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History - Australian (2/11)
Australian social, political and cultural history, including Indigenous history, stories of Australians involved in both World Wars and in other events in Asia and the Pacific region, personal domestic stories through to studies of Australian political leaders.
BLACKBIRD
2016 (PG) 13 min
Blackbird is a short narrative drama which sheds light on a little known part of history - Australia's notorious "blackbirding" era when some 60,000 Pacific Islanders were brought to Australia, often by force and kidnapping, between 1863 and 1904 to work on sugar cane farms of Queensland. more
BLACK MAGIC
1988 (G) 55 min
It is through the medium of sport that Aboriginal people have best been able to express themselves to white Australia. Australia's greatest Aboriginal footballers talk about the sources of their motivation, about their family experiences and their roots. more
BLACK MAN'S HOUSES
1992 (G) 58 min
This documentary tells the story of black survival in Tasmania amidst the continuing suppression of history and culture. In doing so, it challenges skin-deep assumptions about Aboriginality today. more
BLOOD ON THE COAL
2015 (PG) 103 min
Stories from the Queensland coalfields over the last 150 years, as told by mineworkers and their families: a rare and valuable contribution to the history of both Australian labour and the nation's mining industry. more
BLOWN AWAY
2014 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 61 min
A powerful examination of the myths and facts of Cyclone Tracy, one of Australia's worst natural disasters which devastated the city of Darwin on Christmas Eve, 1974. The film especially explores previously unrecorded Indigenous responses to the crisis. more
![BOOMERANG TODAY (KARLI JALANGU) [from the CAAMA Collection]](/images/small/2890.jpg)
BOOMERANG TODAY (KARLI JALANGU) [from the CAAMA Collection]
2004 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 22 min
Re-living ancient traditions in the modern world. A film by David Tranter and Allan Collins. more
BORDER POLITICS
2018 (PG) 90 min
In this film, leading Human Rights barrister, Julian Burnside AO, deconstructs harsh asylum seeker policies around the world, arguing that failure in political leadership is compromising human rights and destroying democratic principles in the West. more
BORN TO SHOP
1991 (G) 53 min
Whether you love shopping or hate it, whether your favourite shop is David Jones, the local bookshop, an open-air market or a hardware store, BORN TO SHOP will make you think about an ordinary activity in a new way. This film does not induce guilt! more
BRAN NUE DAE
1991 (PG) 55 min
This documentary traces the development and production of the successful stage musical, Bran Nue Dae. The writer of the play, Jimmy Chi, talks about how his experiences and education led to his writing of the semi-autobiographical musical. Selections from the musical are intercut with interviews and historical footage. more
BREAD AND DRIPPING
1981 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 17 min
Restored from original film materials: a classic documentary from 1981, telling women's stories of the Great Depression in the 1930s in 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
BRIDE FLIGHTS, THE (English version)
2022 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 58 min
The one-way ticket from Spain that changed Australian migration: about 700 Spanish women arrived in Australia during the early 1960s, supported by an informal agreement between the regime of Francisco Franco (1939-1975) and the Australian Government of that time. more
BRIDE FLIGHTS, THE (Spanish version)
2022 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G)
The one-way ticket from Spain that changed Australian migration: about 700 Spanish women arrived in Australia during the early 1960s, supported by an informal agreement between the regime of Francisco Franco (1939-1975) and the Australian Government of that time. more
BUFFALO LEGENDS
1997 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 52 min
Bill Dempsey MBE, himself a football legend, narrates this story of a group of men who knocked down the barriers of racism on the sporting field. On the way they established a way of life based on tolerance, respect and an ethic of making your own fun whatever obstacles are placed along the path. more
BURNSIDE CONVERSATIONS, THE
2019 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 115 min
16 conversations, 1 topic: Human rights. In dynamic conversations with human rights barrister, Julian Burnside QC, key global thinkers reveal personal perspectives on current threats to human rights in the West, expanding on ideas raised in the film BORDER POLITICS (also available from Ronin Films). more
BY COMPASS AND QURAN
2015 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 26 min
Retracing the steps of the Afghan cameleers, exploring their amazing lives in the Australian outback, and the discrimination and alienation that many endured in a white Australia. more
![CAMELS & THE PITJANTJARA [from the AIATSIS Collection]](/images/small/9706.jpg)
CAMELS & THE PITJANTJARA [from the AIATSIS Collection]
1969 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 45 min
A classic documentary from 1969 which records the Pitjantjara people's use of feral camels in central Australia, capturing and taming them, and using them as pack animals. more
CAMERA NATURA
1985 (G) 32 min
How has cinema shaped our relationship to the Australian landscape? What vision of the natural world and our place in it have filmmakers created? From Walkabout to Sunday Too Far Away to Mad Max, the camera moves restlessly across the landscape, creating a vision of a country more hostile than grand. more
CARNIVAL, THE
2023 (MA) 85 min
The Bells have been hauling their convoy of carnival rides and workers across Australia for six generations. Now, facing shutdowns and bushfires, and a dwindling economy – the family battles to keep their show, and ultimately their legacy, alive. more