Australia Dances
An exhilarating documentary on dance in Australia, its past, present and future. Starting
with recreations of historical dances first held in Australia in 1803, this film examines
Aboriginal dancing, the rise of ballet in Australia, including the influence of Helpmann, and the major role of
contemporary dance companies.
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Awaiting the Dawn
This documentary is a fascinating journey to Russia, whose memory and past have been suppressed for several
generations, where all emergence of faith was systematically weeded out. In an attempt to
understand whether there is still a place for the past in a new Russia, this film finds traces of
holy Russia depicted in great works of literature and art, which once inspired people
throughout the world.
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Beating the Drum
- Where the Music Does the Talking
Beating the Drum
showcases some extraordinary musicians who have migrated to Australia. Some have retained their
traditional music while others have undergone various "fusion" processes through working with
other musicians.
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Cenotaph
WWI powerfully helped to forge a unique national identity for many Australians. Those
years in which so many Australians fought and died on foreign soil formed an indelible
part of our self-image, one that still resonates today. For Hay, a small country town in
NSW, it gave up its youth to the battlefields, a great number never returned. A very
moving and personal exploration of WWI.
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Chasing the Midnight Sun
Chasing the Midnight Sun
is about three adventurers who retrace the
incredible journey made in 1930 of the British Arctic Air Route Expedition (BAARE) across
Greenland. This is a great tribute to John Rymill, an Australian who led the original
expedition. An Emmy Award winner.
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Children of the Crocodile
- A Personal History of East Timor
East Timor became an independent nation on 20th May 2002. Until that time and in their push
for independence, many East Timorese people died for this cause. This is a very personal story
of two women who were born just before Indonesia invaded and occupied their country in 1975,
and as a result fled with their families to Australia.
DVD contains extras including a speech from President Gusmao, recorded especially for this
DVD; Elizabeth Exposto talks about her work for the President as she now lives in East
Timor; and a short film Black Bullion.
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China Face and Conservation Conscious
Filmmaker, Anna Jeffries, wrote, directed and edited this short film as her student
graduation film in 2001 at the Victorian College of the Arts. It is often used as an
excellent example of filmmaking for other students.
Jeffries' use of camera angles, music and a terrific script make this a stunner.
Conservation Conscious (5 mins.), a short documentary about art preservation,
also by Anna Jeffries is on the same DVD.
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Class of '39
In 1938 the Vienna Mozart Boys' Choir left Europe to begin their concert tour around the world, their last concert to
be in Australia. But even as they walk the gangplank to return home to Europe, the guns of war have begun in Europe
and the boat never sails. In an instant they are transformed from superstars to enemy aliens in a foreign land.
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Different Blood In My Veins
Different Blood In My Veins is an interactive DVD which aims to assist young
people in recognising and understanding the physical, psychological and social experience of mental illness.
Highlights the lives of four youths all of whom bravely share their personal stories.
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Dream of Love, The
This documentary is a very personal and emotional journey of love, marriage and commitment
by filmmaker Lawrence Johnston (Eternity) as he explores the effects his parents' 59 year
marriage has had on the romantic aspirations of his brother and sisters. This is a very
intimate portrait of a family.
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Eleven Powers, The
Happening once a century, and after years of prophecy and months of preparation, the spectacular festivities known
as the Eka Dasa Rudra or Festival of the Eleven Powers on the island of Bali, are shown in this remarkable
documentary.
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Endangered
Endangered takes a moving and funny look at the scarcity of eligible Aboriginal men and the
effects this has on Aboriginal women looking for love, and the survival of Aboriginal people
and culture in South East Australia.
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Faces of War - The Battle Comes Home
Australian veterans describe the fight closer to home of the Pacific conflict against Japan
covering the war in PNG, Malaya and Borneo as they recall the horrors of the POW camps, tropical
disease and hostile jungles. Few would have guessed WWII, which began in Europe years earlier,
would end in the Pacific.
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Faces of War - The Battle for Empire
This is a first hand account of the Australian effort in Europe and the Middle East through
recollections of Australians who came face to face with the enemy. As Europe rejoiced on VE
Day, weary Australian soldiers were regrouping to meet the Japanese for the final contribution.
