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History - Australian (3/11)
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.
![CASS - NO SAUCEPAN DIVER [from the AIATSIS Collection]](/images/small/10899.jpg)
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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CHIFLEYS OF BUSBY STREET, THE
2008 (G) 72 min
The Chifleys of Busby Street is an eloquent portrait of Australia's best-loved Prime Minister Ben Chifley, his wife Elizabeth, and their cherished spirit kept alive in Bathurst for the five decades since his death. Friends and colleagues share anecdotes and memories of the Chifleys in this charming documentary. 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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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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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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![CROOKHAT AND THE KULUNADA [from the CAAMA Collection]](/images/small/4585.jpg)
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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DELINQUENT ANGEL
2001 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 48 min
A documentary about the famous Australian master painter, the late John Perceval. Tender and beautiful moments in the film reveal details about John's life, his loves and his relationships - with his minder/business manager, and other internationally renowned painters like Joy Hester, Sir Sidney Nolan and Arthur Boyd. more
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DIFFICULT PLEASURE - a film about Brett Whitely
1990 (M) 51 min
Difficult Pleasure is a revealing portrait of one of Australia's finest painters - the only full-length documentary made about Brett Whiteley. Filmed in 1989, the film explores Whiteley's art and life and is richly illustrated with some of his finest paintings. more
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DON'T CALL ME GIRLIE
1985 (G) 69 min
From the birth of the cinema to World War II, DON'T CALL ME GIRLIE tells the untold story of Australia's movie heroines, on and off the screen. Discover the roles our women filmmakers really played - on screen as stars, behind the cameras, as producers, writers, directors and publicists. more
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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
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DROVER'S BOY, THE
2015 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 11 min
This 'hybrid' blend of music, documentary and drama is set in the 1920s in outback Australia, and evokes a time when it was illegal for white Australians and Aboriginal people to marry. Based on a ballad by Ted Egan, the film pays tribute to the role of Aboriginal women in the pastoral history of frontier Australia. more
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EMILY IN JAPAN - The Making of An Exhibition
2009 (PG) 82 min
Behind the scenes of the blockbuster exhibition of paintings by the Indigenous artist Emily Kame Kngwarreye which toured Japan attracting record crowds. more
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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
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EXILE AND THE KINGDOM
1993 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 110 min
The experiences of a community of Aboriginal people from pre-colonial times to the 1990s. The re-release of the award-winning feature documentary from 1993, made with the YINDJIBARNDI, NGARLUMA, BANYJIMA and GURRAMA people of Roebourne, Western Australia. more
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FANTOME ISLAND
2011 (PG) 82 min
The fascinating and moving tale of Joe Eggmolesse, who in 1945 was removed from his family and confined to an Indigenous leper colony on an island off the North Queensland coast. He was seven years old. more
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FIGURES IN THE LANDSCAPE
1985 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 50 min
A superb film about the internationally acclaimed Australian painter, Arthur Boyd, arguably Australia's finest painter. A new upgraded 1080p file and DVD master of a great documentary classic. more
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FIRST CITIZEN: ALBERT NAMATJIRA
1989 (G) 54 min
Albert Namatjira was the first Aboriginal artist to be recognised by white Australians. He was torn between two worlds simply because he had the wisdom to recognise both. Two cultures, two laws. The feting and fawning of the city glitterati, ultimately led to his tragic decline and death. more
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FIRST FAGIN, THE
2012 (PG) 87 min
From New York to Hobart, and from the darkest jails and prison ships of England to the penal colony of Port Arthur, THE FIRST FAGIN brings to life the passionate love and dramatic adventures of Ikey Solomon, family man, fence, and Charles Dickens' inspiration for the character of Fagin in Oliver Twist. more
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![FIVE SEASONS [from the CAAMA Collection]](/images/small/742.jpg)
FIVE SEASONS [from the CAAMA Collection]
2004 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 52 min
In these fast and modern times, the Numurindi people are still guided by the seasons and stories of the Dreamtime. This observational documentary focuses on Moses Numamurdirdi and his families fight to hold onto their culture and ways in an ever-changing world. more
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FLOATING ... LIKE WIND BLOW 'EM ABOUT
1975 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 58 min
A film by Michael Edols. Available on DVD and Vimeo-on-Demand as part of the ASPECTS OF A LIFE collection. more
FOR LOVE OR MONEY: A History of Women and Work in Australia
1983 (G) 107 min
DIGITALLY RESTORED! An investigation and celebration of women's work from white settlement to the present, a story told by Aboriginal and migrant women, convict women and today's women. more
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FOUNDATION, The (NIDF series 5)
2002 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 26 min
A documentary that intercuts interviews with historical footage to tell the history of The Foundation of Aboriginal Affairs, an organisation significant in the push for the 1967 referendum in which Aboriginal peoples were given the vote. more
