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Science (1/2)
These independently produced documentaries look at the scientific dimension of social and environmental issues, and at the history of science in Australia. The films feature the views of many scientists who are prominent in their fields.
BACKS TO THE BLAST
1981 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 50 min
Re-release of a landmark documentary about the history of uranium mining in Australia and the two decades of British Atomic Bomb tests in outback South Australia. more
BREATHING LIFE INTO BOODJA
2021 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 48 min
A galvanising portrayal of large-scale environmental achievements being made by community groups, Aboriginal communities and rangers, conservation landholders, farmers and scientists, as they work together to restore and heal land around the Porongurup and Stirling Ranges in south-western Australia. more
CARING FOR THE LAGOON
2011 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 52 min
In the Indian Ocean island of Mayotte, a magnificent lagoon is at the heart of its social, cultural and economic life. The story of the islanders' efforts to protect their lagoon offers a microcosm of the challenges facing sensitive ecological systems world-wide. more
DRIVEN TO DIFFRACTION
2009 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 55 min
The remarkable story of William Henry Bragg and his son William Lawrence Bragg, two shy men who joined the ranks of the most important scientists of the twentieth century. "Ideally suited to whet the scientific appetites of teenagers" - Dr Michael Kindler, Principal, Stromlo High School, ACT more
ETCHED IN BONE
2018 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 73 min
When the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC agrees to repatriate stolen human bones from northern Australia, an Aboriginal elder creates a ceremony that restores his ancestors' spirits to their homeland. more
FINAL INSULT
1997 (PG) 55 min
A challenging film about people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities - a powerful exploration of the human reaction to the accumulated chemical pollutants in our environment. more
FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE
1992 (PG) 73 min
A portrait of Professor Fred Hollows whose eye health programs in Eritrea, Nepal and outback Australia offer a model for Third World countries where millions suffer from curable blindness. A bold, wry, intimate and ultimately very moving tribute to an extraordinary life more
INERTIA TRAP, THE
2011 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 45 min
Packed with information, THE INERTIA TRAP is a rich compendium of scientific insights on the subject of the effect of climate change on the world's oceans. Includes EXTRAS - 88 minutes of extended interviews about the science of climate change. more
MARATUS
2016 (M) 30 min
A film about a lost spider and the power of "citizen science". An enthusiastic "citizen scientist" bushwalking in the Namadgi National Park near Canberra stumbles across a tiny, exquisite spider, hitherto unknown to science. Later, when the significance of his find becomes known, the search begins to find the spider... more
MESSAGE FROM MUNGO
2014 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 70 min
WINNER! UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATION OF VICTORIA MEDIA AWARDS in the Category of "Promotion of Indigenous Recognition". The story of the interaction between Scientists and the Custodians of Indigenous Heritage at Lake Mungo, one of the world's richest archaeological sites. more
MICROBES TO MACROBES: The Story of Frank Fenner
2011 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 63 min
Frank Fenner was one of Australia's greatest scientists. He helped save Australia's troops from malaria in World War II; charted the course of myxomatosis as it decimated Australia's feral rabbit population; was one of the leading figures in the global campaign which eliminated smallpox; and was a pioneering environmentalist. more
MIDWIVES, LULLABIES AND MOTHER EARTH
1993 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 53 min
Pioneer advocate of natural childbirth, Michel Odent is a French doctor who believes that separating the mother and baby at birth has a profound significance for them both and for society as a whole. Odent believes that "if we can transform the birth, we can transform the world". more
MILLION ACRES A YEAR, A
2002 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 52 min
The devastating story of an ecological disaster: the epic history of post-war agricultural development in Western Australia and the personal journeys of a rural vanguard who came to acknowledge that current forms of agriculture were not sustainable. The re-release of a remarkable documentary from 2002, still powerfully... more
MORE THAN A FISH KILL
2024 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 38 min
Two beloved rivers and more than 30 million dead fish bring artists, scientists and First Nations custodians together to turn ecological disasters into a journey of cultural healing. more
NGANGKARI (NIDF series 5)
2002 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 26 min
The role of Ngangkari, Traditional Healer, still plays a vital role in the health and well-being of the Anangu people of Central Australia. Yet only two Ngangkari are employed in full-time positions. This film introduces these two renowned Ngangkari specialists. more
OUR BOTANICAL BIOSPHERE
1990 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 240 min
This pioneering series of short documentaries, first released as UNDER SOUTHERN SKIES in 1990, is even more relevant today: there is now an ever-increasing urgency for us all to be informed about science, to liberate us from a dependence on politicians and corporations. more
PROFESSOR WILL STEFFEN: Lecture on Climate Change
2011 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 59 min
Climate change is real and presents grave dangers for societies globally. This presentation by Professor Will Steffen, Executive Director of the ANU Climate Change Institute, given at the Australian Academy of Science in Canberra on 10 March 2010, provides an easy to understand and comprehensive overview of the climate... more
SHARK TRACKER
2003 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 47 min
A spectacular voyage of discovery with a team of marine biologists, catching and tagging Tiger Sharks in the Coral Sea, northeast of Queensland. The team is led by scientist and underwater photographer, Richard Fitzpatrick. more
SHOCK ROOM
2016 (M) 72 min
In the early 1960s American psychologist Stanley Milgram ran a series of controversial experiments on obedience. An authority orders you to inflict painful shocks on another person. Most us will obey, claimed Milgram. But will we? more
TOTEM & ORE
2019 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 98 min
In Australia, British atomic bomb testing ran from 1953 to 1963 at Emu Field and Maralinga in South Australia. Indigenous communities had to live with the impact of these tests – testing that infected many with radioactive fallout. more