The Man from Kangaroo (1919) ()
Synopsis:
Former athlete John Harland (Snowy Baker) is a parson on probation in a small Australian country town. When word spreads that he has been teaching local children how to box, outraged parents demand that he is removed from office. Harland leaves for Sydney, abandoning his girlfriend Muriel Hammond (Brownie Vernon) since he is too ashamed to tell her of his dismissal. In the city Harland rescues a Mr Greythorn from a mugging. Greythorn arranges for Harland to be posted to the town of Kalmaroo, where a gang led by Jack Braggan (Wilfred Lucas) has forbidden the local community to hold church services.
Harland is prepared to meet Braggan’s violence with violence but abstains when he finds Muriel among the Kalmaroo congregation. Snubbed by Muriel, Harland resigns from the ministry and becomes a farmhand. When Braggan kidnaps Muriel to force her into marrying her guardian (Charles Villiers), Harland and a posse chase the coach containing Muriel and Braggan. Harland frees Muriel, and Braggan is shot by a posse member. A closing title says of Harland and Muriel, 'So they were married’.
Sunshine Sally (1922) ()
Synopsis:
Sally (Yvonne Pavis) resigns from her job at a laundry after supporting her friend Tottie (Joy Revelle), who has been sacked. She rejects marriage proposals from Spud Murphy (John Cosgrove) and Skinny Smith (Dinks Paterson), who embark on a boxing match at Sydney Stadium to resolve what each of them sees as their continued right to Sally. Spud and Skinny make up over a drinking session but are imprisoned for being drunk, disorderly and assaulting police.
After being rescued from a near-drowning, Sally falls in love with her rescuer, Basil Stanton (Lionel Lunn), stepson of wealthy Potts Point parents, Constance and James Stanton (Sheila Moore, Mervyn Barrington). Sally’s stepmother Katie Smith (Mrs Hutton) reveals that she and her husband had been involved in the infant Sally’s kidnapping from the Stantons. With Sally’s marriage imminent, Skinny marries Tottie, while the grog-loving Spud marries and is reformed by a Salvation Army woman he has met at the prison gate.
Land Bilong Islanders (1989) ()
Synopsis:
Land Bilong Islanders covers the Supreme Court of Queensland proceedings in which Justice Moynihan considered issues of fact in the Mabo v Queensland case, ahead of the High Court of Australia’s 1992 decision. The court enquires into the laws and customs that govern the Murray Island peoples’ land boundaries and ownership of property, and travels to Murray Island to visit sites of significance to the case.
After four months of hearings, the Supreme Court of Queensland adjourns. The film concludes with the statement, ’Once Justice Moynihan determines the facts of the case the High Court of Australia will consider whether [Murray Island plaintiffs] James Rice, Father Dave Passi and Eddie Mabo are the legal owners of land on Murray Island’.
The Safe House (2006) ()
Synopsis:
In the summer of 1954, Lee Whitmore (voiced as a child by Alycia Debnam-Carey and as an adult by Noni Hazlehurst) and her friends pass the time playing in a make-shift children’s swimming pool in the backyard and gazing out over the fence. The news is splattered with images of Mrs Petrov, the wife of a Russian secretary seeking asylum in Australia. So when a stranger mysteriously moves in with Lee’s elderly neighbour, her child’s imagination runs amok as she and her friends try to make sense of it all.
Mad Bastards (2011) ()
Synopsis:
After visiting his brother in prison, TJ (Dean Daley-Jones) returns to the Kimberley region of Western Australia to try and reconnect with his teenage son, Bullet (Lucas Yeeda), who has been in trouble with the law. Local policeman Texas (Greg Tait), who is also Bullet’s grandfather, sends him and other wayward boys to a to a diversionary culture camp run by a local elder and designed to reorientate the boys towards their cultural heritage.
TJ works hard to forge a meaningful relationship with his son but slips back into old angry patterns of behaviour and lashes out at Nella (Ngaire Pigram), Bullet’s mum. Nella’s father, Texas, drives TJ out to the floodplains, where the two men settle their grievance physically. Afterward Texas accepts TJ as part of his family and talks to the local men’s group about his grandson and son-in-law.
