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Anthropology (4/6)
Ethnographic documentaries about people, cultures and societies around the world, including Africa, Papua New Guinea, Okinawa, India, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands, Sardinia, and Australia.
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
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MOURNING FOR MANGATOPI [from the AIATSIS Collection]
1974 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 53 min
An elaborate Tiwi mourning ceremony, performed as an affirmation of traditional culture. more
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MR STREHLOW'S FILMS
2001 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 52 min
The life and work of one of Australia's most eminent and controversial anthropologists, T.G.H. (Ted) Strehlow. more
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MY LONG NECK
2013 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 53 min
Maja is proud of the 16 coils of brass around her neck that distinguish her as a Long Neck Kayan woman from Burma. But after 20 years of living on display and constantly being photographed in a tourist village in northern Thailand, the rings are becoming more of a trap than a source of pride. more
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MY MOTHER'S VILLAGE and the Sri Lanka series
2014 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 256 min
In the late 1970s, anthropologist Sharon Bell and cinematographer Geoff Burton made three landmark documentaries about village life in Sri Lanka, observed over a two-year period, released in 1980. Decades later their son, Aaron Burton, reconnects with the communities to share experiences and aspirations with the next generation. more
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ONCE A QUEEN
2005 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 50 min
A universal story of a rural community with big aspirations ... Grafton in the Northern Rivers area of New South Wales, and its inspired annual celebration of its rich history. more
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OONDOORRD: Married Turtle [from the CAAMA Collection]
2009 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 22 min
The hunt for the special Oondoorrd or female turtle in the mating season, in the ocean off the West Kimberley region of Western Australia. more
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PETYARRE and ATNANGKERE (Our Cave) (From the CAAMA Collection)
2016-7 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 40 min
Two related short documentaries by Viviana Petyarre, featuring artist Gloria Petyarre and her family's search for a cave to which they are culturally connected. For millennia, the Atnangkere Cave has been a Dreaming centrepiece for the Alyawarre people of Atneltye (Boundary Bore), Utopia, north of Alice Springs in central... more
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PRIESTESS/THE STOREKEEPER, THE
1983 (G) 30 min
Available only in the collection of four films made by Solrun Hoaas on Hatoma Island: THE HATOMA FILMS. more
PUTUPARRI and the Rainmakers
2015 (M) 97 min
Against the backdrop of Australia's tangled colonial and Indigenous history, Putuparri and the Rainmakers explores one man's struggle to fulfill his destiny. more
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RED BOWMEN, THE
1978 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 58 min
The record of a ceremony called Ida which is performed every year by villagers of the Waina-Sowanda district of West Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea. A film by Chris Owen. more
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RIDDLE OF THE BRADSHAWS, THE
2002 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 53 min
This story of the Bradshaw rock paintings or Gwion Gwion as they are known to the Aboriginal traditional owners, unfolds in the vast and beautiful Kimberley region of Australia's far north west. more
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RINGBALIN - BREAKING THE DROUGHT
2014 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 32 min
A powerful documentary about the healing of Australia's greatest river and its diverse peoples through ancient ceremony of culture and spirit. more
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RINGTONE
2016 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 30 min
In the Yolngu community of Gapuwiyak in the Northern Territory, individual ringtones on mobiles reveal rich insights into lives and relationships. Ringtone features individuals talking directly to camera, revealing the stories behind their own ringtones as well as the pleasures and perils of their new connectivity. more
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SACRED VANDALS
1983 (G) 55 min
Available only in the collection of four films made by Solrun Hoaas on Hatoma Island: THE HATOMA FILMS. more
SINCE THE COMPANY CAME
2000 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 52 min
A Solomon Islands community struggles with some unexpected consequences of a logging operation. The men of Rendova Island embrace the chance to be part of the modern economy; but the women are concerned for the forests and traditions that sustain their families. As Rendova's forest rapidly disappears, the loggers set their... more
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SOME ALIEN CREATURES
2005 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 74 min
A film about the famous experimental, co-educational boarding school in South India, the Rishi Valley School, founded by the influential Indian thinker Krishnamurti. more
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SONS OF NAMATJIRA [from the AIATSIS Collection]
1975 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 47 min
A group of celebrated Aboriginal artists and their relationship with the outside world. more
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SPEAR IN THE STONE [from the AIATSIS Collection]
1983 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 34 min
An age-old tradition of making spear-heads from special stones in Arnhem Land. more
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STILL OUR COUNTRY
2015 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 88 min
A poetic celebration of country and culture, Still Our Country documents the swiftly changing lives of the Yolngu people of Ramingining in the Northern Territory. This evocative carnival of images and sounds makes a bold declaration of identity and offers a hopeful promise of a future. more
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STOCKMAN'S STRATEGY [from the AIATSIS Collection]
1984 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 51 min
An insight into the transfer of knowledge and experience on the Collum Collum cattle station in north-eastern New South Wales. more
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SUNNY AND THE DARK HORSE [from the AIATSIS Collection]
1987 (PG) 86 min
Country folk know of pleasures that townsfolk never know ... The story of an Aboriginal stockman and his family and their growing passion for "picnic racing" on bush tracks in New South Wales. more
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TAKEOVER [from the AIATSIS Collection]