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Fish - an unborn soul
Fish
Fish is a cinematic adaptation of the original theatre work by Australia's Bangarra Dance
Theatre and is Stephen Page's direct debut in the film medium.
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Flour, Sugar, Tea
In Australia in 2007 the life expectancy for Indigenous men is 59. For non-Indigenous men it is 77.
Why? Within this context Flour, Sugar, Tea goes behind the statistics to tell
the personal story of John DeSatge, an inspiring Aboriginal man who should not have died so young.
Nominated for Best Short Documentary, IF Awards, 2007.
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Future of the Great Barrier Reef: Bleached or Bright?, The
Around the world rainforests are drying up, deserts are shifting, ice sheets melting and coral reefs, the rainforests
of the sea, are suffering from what's known as 'coral bleaching'.
This beautifully photographed documentary is an essential resource. DVD includes photos and trailer.
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Future Shack - (also see Last Port of Call)
Supported by Screen Tasmania, these two films, on the one DVD, showcase Tasmania and pose
the question "What constitutes a home?" In Future Shack we witness different
characters who are building 'houses' for themselves. We see how they tangle with questions about the
very nature of being human in the 21st century and how it impacts on the environment - what
is true luxury, how can we make use of the land in a responsible manner and live
harmoniously with our environment? We see what is home to a cray fisherman, a forest
gleaner and an urban architect, among many other colourful Tasmanian characters, who show
how their houses can be environmentally sustainable and at the same time, reflect their
personalities.
SPECIAL OFFER - TWO FILMS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE (also see Last Port of Call)
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Get Your Shorts Up - You Can Make Films
This is a unique interactive DVD resource that is a must-have reference for filmmakers,
educators and anyone interested in short film.
It includes: 10 short films in their entirety, audio commentaries on filmmaking,
mini documentaries on the short films.....and much much more.
(clips from three films)
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A Glorious Way to Die
This multi-award winning high adventure documentary takes us to the treacherous rapids
and canyons of central Siberia - to rivers that claim over 50 lives every year. A
group of people literally risk their lives to bring the story of their quest for
freedom, survival and friendship in the wilds of a land little known to the western
world. Rafting has never been captured on film like this before. This documentary
has not been distributed to educational institutions previously and is exclusive to
FrontRow.
Best Film, Alpin Film Festival (USA),
Grand Prix, Poprad Autrans (France) ... and many more ...
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Grandpa's Games
This is an excellent documentary challenging the stereotyping of old age. Vic Younger is
aptly named. At the 2002 World Masters Games, as a 90 year old athlete, competes in 11
events; amidst controversy, through physical ability and strong motivation, Vic shows how
this can be achieved.
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Growing Old Disgracefully
This beautiful documentary follows Terry and Dom, father and son, who undertake a
motorcycle adventure across the southern Australian landscape after a major family break up.
Both are searching for answers. This films tackles family relationships, mental illness and
depression. In his struggle for personal freedom after the family break up, Terry joins
the biker club for the over 50s Ulysses.
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Harry's War
Harry's War is an award winning film focusing
on the life of a young Aboriginal soldier, Harry, who leaves Condah Mission to fight for Australia
in Papua New Guinea. It is a film about how war drives men to the brink and the journey becomes
more important than the journey's end.
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Hold the Line
Hold the Line is the story of the Electrical Trades Union's
struggle to establish and protect members' pay and conditions through pattern bargaining to win industry-wide
agreements in the electrical contracting industry. This new documentary highlights the far-reaching effects
of the new Industrial Relations laws.
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How Do You Eat An Elephant?
Neami is a community-managed organization based in Melbourne that provides support and
rehabilitation services to people who experience a serious mental illness living in the
community. As part of its mission, Neami invited six people living with a mental
illness to participate in this DVD to help raise awareness.
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Into the Lighthouse
This award winning documentary gives a rare look into day-to-day life at an adolescent drug and
alcohol treatment centre, illustrating with raw veracity, the affects of drugs and alcohol on a
group of teenagers who have had lives of abuse and sadness.