Black Robe (1991) ()
Synopsis:
In 1634, French Jesuit priest Father Laforgue (Lothaire Bluteau) leaves the fledgling colonial settlement of Quebec in Canada via canoe to join fellow missionaries who have settled up river with the Huron tribe. Accompanying Laforgue is a young Frenchman, Daniel (Aden Young), and, to protect them, a party of Algonquin led by the proud Chomina (August Schellenberg).
The Algonquin have formed a seemingly friendly relationship with the white settlers based on trade, but underlying tensions quickly rise to the fore as the party travels up river. After consulting a shaman from a group of Montagnais tribesmen, the Algonquin abandon Laforgue, quickly followed by Daniel, who’s fallen for Chomina’s daughter, Annuka (Sandrine Holt).
The two parties reconcile but it’s not long before they encounter a war-like party of Iroquois and Laforgue’s mission looks increasingly doomed. As he confronts the possibility of imminent death, the Jesuit begins to question his faith.
Blackbuster (2012) ()
Synopsis:
Rowdy punters at a kooky Queensland pub stir an unusual awakening in pirated-DVD dealer Kainen (Jeremy Ambrum). As his crush grows for Tanika (Naomi Bowly), the daughter of the publican (Martin Sacks), his uncontrollable imagination takes us on a genre-bending roller-coaster fantasy ride.
Rare Chicken Rescue (2008) ()
Synopsis:
Queensland chicken breeder Mark Tully struggles with depression and anxiety but his love of chickens has given him back his life. Rare Chicken Rescue is an observational documentary that follows Mark on his mission to save rare breeds of chicken before they become extinct. His search covers almost 10,000 kilometres, and five Australian states, as he tracks down rare heritage breeds.
Throughout the journey Mark meets up with a dying breed of country Australia men and women who, like Mark, love their chooks. On the road Mark reveals how depression almost ruined his life. Told through interviews with Mark, his parents, and the people he meets, the documentary takes an affectionate look at a shared passion that is helping Mark’s recovery.
Sadness (1999) ()
Synopsis:
The documentary Sadness is based on a theatrical performance developed by the award-winning Australian photographer William Yang. Writer-director Tony Ayres developed it into a film with Yang as the central character. Yang is covering two main stories linked through the experience of loss and death. His photographs of gay friends and lovers portray their journey from leading healthy full lives to succumbing to the devastating symptoms of AIDS. The pictorial record of these harrowing changes is intercut with Yang’s own mission to uncover the truth behind a family murder.
Who Killed Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler? (2006) ()
Synopsis:
Who Killed Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler retraces the investigation into the deaths of brilliant CSIRO scientist Dr Bogle and his lover, Mrs Margaret Chandler, whose bodies were found beside the Lane Cove River, NSW in 1963. Suspicion fell on Margaret’s husband Geoffrey Chandler but neither the detectives, nor the forensic team, were ever able to make an arrest. A coronial inquest collapsed with no findings.
For 40 years their deaths remained one of the world’s greatest forensic mysteries until filmmaker Peter Butt made this documentary. Through painstaking research and dramatic storytelling, Butt follows the twists and turns of the investigation into the deaths, both before the bodies were found and after. Combining interviews with suspects, detectives, toxicologists and journalists with a narration by Hugo Weaving, the documentary recreates the investigation surrounding their deaths. Finally the film presents its own answer to the mystery of who killed Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler.
Abortion, Corruption and Cops: The Bertram Wainer Story (2005) ()
Synopsis:
Based on Bertram Wainer’s own book, It Isn’t Nice (1972, Alpha Books), the documentary Abortion, Corruption and Cops: The Bertram Wainer Story recounts the 1960s battle for legal abortions in Australia. In 1967 Dr Wainer is called to treat a young woman suffering from a botched 'backyard abortion’. Abortion at the time is illegal and punishable by up to 15 years in jail. Doctors who are prepared to perform abortions illegally pay protection money to the police, so as not to be prosecuted, making the procedure expensive.
Wainer and fellow crusader Peggy Berman are determined to change the law. In the process they uncover a web of corruption involving highly-paid doctors, backyard abortionists, high-ranking police and power-broking politicians. Their fight to make abortions accessible, affordable and safe leads to attempts against Wainer’s life and the first major public inquiry into a state police force.
