Shop for a film
Literature (1/2)
Literature studies especially studies of individual writers and their work, including biographical portraits, thematic discussions and assessment of their contributions to Australian culture, history and politics.
BEYOND THE DREAMTIME
1994 (G) 54 min
BEYOND THE DREAMTIME is a film of visual beauty, bringing to life the haunting imagery of dozens of Ainslie Roberts' major works, weaving them into the artist's personal life and illuminating his love of the land. more
BLISS
1985/2022 (MA) 111 min
The celebrated debut feature by Ray Lawrence is a masterwork of bold ideas, gleefully surreal images, subversive farce and tenderness. From a Peter Carey screenplay and novel. Now re-mastered from the original film negatives by the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. more
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
MIRACLE OF THE LITTLE PRINCE, THE
2018 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 90 min
The story of how communities are keeping endangered languages alive with the help of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's Little Prince – from North Africa to Tibet, and the Arctic circle to Latin America. A feature documentary by Dutch filmmaker, Marjoleine Boonstra. more
MUCH ADO ABOUT SOMETHING
2003 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 93 min
Was William Shakespeare truly the greatest English author, or does that honour really belong to Christopher Marlowe, a peer of the great bard who penned a number of popular plays during the late 1500s? This documentary plunges deep into the mystery surrounding the authorship of the plays and Marlowe's supposed murder. more
NIGHT THE PROWLER, THE
1978/2021 (M) 85 min
A wickedly funny and subversive collaboration between Nobel Prize-winning author Patrick White and one of Australia's most adventurous film directors, Jim Sharman (director of The Rocky Horror Picture Show). more
SCRIBE, THE
2018 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 71 min
From deep within the engine room of politics comes this superb documentary on the "Donald Bradman" of speech-writers - Graham Freudenberg: a powerful journey into one of the great minds of politics who has written speeches for Labor leaders over many decades, including Gough Whitlam and Bob Hawke. more
SHADOW OF MARY POPPINS, THE
2003 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 52 min
This documentary explores the complex and troubled life of the creator of Mary Poppins, Pamela Travers. The audience will be taken on a journey tracing the parallel lives of Travers and Mary Poppins from their origins through to their transformation from servant to seer. The enigma of Travers is finally revealed in this... more
SKIN OF OTHERS, THE
2020 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 91 min
A story of modern Australia told through the extraordinary life of Aboriginal WW1 soldier Douglas Grant (c.1885-1951), an intellectual, a journalist, a soldier and a bagpipe player with a fine Scottish accent. Featuring the acclaimed Indigenous actor Balang Tom E. Lewis in his final performance (as Douglas Grant) and guest... more
THESE HEATHEN DREAMS: Journey of a Cultural Bolshevik - Christopher Barnett
2014 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 53 min
Once described by the press as "one of the most controversial figures on the Australian art scene", avant-garde poet and playwright Christopher Barnett achieved a level of notoriety in the Melbourne underground theatre scene during the 70s and 80s, before self-exiling to France. more
WHAT I WROTE - Andrew Bovell
2009 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 111 min
Andrew Bovell talks about his use of language, story and form, his re-writing of the plays, the rehearsal process and his collaboration with other writers, actors and artists. more
WHAT I WROTE - David Williamson
2009 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 119 min
David Williamson talks about a lifetime of writing, the changing nature of Australian theatre and the rehearsal process. more
WHAT I WROTE - Debra Oswald
2009 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 115 min
Oswald talks about the stories behind the plays, her stagecraft and her passion for notebooks. more
WHAT I WROTE - Hannie Rayson
2007 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 60 min
Hannie Rayson engages with the national conversation and rehearses the big debates of our time. She uses family as a platform to discuss these issues. Hotel Sorrento, Inheritance, Life After George and the provocative Two Brothers make up her most influential works. She talks freely about her influences, her working methods... more
WHAT I WROTE - Joanna Murray-Smith
2009 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 125 min
Joanna Murray-Smith talks about writing first drafts, her childhood influences, her overseas productions and her working relationship with directors. more
WHAT I WROTE - Katherine Thomson
2007 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 60 min
The dissident walks through Katherine Thomson's plays – the whistleblower, the unionist and the activist occupy her stage. We see them in Harbour, Mavis Goes to Timor, and Wonderlands. Katherine talks about her writing process, where he research has led her and where her ideas come from. She discusses her stagecraft... more
WHAT I WROTE - Louis Nowra
2007 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 60 min
A prolific writer who has changed the way we view theatre. From his evocative The Golden Age through Cosi and Radiance to the Boyce Trilogy we have come to expect the Nowra stage to show us the unexpected. A master of adaptation Nowra talks frankly about his working methods, his fascination with the fall of empires and... more
WHAT I WROTE - Matt Cameron
2007 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 60 min
An Australian playwright whose influences are suburbia, politics and rock music. His Ruby Moon delighted and shocked audiences. He holds a lens up to the ordinary and shows us how disturbing, how provocative it can be. Cameron talks about his themes of love, loss and the impossible and he shares his interest in comedy,... more
WHAT I WROTE - Staging a Play
2010 (PG) 30 min
Five awarding-winning playwrights talk about the staging of their plays - MATT CAMERON, LOUIS NOWRA, DEBRA OSWALD, HANNIE RAYSON and DAVID WILLIAMSON more