent troupe and was known as the ‘Black Panther’ in the ring because of his incredible speed and lightning punches. This is a journey of discovery as the filmmaker, his grandson, unravels the background to his family identity.
BIG BOSS
Big Boss documents the life story of Baymarrwangga, from her time as a young girl on the island, the coming of the mission in 1922, to being photographed by Donald Thomson in 1937, and to her current role as custodian and initiator of the Crocodile Rangers Program and the Yan-nhangu Dictionary project.
LIGHT FROM THE SHADOWS
An intimate and informative insight into influential and ground-breaking Australian Indigenous artist Danny Eastwood who has been working in the Blacktown community in Sydney for over 30 years.
THE SUNNYBOY
Frontman Jeremy Oxley of the Australian band the Sunnyboys has had a 30-year battle with schizophrenia. A meditation on a condition often stigmatised and misunderstood, The Sunnyboy buries below the surface of Jeremy’s public identity to explore his own reality. The film follows Jeremy as he tentatively unpicks his confused thoughts and feelings about the past with his brother Peter. From his struggle with the physical effects of years spent self-medicating to his hopeful contemplation of a married future and a daring return to the stage,
STOLEN
Filmmakers Violeta Ayala and Dan Fallshaw travel to North Africa intending to make one film only to discover a hidden truth that takes them on a journey they could never have imagined.
The film follows the story of a Saharawi refugee separated from her mother since she was a toddler and reunited through a UN family reunion program. The reunion reveals a secret and the film quickly spirals into another world.
INTERVENTION - KATHERINE NT.
A record of the impact of the first year of The Emergency Intervention in the Northern Territory region of Katherine and the surrounding communities of Beswick, Barunga, Eva Valley and Binjari. The documentary was shot over a period of 8-months and features the lives of ordinary community residents as they experience the Intervention first hand, as well as the various government and business workers who came together to implement it.
WANJA
A documentary about ‘The Block’, through the eyes of Auntie Barb and the life of Wanja her blue heeler dog, recently deceased. The Block’s many and varied stories of Wanja reflect on the issues affecting this indigenous community in the heart of Sydney.
The stories of Wanja tell us how the tension between the community and police escalated, why the housing has continued to deteriorate and largely been demolished, and why the strength of the community - it’s elders, moved on.
THE PRODIGAL SON
Prodigal Son is the moving story of a traditional Macedonian family’s ‘dilemma’ with having a queer son, now in his 40’s.
When Ted came out gay to his parents, his mother Ljubica insisted it was a passing phase, but his father Alexo went further and refused to speak to him. Fifteen years passed, with no communication between father and son. But now that serious illness has struck Alexo, his guard has begun to drop. Ted knows that this is his only chance to bring himself back into the family again. Alexo’s emotional vulnerability and physical deterioration has forced him to come to the realisation that time for him could be running out.
MAD MORRO
Debbie Morris has waited 13 years for her family to finally be reunited. Her son James has been behind bars for his entire adult life. In prison he has become a hardened survivor of the system, strong of mind and quick with his fists - earning himself the nickname Mad Morro.
James aim is to return to some type of normal life – a career, a good woman, a family of his own, and to find peace. However he knows no other life aside from that behind bars. Mad Morro’s search sees attempted love, a battle with his own personal demons, and both the help and hindrance of his own family.
GULPILIL - One Red Blood
Gulpilil - One Red Blood is a portrait of a unique and fascinating Australian actor. David Gulpilil lives a spartan and demanding life in tribal Arnhem land. The film shows David at home in Ramingining in Australia’s Northern Territory and in his other life as a respected film actor.
MAKING VENUS
Two cousins Jason and Julian decide it's time to change their lives and make a feature film The Venus Factory.
Making Venus documents their journey through pre-production, trouble with the unions, a script being rewritten only days before the shoot, and escalating costs. One disaster follows another. Creditors swarm in wanting their pound of flesh. Will the producers be able to attract a buyer for the film before it's too late?
DR. JAZZ
A Documentary about contemporary jazz in Sydney filtered through the personal perspective of the film’s director David Perry. It featured live performances from Bernie McGann Trio, Mike Nock Quartet and Clarion Fracture Zone - all recorded at the Strawberry Hills Hotel in Surry Hills. The film is also a meditation about jazz, art, and filmmaking.
WHITEYS LIKE US
An observational account of what happens when 15 white Australian strangers undertake a course of 8 weekly meetings to discuss, argue and hopefully learn about Aboriginal reconciliation. What goes on in a bland high school class room represents a fascinating microcosm of how white Australians are dealing (or not dealing) with the country’s indigenous past and present.