Honeybee Blues (2009) ()
Synopsis:
Australian bee pathologist Dr Denis Anderson is on a quest to save the honeybee from the devastating Varroa destructor mite. Honeybee Blues follows Anderson across Australia, Papua New Guinea and the USA revealing just how dire the plight of the honeybee is, how it reached that point, and what steps are being made to save them.
The Cheaters (sound version) (1931) ()
Synopsis:
Bill Marsh (Arthur Greenaway) serves a 20-year prison sentence for embezzling from businessman John Travers (John Faulkner). On his release Marsh forms a criminal organisation whose members include his daughter Paula Marsh (Isabel McDonagh billed as 'Marie Lorraine’), and whose activities include stealing from Travers’ jewellery store. When Marsh sends Paula to rob wealthy guests at a country hotel, she meets and falls in love with Travers’ adopted son, Lee (Josef Bambach). Having developed a conscience about her life of crime, Paula considers herself undeserving of Lee and is determined to disappear from his life.
Marsh asks Paula to conduct one final theft, but unknown to her the target is again John Travers. As Paula tries breaking into Travers’ safe, Lee and his father confront her, and she is sent to prison. Appalled at this turn of events, Marsh confesses to John Travers that Paula is Travers’ daughter, stolen as a baby by Marsh’s agents. Just as police break into his hideaway, Marsh suicides. Travers arranges for Paula’s release, clearing the way for Paula and Lee to marry.
Rats in the Ranks (1996) ()
Synopsis:
In fly-on-the-wall style, Rats in the Ranks exposes the machinations behind the political process as Leichhardt Mayor Larry Hand tries to get the numbers to win his fourth term as mayor. As the main character, Hand is driven, charismatic and determined to keep his mayoral robes. The real ‘rats’ however are members of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) caucus who are in conflict. They can’t decide on who should be the candidate to go up against Hand. If they can agree, they have the numbers to defeat him. Hand himself is only too aware of this. ALP head office suggests that if they can’t decide then they should pick the candidate out of a hat. But it’s not that easy.
Rats in the Ranks follows Hand as he plays the numbers game, manipulating the votes in his favour, while his challengers for the number one job tear themselves apart trying to work out a way to beat him. The film is not only a study of excruciating political process but a drama of Shakespearian proportions, both funny and tragic in equal measure.
Into the Shadows (2009) ()
Synopsis:
This independent documentary examines problems facing the Australian film industry in the fast-changing conditions of the early 21st century. At the point the film was made, independent cinemas were closing and Australian films routinely falling over at the local box office. Even the occasional successes were generally modest in scale compared to the big hits of the 1990s such as [[Strictly Ballroom]] (1992).
After setting the context with a potted history of Australian filmmaking and the struggles faced by filmmakers in earlier decades, the film examines the contemporary structure of film distribution and exhibition in Australia. Are filmmakers and funding bureaucrats producing too many films that audiences don’t want to see? Another problem is successful local filmmakers leaving Australia to work overseas. Into the Shadows concludes with two case studies of low-cost digital filmmaking:[[Kenny]] (2006) and [[The Jammed]] (2007).
Mao's Last Dancer (2009) ()
Synopsis:
Li Cunxin (Wen Bin Huang), the son of Chinese peasants, is picked at a young age for training in a provincial ballet school in 1972 during Chairman Mao’s Cultural Revolution. While later training in an elite institution in Beijing, the teenage Li (Chengwu Guo) is inspired by classical Russian ballet thanks to the guidance of an open-minded teacher later arrested for being a ’counter-revolutionary’.
Li (played as an adult by Chi Cao) wins a position as a visiting student with the Houston Ballet, but initially struggles to fit into American society. Under the wing of the ballet’s head, Ben Stevenson (Bruce Greenwood), his skill as a ballet dancer flourishes and he starts to find the freedom of Western democracy agreeing with him. His decision to marry a young American ballerina named Liz (Amanda Schull) and defect to the US triggers a diplomatic confrontation between China and the United States and a personal crisis among some of those close to him. How will Li ever be reunited with his beloved parents?