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Invincible Summer
James Freemantle is a television 'lifestyle' reporter well-known for his whacky and
adventurous stories. James was diagnosed with depression 15 years ago. This is
James' 'other side' - a very personal story about his struggle with depression.
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Isabellas, The - The Long March
This documentary follows Chen Xing Liang, a teacher and political dissident who left his house,
job and friends in China to embark upon a remarkable journey in pursuit of democratic ideals
and a new life in Australia. This film raises the issues of human rights, freedom of speech,
alienation, detention, immigration and refugee status which remain contentious issues within
Australia.
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Island Style
A very personal story following the lives of four young Pacific Islanders, friends linked
by their own stories and an equal passion for Hip Hop music and culture...
..... A fabulously uplifting program which uses music and dance to tell the story and give
expression to the sensitive issues of alienation and displacement.
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Kokoda Trail The - More Than Just A War Memorial
Being a volunteer for Australian Volunteers International means contributing to Australia's
understanding of other cultures and is also a journey of self. This film documents a group of
young Australians who journey to the remote villages on the Kokoda Trail in PNG and live and
work with the traditional landowners, known as the fuzzy wuzzy angels of the 1942 Kokoda
campaign.
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Last Breadbox - The
The Last Breadbox
is a no seat-belts look at Beijing in metamorphosis, told through the eyes of three cabbies
awaiting the decision for the 2008 Olympic host city. This is an excellent example of how
an event such as the Olympics changes the lives of ordinary people, showing how each of
them live, expressing what it means to be Chinese, to be taxi drivers and why the Beijing
Olympics will change the face of China forever.
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Last Port of Call (see also Future Shack)
Supported by Screen Tasmania, these two films, on the one DVD, showcase Tasmania and pose
the question "What constitutes a home?" In a remote corner of Flinders Island in Bass Strait,
Finnish-born sailor, Arne Erikssen, has spent 20 years building a village out of driftwood
and other remnants washed in from the sea. This documentary captures a very intriguing man
whose imagination and sense of adventure has led to a very fulfilling life and makes us ask
what constitutes 'home'
SPECIAL OFFER - TWO FILMS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE (also see Future Shack)
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Mao's New Suit
The changing face of China is evident in this intriguing documentary charting the course of
two Beijing fashion designers who are staging their first fashion show.
For decades people in China modelled themselves on Chairman Mao who wore a simple worker's
outfit in blue or grey, but this is now a thing of the past as capitalism paves its way into
China.
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Margaret Mead and Samoa
This award winning documentary shows one of the most intriguing conflicts within anthropology. It tells the story of
Margaret Mead, who in 1926 travelled to Samoa to investigate whether nature or nurture was the predominant factor in
determining the behaviour of the Samoans. Many years later, Derek Freeman, a great believer in Margaret Mead's work,
also travelled to Samoa to the awaited paradise which had captivated him. He finds a very different society of
people, in fact the opposite to Margaret Mead's observations.
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Mutiny on the Western Front
This extraordinary film tells the saga of Australians at war on the Western Front
culminating in a mutiny in the Australian Army in France in 1918. These are very personal
stories from WWI. The soldiers, who are now all deceased, re-visit the trenches they fought
in, recall the food they ate and the clothing they wore and where they slept in the trenches
and, importantly, what war meant to them. A very moving, personal documentary.
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My Brother Vinnie
My Brother Vinnie tells the story of Aaron and Vinnie Pedersen.
Aaron and Vinnie are two brothers who have grown up as each others' shadow. From a very young age Vinnie gave his
older brother Aaron duty of care.
Best Documentary, Melbourne International Film Festival 2006;
Best Documentary, Flickerfest International Film Festival 2007;
Audience Award and Best Documentary, St Kilda Film Festival, 2007.
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One Earth Many Voices
In 2005 eight indigenous artists from Australia went on a cross cultural tour of East
African villages in conjunction with the University of NSW. This documentary shows unique
performances between Australian and East African indigenous groups including Kenya's Masai.