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FREEDOM STORIES
2015 (PG) 99 min
Explores the achievements of former 'boat people' who arrived from the Middle-East around the watershed year of 2001. Locked in remote detention centres and then placed on temporary protection visas, their limbo lasted for years. Now Australian citizens, they are building secure lives and contributing to their new country. more
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FRIENDS AND ENEMIES
1988 (PG) 88 min
FRIENDS AND ENEMIES is a provocative film about one of the most vicious and protracted labour disputes in Australian history - one which saw the emergence of the New Right as a powerful force on the country's political landscape. more
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FRONTIER CONVERSATION, A
2006 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 54 min
A fascinating journey through the Top End of Australia to explore what history means to the traditional landowners. more
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![FULL CIRCLE [from the AIATSIS Collection]](/images/small/8893.jpg)
FULL CIRCLE [from the AIATSIS Collection]
1987 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 20 min
A story of Aboriginal stockmen at Robinson River Station on traditional Garawa land, in the Northern Territory. more
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GALLIPOLI
2005 (PG) 120 min
Through the use of surviving diaries and letters of the soldiers, GALLIPOLI shows the bravery and the suffering on both sides. An epic reconstruction of the battle that changed nations forever: a film of spectacular visual sweep and great emotional power. more
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GENOCIDE IN THE WILDFLOWER STATE
2024 (M) 58 min
An intensively researched documentary which describes a violent, state-run system of eugenics, racial absorption, and social assimilation in 20th century Western Australia. more
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GIORGIO MANGIAMELE COLLECTION, THE
(M) 282 min
Five provocative works from an Italian filmmaker in post-war Australia. This 2-DVD set includes a 28-page booklet, 70 minutes of interviews with film historians as well as the following five films: IL CONTRATTO, THE SPAG [unreleased], THE SPAG [released], NINETY NINE PER CENT and CLAY. more
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GOD'S GIRLS: Stories from an Australian Convent
1992 (PG) 49 min
GOD'S GIRLS describes life in a Sisters of Mercy convent in country New South Wales from the 1940s to the present day. This courageous and clever film investigates the subtle complexities of change within a society that has been surrounded by mystery for hundreds of years. more
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GOUGH WHITLAM: In His Own Words
2002 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 84 min
Australia's reformist and controversial former Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, shares his views on 50 years of public life, in an in-depth conversation with Senator John Faulkner. more
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GREAT STRIKE 1917, THE
2018 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 69 min
To this day, the Great Strike of 1917 is still Australia's largest industrial upheaval. The story of the Strike has long been dormant in archives, and is now re-told with original film footage from the era. OFFICIAL SELECTION! Antenna Documentary Film Festival. FINALIST! ATOM AWARDS, Documentary (History). more
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GREEN TEA AND CHERRY RIPE
1989 (G) 56 min
NOW DIGITALLY REMASTERED. A fascinating portrait of Japanese women who came to Australia as war brides, and their survival in an alien land. more
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GURINDJI JOURNEY (book)
(G)
This compelling book by the young Japanese historian, Dr Minory Hokari, published in English posthumously, is a personal, philosophical, lyrical record of his journey into Indigenous Australian culture. Part memoir, part history, part theory, the book is the story of Hokari's discovery of Gurindji modes of history and historical... more
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HABITS OF NEW NORCIA, THE
2000 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 53 min
Re-release of a remarkable documentary from 2000: the story of the Benedictine Aboriginal Mission at New Norcia, in Western Australia. Now a popular tourist destination north of Perth, the Mission holds harsh memories for the former Aboriginal "inmates" who were placed there during the 1920s through to the 1960s. more
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HAND-DRAWN HISTORIES: The Films of Lee Whitmore
2011 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 61 min
NED WETHERED (11 mins), ON A FULL MOON (17 mins), ADA (7 mins) and THE SAFE HOUSE (26 mins). EXTRA FEATURES: Interview (23 mins), The Making of ... (42 mins) Plus slideshow of storyboards. DVD also includes a 28-page DVD booklet - Hand-drawn Histories THE FILMS OF LEE WHITMORE: the animator talks about her... more
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HANDMAIDENS AND BATTLEAXES
1989 (PG) 55 min
This remarkable award-winning documentary by the late Rosalind Gillespie (filmmaker and Registered Nurse) traces the role of nurses from pre-industrial times to the modern era. more
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HANGING AUSTRALIA
2015 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 49 min
A major exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, "Australia" was the largest collection of art ever to represent this country overseas. more
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HEPHZIBAH
1998 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 75 min
A biography of the acclaimed concert pianist and human rights worker, Hephzibah Menuhin (1920–1981), using home movies, still photographs, extracts from Hephzibah's letters, film of concert performances and interviews with family and friends. more
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HERE'S MY HAND: A testimony to an Aboriginal Memorial
1988 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 27 min
