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Music (2/3)
Music, musicians and musical instruments, including films about the theory and practice in music education for young children in Australia and overseas. Stories also include films about composers and performers.
LAST VIOLIN, THE
2023 (PG) 75 min
Master violin maker, Charalambos Vatiliotis, known as Harry, is 85 and has retired. When Romano, a violinist and friend of 48 years, persuades him to make one final violin, a heart-warming story unfolds. more
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LIFE IS A VERY STRANGE THING (English language version)
2018 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 80 min
Frédéric, a former high school rebel, ethnomusicologist, and multinational executive, returns from decades abroad, to a France that is both familiar and on edge. A quirky and moving portrait by outsiders, exploring what it is to be French in the 21st century. A delightful film by Les McLaren and Annie Stiven. more
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LIFE IS A VERY STRANGE THING (French language version)
2018 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 80 min
Frédéric, a former high school rebel, ethnomusicologist, and multinational executive, returns from decades abroad, to a France that is both familiar and on edge. A quirky and moving portrait by outsiders, exploring what it is to be French in the 21st century. more
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MAN OF STRINGS
1999 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 57 min
A portrait of the life and work of Czech-born violinist, Jan Sedivka, a charismatic musician who is one of the foremost violinists and string teachers in Australia. Now aged 80, Sedivka is still actively teaching and performing. more
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ME & YOU (NIDF series 5)
2002 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 26 min
ME AND YOU follows Frank and Leanna Shoveller, a father and daughter, who reveal their music recording and family bonds. They travel from Halls Creek through Broome to Mijil Mil Mia on a visit to their family's traditional country. more
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MUSIC CENTRAL
2023 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 27 min
MUSIC CENTRAL explores the power of music to create connection and healing. Filmed on the Central Coast of New South Wales, this documentary follows the stories of local Elder Uncle Kevin 'Gavi' Duncan, the staff and students at Woy Woy Public School, young singer-songwriter Ruby Archer and the Artistic Director of the... more
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MY REMBETIKA BLUES (English version)
2021 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 83 min
Rembetika music or the Greek blues is a music born of exile and the streets. The film traces the roots of this music in the mass migration of people in the early twentieth century and in particular the journey of the filmmaker's own forebears from Smyrna in Turkey to Sydney, Australia. A universal story about love, life... more
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MY REMBETIKA BLUES (Greek version)
2021 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 83 min
Rembetika music or the Greek blues is a music born of exile and the streets. The film traces the roots of this music in the mass migration of people in the early twentieth century and in particular the journey of the filmmaker's own forebears from Smyrna in Turkey to Sydney, Australia. A universal story about love, life... more
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NOTHING RHYMES WITH NGAPARTJI
2010 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 56 min
Acclaimed Pitjantjatjara actor, Trevor Jamieson, sets out on a daunting personal journey to bring his hit show home to country ... but can he bridge these two worlds, two languages and two cultures? more
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OH, BEETHOVEN!
2009 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 25 min
Dr Susan West and children from Ainslie Primary School, Canberra, in a special performance of a work about Beethoven's life, followed by discussion about Dr West's innovative approach to music education. more
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ON THE BANKS OF THE TIGRIS
2015 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 79 min
A musical odyssey that uncovers the hidden – and almost erased – story of Iraqi music. more
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PATOU: in Black and White
2022 (M) 55 min
With a career that spans over four decades and across the globe, Jamaican singer Pat Powell ("Patou") is one of Australia's most accomplished yet hidden vocal talents. A award-winning film by Fiona Cochrane. more
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PEACE PILGRIMS
2021 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 28 min
In September 2015, five peace activists penetrated the 'Joint Facility' Pine Gap, just outside Alice Springs to protest and lament victims of American drone strikes. They were arrested and faced 7 years jail. A documentary by John Hughes, based on Peace Crimes, Kieran Finnane (UQP 2020) more
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PRISON SONGS
2015 (M) 56 min
The inmates of a Darwin prison are shown in a new light in Australia's first documentary musical. Incarcerated in tropical Northern Territory, over 800 inmates squeeze into the overcrowded spaces of Berrimah Prison, and share their experiences in the most extraordinary way – through song. more
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![SAMMY BUTCHER: Out of the Shadows [from the CAAMA Collection]](/images/small/5632.jpg)
SAMMY BUTCHER: Out of the Shadows [from the CAAMA Collection]
2004 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 24 min
A portrait of Sammy Butcher [Warumpi Band], one of the leading figures in the contemporary Indigenous music scene. more
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SCOTT HICKS: sculpting the movie - the experience of directing SHINE
2016 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 28 min
In this documentary, made for the 20th anniversary of the release of SHINE, director Scott Hicks recalls the long development of the project and the complexities of shooting the film in Australia on a limited budget, contrasting with his subsequent experiences working in Hollywood on major studio productions. more
SERIOUSLY SINGING
2011 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 26 min
At a small school in the Victorian Mallee, indefatigable 91 year-old choral conductor, the late Jessie Carmichael, works with a group of novice singers to revisit a legendary moment in local history. more
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SEX, DRUGS AND STRING QUARTETS
2003 (M) 27 min
The Landau String Quartet comes together to rehearse. Each player has travelled a very different path to become a musician. In this dramatised documentary, the musicians reveal the story of that journey. more
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SHINE
1996 (PG) 107 min
The 1996 multi-award winning Australian film based on the life of pianist David Helfgott, who suffered a mental breakdown and spent years in institutions. Starring Geoffrey Rush, Lynn Redgrave, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Noah Taylor, John Gielgud, Googie Withers, Justin Braine, Sonia Todd, Chris Haywood and Alex Rafalowicz. more
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STEPPING OUT
1981 (G) 54 min
In November 1979, forty extraordinary people took to the stage. Labelled by society as mentally handicapped, isolated and hidden away in institutions since early childhood, they came to the Sydney Opera House and gave a performance that held audiences spellbound. This film tells the joyous story of that event. more
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TAGGED
2006 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 59 min
TAGGED is the story of four young people growing up in Sydney's notorious south-western suburbs. Reacting against the negative portrayal of young people from their area in the mainstream press, they talk about the things they love in their community, especially its diversity, its familiarity and its youthful energy. more
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TEACH A MAN TO FISH
2018 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 80 min
Grant Leigh Saunders is an Aboriginal filmmaker, writer and musician who has secretly always wanted to be a fisherman, just like his father and grandfather before him. This fishing yarn is set against the backdrop of the beautiful Manning River in central New South Wales. more
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TENDER HOOKS
1988 (M) 95 min
A bold debut feature by Wollongong filmmaker, Mary Callaghan: a new wave, pop cult, love story set in Sydney, starring Jo Kennedy and Nique Needles. When two young lovers discover their love has become an obsession, contact becomes a matter of survival. more
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WANDERING SOULS
2019 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 75 min
Wandering Souls follows the mounting of a new stage production, Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia, to honour the nearly 2 million Cambodians who died during the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 to 1979. more
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![WARREN WILLIAMS - The Stories, The Songs [from the CAAMA Collection]](/images/small/6584.jpg)
WARREN WILLIAMS - The Stories, The Songs [from the CAAMA Collection]
2000 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 24 min
A journey into the world of Warren H. Williams – his music and his Arrernte culture. more
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WEATHER DIARIES, THE
2020 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 91 min
An intimate chronicle of two simultaneous histories: on the one hand the cataclysmic impacts of climate change and the extinction crisis on the forest ecosystems, and on the other, the development of the filmmaker's daughter from child to adult. more
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