First Nations (7/14)

Films about the First Nations peoples of Australia and the Torres Strait Islands, including many films by First Nations filmmakers. Stories range across issues relating to identity and the diversity of histories and cultures both before and after the arrival of Captain Cook, including the "Stolen Generations," art, anthropology, archaeology and politics,

LANGUAGE OF LIGHT, THE

2023 (M) 171 min

Intimate portraits of seven ground-breaking Australian photographers, each with a significant body of work and each with a different photographic style. more

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LAST OF THE NOMADS, THE

1997 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 52 min

THE LAST OF THE NOMADS tells the moving story of Warri and Yatungka, the last of the Mandildjara people to be living a traditional nomadic lifestyle in the remote Gibson Desert of central Australia. more

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LAST TASMANIAN, THE

1978 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 105 min

The controversial 1978 documentary by Tom Haydon and archaeologist Rhys Jones. The story of the swiftest and most destructive genocide on record. more

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LIFE OF THE TOWN

2009 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 390 min

13 half hour episodes detailing the happy, sad, funny and dramatic endeavours of a community of battlers united through footy. Narrated by Dale Kickett, LIFE OF THE TOWN is a homage to grass roots football and is a window into the lives of the men, women and children who are passionate about their community. more

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LIGHT FROM THE SHADOWS

2012 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 29 min

The remarkable life and work of Aboriginal artist Danny Eastwood and his contribution to the well-being of his community in western Sydney, and to Reconciliation and Australian culture at large. more

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LINK-UP DIARY [from the AIATSIS Collection]

1987 (G) 87 min

On the road with Link-up, an organisation that re-unites Aboriginal families more

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LIONEL

2008 (M) 83 min

In 1968, a young Aboriginal boxer named Lionel Rose punched his way to history in Japan when he became the undisputed bantamweight champion of the world. This is his story, before and after he became a legend. more

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LITTLE TOWNS, BIG VOICES

2016 (M) 28 min

Taking a stand on domestic violence in regional, rural and remote communities: in this powerful short film by Fran Dobbie, this often hidden subject is brought to light by people willing to speak out about abuse to help create social change. more

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LIVING COUNTRY [from the CAAMA Collection]

2005 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 22 min

Traditional owners of proposed nuclear waste dump sites in central Australia show us what's at stake if the unthinkable happens. A film by David Tranter. more

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LOCKHART FESTIVAL [from the AIATSIS Collection]

1974 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 33 min

A classic documentary about an Aboriginal dance festival organised by the Lockhart River community in far north Queensland. more

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LORE OF LOVE, THE [from the CAAMA Collection]

2005 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 25 min

An 18 year old Aboriginal girl learns the lore of love from her outgoing and mischievous grandmothers. more

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LOUSY LITTLE SIXPENCE

1983 (G) 54 min

DIGITALLY RESTORED! In NSW, in 1909, the Aborigines Protection Board planned to break up Aboriginal communities by forcibly removing their children and hiring them out as servants to white employers. The title of this powerful documentary comes from the wages that were to be paid to the children. Many never saw that lousy... more

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LURUGU [from the AIATSIS Collection]

1973 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 56 min

The revival of an initiation ceremony for young men on Mornington Island in north Queensland. more

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LURUJARRI DREAMING

2013 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 28 min

An animated exploration of Goolarabooloo history and culture, focusing on a nine-day Lurujarri Heritage Trail walk led by Elders from the community, north from Broome along the Dampier Peninsula in north-western Australia. more

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MACDOUGALL TAPES, THE

2017 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 261 min

Extended conversations with David and Judith MacDougall about their years with the Film Unit of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra, 1975-1987. During this time, the MacDougalls made a series of eleven documentary films that were acknowledged world-wide as landmark achievements in ethnographic cinema. more

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MAD MORRO

2008 (MA) 49 min

Debbie Morris has waited 13 years for her family to 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 - earning himself the nickname Mad Morro. Now he is only weeks away from release. more

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MAKE IT RIGHT! [from the AIATSIS Collection]

1988 (G) 21 min

MAKE IT RIGHT! is a unique record of the landmark 1988 Barunga Festival of Aboriginal Sport and Culture at which Prime Minister Bob Hawke made commitments (unfulfilled) to negotiate a treaty with Aboriginal people. more

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MAKING A BARK CANOE [from the AIATSIS Collection]

1969 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 16 min

Two men make a bark canoe in the swamps of coastal Arnhem Land – a process simply observed by filmmaker Roger Sandall. more

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MAKING A MARK

2018 (PG) 56 min

A chronicle of creative trailblazing - exploring one of the most personally challenging and financially tenuous of vocations, to live and work in the competitive world of the visual arts in Australia. A superb film about inspiration, aspiration and the hard facts of life. more

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MALBANGKA COUNTRY [from the AIATSIS Collection]

1975 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 29 min

The Malbangka family leaves the social problems of Hermannsburg in central Australia to return to their own traditional land and set up their own independent settlement. more

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