The Cheaters (silent) (1929) ()
Synopsis:
Bill Marsh (Arthur Greenaway) serves a 20-year prison sentence for embezzling from businessman John Travers (John Faulkner). On his release Marsh forms a criminal organisation whose members include his daughter Paula Marsh (Isabel McDonagh billed as 'Marie Lorraine’), and whose activities include stealing from Travers’ jewellery store. When Marsh sends Paula to rob wealthy guests at a country hotel, she meets and falls in love with Travers’ adopted son, Lee (Josef Bambach). Having developed a conscience about her life of crime, Paula considers herself undeserving of Lee and is determined to disappear from his life.
Marsh asks Paula to conduct one final theft, but unknown to her the target is again John Travers. As Paula tries breaking into Travers’ safe, Lee and his father confront her, and she is sent to prison. Appalled at this turn of events, Marsh confesses to John Travers that Paula is Travers’ daughter, stolen as a baby by Marsh’s agents. Just as police break into his hideaway, Marsh suicides. Travers arranges for Paula’s release, clearing the way for Paula and Lee to marry.
The Far Paradise (1928) ()
Synopsis:
Cherry Carson (Isabel McDonagh billed as 'Marie Lorraine’), who has spent years overseas, is on her way home when she meets and is attracted to Peter Lawton (Paul Longuet), son of attorney-general Howard Lawton (John Faulkner). While Peter’s father welcomes him home, Cherry receives no such welcome from her father, James Carson (Gaston Mervale), whose shady business deals are being investigated by the attorney-general.
After Cherry and Peter meet again at a masked ball, Carson orders his daughter to see no more of Peter. Becoming destitute and alcoholic, Carson seeks refuge with his daughter on a remote rural farm. Peter tracks them down and tells Cherry about the full extent of Carson’s criminal activities. Cherry confronts her father, who dies of a heart attack. Soon afterward Peter and Cherry are married.
Those Who Love (1926) ()
Synopsis:
Sir James Manton (Robert Purdie), a wealthy society figure, bribes Bébé Dorée (Sylvia Newland), a female dancer, to vanish from the life of his son Barry (William Carter). Abandoning his parents and their money, Barry becomes a wharf labourer and in a cabaret one night meets another dancer, Lola Quayle (Isabel McDonagh billed as 'Marie Lorraine’). The cabaret boss (‘Big’ Bill Wilson) tries to make a pass at Lola, causing Barry to attack him and Lola to lose her job. Barry offers Lola a room, and the two soon marry. When Sir James pleads for Barry to return to his former life, Lola runs away to avoid the risk of Barry losing his inheritance. Embittered by the separation, Barry again rejects his parents’ money and status.
Years later Lola is working as a hospital nurse when Barry is admitted following a wharf accident. Lola tries approaching Barry’s parents to ask them to pay for Barry’s specialist treatment, but Sir James refuses to see her. Sir James’ attitude softens when he meets and is charmed by Peter (Jackie Williamson), the child Lola has had by Barry. The family are reunited after Sir James and his wife (Kate Trefle) recognise the strength of the love between Barry and Lola.
Snowtown (2010) ()
Synopsis:
Snowtown is an account of the infamous Snowtown, or Bodies in the Barrels, murders, named after the discovery of eight bodies in an empty bank vault in the South Australian town of Snowtown in May 1999. Two more bodies were found in a backyard in Adelaide’s Salisbury North a few days later. Four men were convicted of committing or assisting in the murders: ringleader John Bunting, Robert Wagner, Mark Haydon and Jamie Vlassakis. The last-named became the Crown’s main witness.
The film begins with Vlassakis (Lucas Pittaway) and his half-brother living with their mother, Elizabeth (Louise Harris), in a poor Adelaide suburb. Vlassakis and his brother are victims of a neighbouring paedophile when Bunting appears on the scene. A warm, charismatic and friendly character, he seems to relish the chance to become a new father figure to Vlassakis.
But gradually a far darker side emerges, as Bunting relishes holding forth on what he would do to a paedophile if he caught one. Over time he manipulates the family and the motley group of friends who gather at their home into a frenzy of hate against sex offenders. Vlassakis begins to discover the horrible truth about what Bunting and his associates are up to and is taken into their confidence. Though disturbed by what he discovers, the teenager is scared for his own safety and reluctantly becomes an accomplice to Bunting’s murders.