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Religion and Spirituality (3/4)
Religious beliefs, religious organisations and spiritual figures in Australia and internationally, including studies of differing concepts of God in different cultures, studies of sainthood in the Catholic Church, and Christian missionary interaction with Indigenous Australians.
MARY
1994 (G) 75 min
Excommunication in the 19th century, sainthood in the 20th. Mary MacKillop is one of Australia's unsung heroes. Despite excommunication and exile, Mary remained determined to bring education to the poor and underprivileged. In January 1995 Mary was beatified by Pope John Paul II as Australia's first saint. This is Mary's... more
MEMORIES ON STONE
2014 (M) 97 min
A remarkable award-winning Kurdish feature film from Iraq. With great visual and comedic flair, director Shawkat Amin Korki delivers a poignant portrait of contemporary Kurdish society haunted by its past. more
MESSAGE FROM MUNGO
2014 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 70 min
WINNER! UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATION OF VICTORIA MEDIA AWARDS in the Category of "Promotion of Indigenous Recognition". The story of the interaction between Scientists and the Custodians of Indigenous Heritage at Lake Mungo, one of the world's richest archaeological sites. more
MILLI MILLI
1994 (G) 53 min
MILLI MILLI tells the story of the Kimberley people from their point of view. Using the Kimberley people's traditions of storytelling, painting, dancing and taking into account Aboriginal law and culture, the film records a cultural revival from within. more
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
![MOURNING FOR MANGATOPI [from the AIATSIS Collection]](/images/small/9119.jpg)
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
![MPARNTWE - Sacred Sites [from the CAAMA Collection]](/images/small/6587.jpg)
MPARNTWE - Sacred Sites [from the CAAMA Collection]
2004 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 24 min
The continuous struggle by Central Australia's Arrernte people to maintain their sacred sites in the face of property development in the Mparntwe (Alice Springs) area. more
MUSLIMS IN AUSTRALIA
2007 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 76 min
Take a journey and discover how deep Muslim history runs in Australia. Discover the earliest contact that dates back to the 1600s, their connection with the indigenous population and the rich contribution they made. more
NGANGKARI (NIDF series 5)
2002 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 26 min
The role of Ngangkari, Traditional Healer, still plays a vital role in the health and well-being of the Anangu people of Central Australia. Yet only two Ngangkari are employed in full-time positions. This film introduces these two renowned Ngangkari specialists. more
NO BURQAS BEHIND BARS
2012 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 77 min
Inside an Afghan women's prison. Women are normally faceless in Afghanistan: outside the home, burqas cover them from head to toe. But in prison, they sometimes have more freedom and safety than outside. more
NUN'S NEW HABIT, A
2008 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: PG) 56 min
This documentary follows Sister Carmel, a sister of the Good Samaritans, in her fight for social justice. Along with many of her contemporaries, she is passionately involved with the plight of refugees who were incarcerated in detention for many years and the ongoing psychological trauma suffered after their release. more
ONE PLACE
2008 (G) 27 min
An inspiring film about a unique Islamic Cultural Centre: a place of worship and of study, a library and a centre of learning, it is also a building where families gather, an integral part of a community that speaks more than thirty languages, comes from more than forty countries and shares a single faith. more
PAPA BILONG CHIMBU
2007 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 54 min
In 1937 a young Catholic missionary, Father John Nilles, arrived in the highlands of Papua New Guinea – one of the first whites the local people had ever seen. There he would stay for the next 54 years. More than just a priest, he would become an anthropologist, linguist, politician and clan leader. more
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
PITJIRI: The Snake That Will Not Sink
1986 (G) 48 min
In 1936 on a remote outpost in the Northern Territory, nine Aboriginal Elders appeared before Ruth Heathcock, who they believed was a member of their tribe before the Dreaming. Fifty years later, Sister Ruth returns and describes the psychic phenomena that she experienced and how this changed her perception of the human... 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
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
SECRET AND SACRED
2008 (G) 53 min
A documentary detailing the anthropological and historical story of the Badtjala people of the Hervey Bay and Fraser (K'Gari) Island region. more
SERPENT AND THE CROSS, THE
1991 (G) 55 min
In several outback Australian communities Aboriginal artists are consciously seeking an expression that builds bridges between Aboriginal spirituality (the Dreaming) and the Christian religion of their invaders. A look at these artists' thinking and dreaming which provides a rich, privileged look at the artwork, beautifully... more
SILMA'S SCHOOL
2006 (Classification Exempt - Ronin Recommends: G) 83 min
SILMA'S SCHOOL is a compelling observational documentary about a Muslim school in Sydney and the tumultuous struggle by its principal to keep it open. more