A film by Michael Edols. Available on DVD and Vimeo-on-Demand as part of the ASPECTS OF A LIFE collection. more
HERITAGE FIGHT
2013 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 104 min
Broome is a town in the Kimberley region, one of Australia's great wilderness areas. This is where the head of Western Australia, Colin Barnett, and Woodside, a multi billion-dollar company and Australia's largest liquid natural gas producers, decided to install the second largest liquified natural gas plant in the... more
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HILLMEN, THE - a Soccer Fable
1996 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 56 min
A story about cross-cultural relationships, the generation gap and what it's like to lose. ... A film by Steve Thomas. WINNER! BEST TV DOCUMENTARY in the AFI Awards,1996. more
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HIRED ASSASSINS
2003 (PG) 58 min
An incisive documentary about Australia's leading editorial cartoonists who grapple daily with the double-edged sword of humour and seriousness to reveal the heart of politics in Australia. more
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HISTORY BITES BACK
2021 (MA) 55 min
After the bold and brilliant Occupation: Native, Aboriginal filmmaker Trisha Morton-Thomas teams up again with Comedy Director-Writer, Craig Anderson to launch a rocket into 250 years of taboos, prejudice and ignorance. History Bites Back uses devastating satire to unpack the negative social bias of the history shared... more
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HOMELAND STORY
2019 (M) 84 min
An intimate portrait of Donydji, an Indigenous Homeland community in north-east Arnhem Land. The film charts their struggle from the 1960s to the present day to overcome the corrosive effects of government policy and pressure from mining interests, and to remain on their land. more
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HOMEMADE HISTORY
2003 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 65 min
Every day in the homes, backyards and workplaces of ordinary people, hundreds of personal stories unfold. In Homemade History, 13 of these stories have been captured by amateur cinematographers on 8mm and 16mm cameras. These slices of everyday life span the 1930s to the 1980s and are a fascinating glimpse into a private... more
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HOW THE WEST WAS LOST
1987 (G) 72 min
NOW RESTORED FROM ORIGINAL FILM NEGATIVES! The story of the 1946 Aboriginal Pastoral Workers' Strike that has never officially ended. An event more important than the Eureka Stockade but never recorded in written histories - the passive resistance by 800 Aboriginal station workers against the appalling living and working... more
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HYBRID LIFE - group 1 of 3
2000 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 104 min
A series of programs which examine the lives of the children and the grandchildren of Australian migrants. This group from the series consists of 4 episodes: ISLANDS | FROM HERE TO ITHACA | MISSING VIETNAM | COSENZA VECCHIA. more
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HYBRID LIFE - group 2 of 3
2001 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 104 min
A series of programs which examine the lives of the children and the grandchildren of Australian migrants. This group consists of 4 episodes from the series: ALWAYS A VISITOR | THE LAST PECHENIUK | WEE JIMMY | PARRA. more
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HYBRID LIFE - group 3 of 3
2001 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 104 min
A series of programs which examine the lives of the children and the grandchildren of Australian migrants. This group from the series consists of 4 episodes: THE BRIDES OF KHAN | DEAR BERT | DELIVERY DAY | SPARKY D COMES TO TOWN. more
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IMAGINARY BORDER
2017 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 105 min
A challenging and compassionate reflection on race relations in Australia and the Torres Strait Islands. A film by Iranian-born Austrian filmmaker, Alireza Ghanie. more
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![INTERVENTION 2 years on [from the CAAMA Collection]](/images/small/4894.jpg)
INTERVENTION 2 years on [from the CAAMA Collection]
2010 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 22 min
An Aboriginal perspective on the effect of the Australian Government's Intervention in Aboriginal lives in the Northern Territory. more
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IN THEIR NAME
2022 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 27 min
Decades after Latvian Jewish women and children were humiliated and killed by Nazi troops and their Latvian collaborators in 1941, their descendants continue to be haunted by the massacre. A film by Peter Hegedus. more
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INTO THE SHADOWS
2009 (M) 90 min
Looking from afar, the Australian film industry appears glitzy and glamorous, robust and invincible. Into the Shadows challenges this notion and journeys beyond the glamour to meet the filmmakers, distributors and exhibitors who bring Australian films to the screen. more
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ISLAND OF LIES
1991 (G) 56 min
When Eliza Fraser was shipwrecked on Fraser Island in 1836, there were up to 3000 Aboriginal people living there — by 1905, there were perhaps a dozen left. Filmmaker Gillian Coote follows the route of early settlers north out of Sydney to Fraser Island to uncover the lies and secrets of Australia's settlement. more
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![IT'S A LONG ROAD BACK [from the AIATSIS Collection]](/images/small/7693.jpg)
IT'S A LONG ROAD BACK [from the AIATSIS Collection]
1981 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 13 min
The story of one woman's struggle to regain her Aboriginality. more
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![JABIRU 0886: TRESPASS [from the CAAMA Collection]](/images/small/6588.jpg)
JABIRU 0886: TRESPASS [from the CAAMA Collection]
2002 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 26 min
The story of Yvonne Margarula and the resistance of the Mirarr people to the loss of their land and their heritage because of mining operations in the Kakadu area. more
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