The results are extraordinary, the similarities uncanny and the effect of this cultural
exchange is one which will last forever.
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Op Shop Ladies of Emerald Hill
An affectionate documentary following elderly volunteers Lil and Mavis as their favourite
charity shop in South Melbourne struggles to stay open amidst financial pressures and a
threatened auction of the premises.
Lil and Mavis watch as the shop is given a facelift and a new management structure to raise
its profile and increase its profit margin.
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Paradise Camp
Of all the Nazi crimes against humanity, the name of Theresienstadt stands alone. This concentration camp in
Czechoslovakia had no gas chamber, though its death toll was appalling. It stands alone because it became the
so-called "Model Jewish Community" - a macabre showpiece for the Red Cross and the world who were duped by this lie.
The Nazis even gave it a special name: they called it Paradise Camp.
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Parts of a Horse
Shelley is an eleven year old girl who filters all experience through the impossible dream
of owning her own horse. The only voice she finds meaningful is her own, obsessively
reciting equine anatomy. This short film deals with the sensitive issue of child sexual
abuse and is from the child's point of view. It is recommend that professionals view this
film prior to use with others. Extensive Study Guide included.
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Peacemaker/Peacekeeper
- Serving in the United Nations
This moving and compelling documentary shows members of the United Nations peacekeeping
forces serving in Cambodia and Somalia. They themselves tell us about how they feel about
leaving their own families to serve in countries they have never been to before, adjusting to
a new country, another culture and finally re-adjusting to their old lives when they return
home.
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Playing for the Solomons
The soccer World Cup is the most popular event in the world, attracting an audience larger
than the Olympic Games. In 1992 the Solomon Islands entered the world arena and played the
Australian Socceroos. This is a beautiful documentary showing how an undeveloped country
such as the Solomon Islands gets its team together; lacking finances and facilities, their
determination to do their best for their team and their country is indeed an inspiration.
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Pria
Pria is a 15 year-old South-Asian teenager who wants to approach a boy she is attracted
to but is too self conscious about her heavy South Asian accent. She tries to lose
her accent by imitating lines from her favorite films, but this really just masks her
real insecurities.
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Rachel: A Perfect Life
This intimate award-winning observational documentary follows Rachel, a young woman seeking surgery to control her
epilepsy. She is a very resilient person who has faced many problems in life and now wants brain surgery to free
her of epilepsy and to give her a new life, a perfect life.
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Secret Fear
- Anxiety and Depression
This documentary focuses on the lives and experiences of several people who suffer or have
recovered from an anxiety disorder including renowned Australian actor, Garry McDonald.
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Servant of the Ancestors
Twenty-four years after migrating to Australia, for
Patricia Nunn to return to Swaziland is a huge decision and one which changes her life forever.
The racial tensions and painful memories of living as "mixed race"
in Apartheid South Africa are confronted as she strives to do what's right for her and her
family.
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Shadow Sister
- A Film Biography of Aboriginal Poet Kath Walker (Oodgeroo Noonuccal), MBE
Kath Walker (Oodgeroo Noonuccal) is a unique Australian poet. Her deeply expressive poems, and
her stand with other Aboriginal campaigners during the 1960s, contributed greatly to the world's
growing awareness of the Australian Aboriginal cause.
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Shadowland - Moguls Models and Billions
Moguls, Models and Billions
is an innovative, cutting-edge DVD package about the importance of empowering youth to voice
their experiences and engage in the stories of others. It is about giving youth a voice on the
topic of consumerism and providing them with a platform to learn and express views through the
use of extensive study guides (easily downloaded), short films, music videos, an on-line
interaction facility and community.
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Shanghai Bride
The effects of the one-child policy in China, combined with a rapid revolution in values and
lifestyle, have created an increasingly selective society of middle class Shanghai women. Two
single males to every single female - how does the average man find a wife in materialistic
Shanghai?
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Sharp End, The - Witnesses of Vietnam
Theirs was a world lived in the immediate present where death determined their future...
