First Nations (3/14)

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,

CASS - NO SAUCEPAN DIVER [from the AIATSIS Collection]

1982 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 12 min

Cass is a part-Aboriginal, part-Malay, part-Scottish man who used to work as a diver in the pearling industry in Broome, Western Australia. A film by Wayne Barker, his grandson. more

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CHASING SHADOWS

2010 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 26 min

Colin Darcy and his two best mates from the mining town of Whyalla start a hip hop band called SHADOWS. They move to Adelaide with high hopes and write rap songs about their personal experiences – being Aboriginal, growing up in a small town, racism, loss of family and striving for success. more

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CHEEKY DOG [from the CAAMA Collection]

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

Dion Beasley is 15 years old, profoundly deaf and suffers from Muscular Dystrophy. The only way he is able to communicate is through his drawings. With the help of a close friend and teacher, they have established a label for t-shirts and other apparel, called "Cheeky Dog". It is hoped that this venture will create... more

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CLOSE TO THE BONE

2022 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 28 min

In this remarkable film, First Nations people and European settler descendants come together to confront legacies of violence from Australia's pastoral frontier. Can the scars of past atrocities be reconciled and healed through the act of truth-telling? more

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COLD TURKEY [from the CAAMA Collection]

2002 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 45 min

A drama about two brothers and their journey into a long night of desperate living. more

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COLLUM CALLING CANBERRA [from the AIATSIS Collection]

1981 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 56 min

A cattle station's view of negotiating with a distant bureaucracy. more

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CONISTON MUSTER [from the AIATSIS Collection]

1972 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 28 min

A classic documentary about the annual muster on Coniston cattle station, north-west of Alice Springs, and its Aboriginal head stockman, Coniston Johnny, who narrates much of the film. more

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COOLBAROO CLUB, THE

1996 (G) 55 min

A portrait of the Coolbaroo Club, an Aboriginal-run dance club which operated in Perth from 1946 - 1960. The film is delivered via the memories of those involved, stills, archive and extensive dramatisation. An award-winning documentary on post-war race relations in Australia. more

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COOL DRINK AND CULTURE [from the CAAMA Collection]

2006 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 22 min

The links between traditional bush foods and good health, and supermarket foods and poor health. more

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CRACKS IN THE MASK

1997 (G) 56 min

A century ago the Torres Strait Island were the subjects of the famous Cambridge Anthropological Expedition - the resulting depletion of their cultural artifacts left them with nothing but a history of remembered loss. The only people in the Pacific to make elaborate turtleshell masks have none left - they are all in foreign... more

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CROCODILE DREAMING

2006 (M) 27 min

A stone holding the stories and songs of the ancestors has been stolen from its proper location and subsequently causes the death of two children. It must be found and brought back to restore the right order. The local Aboriginal mob cannot carry out this task alone and calls for Burrimmilla (David Gulpilil). more

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CROOKHAT AND THE KULUNADA [from the CAAMA Collection]

2010 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 23 min

Stories of the water serpent, Kulunada, which inhabits a permanent waterhole in the arid desert country of central Australia. more

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CROOK HAT & CAMPHOO [from the CAAMA Collection]

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

An outstanding documentary about the survival of traditional skills in Aboriginal culture. more

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CROSSING THE LINE

2005 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 56 min

When two young, non-Indigenous medical students go to work in a remote Aboriginal community, their professional precepts and personal ideas are deeply challenged. more

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CROSS LIFE

2007 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 100 min

CROSS LIFE is the first feature film directed by Claire McCarthy, a rapidly emerging new star of Australian cinema. Her second feature is the acclaimed THE WAITING CITY, filmed in India and released nationally through Hopscotch Films. more

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DANCE ON YOUR LAND

1991 (G) 28 min

In 1988 fifty Aboriginal people from Mornington Island and Borroloola made an 8000km journey to 15 communities in the remote Kimberley Region of WA over a 5 week period. The aim of the journey was to strengthen Aboriginal cultural identity through performances of dance and song which carry the stories that are unique to... more

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DEADLY YARNS

2004 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 40 min

5 short films made by Indigenous West Australian filmmakers for the ABC's Message Stick series. more

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DEADLY YARNS 2

2006 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 33 min

A series of 5 short films made by Indigenous Western Australian filmmakers. [includes Special Features: A behind-the scenes documentary on each film] more

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DEADLY YARNS 3

2007 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 34 min

5 short films made by Indigenous Western Australian filmmakers for ABC TV's Message Stick series. [includes Special Features: A behind-the scenes documentary on each film] more

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DEADLY YARNS 4

2009 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 34 min

5 short films made by Indigenous Western Australians. [includes Special Features: A behind-the scenes documentary on each film]. more

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