1979 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 87 min
The story of an Aboriginal community under threat from a distant bureaucracy. A film by David and Judith MacDougall. DIGITALLY RE-MASTERED FROM ORIGINAL FILM MATERIALS! more
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TAKING PICTURES
1996 (G) 56 min
Taking Pictures focuses on several Australian film makers and the internationally renowned documentaries they made in Papua New Guinea in the 1970s-90s. Juxtaposing clips of the films with interviews of the filmmakers, it reflects upon the Western tradition of inquiring into and recording other people's lives, raising questions... more
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TALES FROM THE DALY - Nauiyu Nambiyu [from the CAAMA Collection]
2010 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 20 min
A journey into the stories and spectacular landscapes of the Daly River region in the north-west of the Northern Territory. more
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TALKING LANGUAGE with Ernie Dingo [from the CAAMA Collection]
2014 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 132 min
There are around 250 languages with 600 dialects spoken on this land. Today it is estimated around 30 of those languages are still strong and spoken daily, while over a hundred are critically endangered. more
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TEMPUS DE BARISTAS
1993 (G) 100 min
TEMPUS DE BARISTAS explores the character and prospects of three mountain shepherds of eastern Sardinia. more
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THREE HORSEMEN [from the AIATSIS Collection]
1982 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 51 min
Three generations of Aboriginal stockmen on a cattle station in far north Queensland. more
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TO LIVE WITH HERDS
1972 (B&W) (G) 70 min
This classic, widely acclaimed film on the Jie of Uganda, produced by the renowned ethnographic filmmaking team of David and Judith MacDougall, examines the effects of nation building in pre-Amin Uganda on the seminomadic, pastoral Jie. more
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TOMBSTONE OPENING, THE
2012 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 29 min
Releasing the spirit of Ephraim Bani, a great cultural custodian, in Torres Strait's unique ritual. more
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TRANSFER OF POWER, A [from the AIATSIS Collection]
1986 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 21 min
Replacing the engine in an old car: the work of "bush mechanics" on a cattle station in northern New South Wales. more
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TROBRIAND CRICKET
1979 (G) 52 min
"Trobriand cricket" refers to a unique version of the ball-and-bat sport cricket played by the Trobriand Islanders. They were first exposed to the game by Christian missionaries, who thought the game would discourage war among the natives. However, the game was quickly adapted to Trobriand culture by expanding the number... more
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TUPAIA'S ENDEAVOUR
2020 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 119 min
A first contact story, told from a Pacific point of view. Tupaia was a Polynesian high-priest, star-navigator, and artist who joined Cook's Endeavour expedition in Tahiti in 1769 as a navigator, and had a profound impact on Cook's journey and survival. This film cements Tupaia's role as a central figure in Pacific history. more
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TURKANA CONVERSATIONS
1989 (G)
A trilogy of award-winning films on semi-nomadic camel herders of north-western Kenya. more
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UNDER THE PALACE WALL
2014 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 53 min
An observational film by David MacDougall. A 16th century palace overlooks the Indian village of Delwara. It is now a luxury hotel, remote from the world of the villagers. more
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WAITING FOR HARRY [from the AIATSIS Collection]
1980 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 56 min
Tensions behind the scenes of a ritual event in central Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. more
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WALBIRI FIRE CEREMONY, A - Ngatjakula [from the AIATSIS Collection]
1977 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 19 min
Ngatjakula is one of the most spectacular ceremonies of central Australia, employing fire, and several days of singing and dance, to resolve conflicts and re-affirm social order among the Warlpiri (Walbiri) people. more
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WEDDING CAMELS, THE
1979 (G) 108 min
This film explores the relationships between wedding negotiations, dispersed kin groups bound together by reciprocal livestock obligations, and the significance of these marital alliances in a harsh environment. Unfolding events reveal the delicate balance between the economics of the domestic groups involved and the self-respect... more
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WESTERN DESERT WOOMERA: Fashioned With Stone Tools [from the AIATSIS Collection]
1981 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 11 min
A documentary about the making of a spear-thrower by two Pintupi men of the Lake McDonald area in the central west of the Northern Territory. The film demonstrates their use of stone tools. more
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WHEN THE SNAKE BITES THE SUN
1985 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 57 min
A film by Michael Edols. Available on DVD and Vimeo-on-Demand as part of the ASPECTS OF A LIFE collection. more
WHERE THE WATER STARTS
2021 (PG) 71 min
After seeing the destruction of the fragile alpine ecology of Australia's Snowy Mountains first-hand, Richard Swain decides to speak out. A powerful new film by Amanda King and Fabio Cavadini. more
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WIFE AMONG WIVES, A
1979 (G) 72 min
An investigation of how the Turkana, and especially Turkana women, view marriage. more
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WILD HONEY: CARING FOR BEES IN A DIVIDED LAND
2019 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 30 min
For more than a century, the island of Timor has been divided by a colonial border. This border has displaced and separated the people of Lookeu, dividing their land, water and history. Timor's migratory wild honey bees challenge this division. more
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YOLNGU HOMELAND
2015 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 58 min
Garrthalala in Arnhem Land: the story of the community's connectedness with other beings - ancestors, animals and plants. Totemic beings of significance include the saltwater crocodile, crows, dogs and dingoes, crabs, sea eagles, turtles, and yams. A film by Natasha Fijn. more
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YORKY BILLY [from the AIATSIS Collection]
1980 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 17 min
A portrait of a disappearing way of life in the Northern Territory outback. more
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