....This is the first major documentary to look at the Vietnam War from an Australian point of
view. This is what war is really about and through the eyes and voices of Australian servicemen,
correspondents, doctors, nurses, priests and families at home - they relive their experiences
and emotions.
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Sin Embargo - Never the Less
After the revolution of 1959 and the US embargo that followed, the people of Cuba were left to
fend for themselves. This is a story of ingenuity of a people placed under enormous pressure
by either government or circumstance, yet these things cannot crush their spirit or quash the
desire to forge a better life for themselves and their families.
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Standing Together
This is an excellent documentary exploring the industrial dispute between BHP Billiton and
the Electrical Trades Union when workers at the Victorian BHP Hastings site went on strike
over their job security in 2002.
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Strung Out
- Australian Chamber Orchestra
Strung Out
presents this brilliant young orchestra with an outstanding international
reputation for artistic excellence.
We join the ACO on tour and find out what makes the orchestra tick, how they make ends
meet, and how to get a double bass onto a plane without damaging it!
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Sword and the Flower - The
The impact of war changes people's lives dramatically and for three Australians, their lives are linked to Japan
forever. This moving documentary tells their stories and also how they feel about war and Japan many years later.
It is indeed a revealing documentary.
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Tenth Dancer,The
In 1975 the Khmer Rouge began a 3 year reign
of terror in Cambodia. The cities were emptied and the population was forced back to year zero.
Intellectuals and artists were targets. This is the story of a remarkable dancer, Em Theay,
and her prize pupil who survived Pol Pot's killing fields and returned to rebuild
Cambodia's ballet troupe.
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Through a Child's Eyes
Hundreds of millions of people in our world live on less than one dollar a day. The
facts and statistics of poverty distress us daily. But what does it mean in human
terms to really live in such dire poverty. Through a Child's Eyes
presents a true picture of daily life told by the people themselves, told through the eyes of nine
year old children. Moving, yet uplifting, human stories of life in poverty told by
seven very special children from India, Egypt, New York, Romania, Cambodia, Rwanda
and Brazil, who share in earnest their experiences of life in poverty so articulately
while retaining their joyous spirit of childhood.
Winner, Best Director, new York Film Festival, 2006.
Official Selection, Australian International Film Festival, 2006.
To view the Director's Statement
click here
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Troubled Waters
In the 1970s Australia expanded its territorial borders by 200 nautical miles to take advantage of the rich oil and
gas deposits in the Timor Sea. For centuries before, fishermen from the island of Roti in Indonesia have been
fishing for their livelihood in these same waters.
Winner, Dendy Award, Best Documentary, Sydney International Film Festival 2002.
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Untold Desires
Untold Desires highlights the struggle that people with disabilities face
in their quest to be recognised as sexual beings, free to express their sexuality and lead
sexually active lives.
In the sometimes sensitive area of sexuality, people with
disabilities find that their own needs are often subverted by the conservative values of those
who provide essential care.
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Valley, The
This is a true story of transformation in the Omo Valley of Ethiopia. Blind, 90 year old Baba
Damtew recalls the changes in his valley, from his childhood, through the dreadful years of
famine to the arrival of relief aid. But his story does not stop there.
The Valley shows how Baba's community, with the assistance of World Vision
Ethiopia, has taken careful steps to reverse the trend of environmental destruction and
poverty, and can now look forward to a brighter future.
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Where Death Wears a Smile
This remarkable documentary has been re-released for sale to educational institutions
exclusively through FrontRow. It tells the story of a group of Australian and New Zealand
soldiers who were sent to the end of the line: The Small Fortress of Theresienstadt, a
concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. Stripped of their national and military status they were
hidden from view and became political prisoners.
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Yamaji Man
- Walking in two worlds
Yamaji Man is an intimate portrait of a musical
virtuoso who survived against the odds. Mark Atkins is an inspirational didjeridu player, born
from a Yamaji mother and Irish father, a man from two worlds.
Mark invites us on tour where he plays in New York with Philip Glass, but his return home to
Australia is equally important for his inspiration as an artist and his reconnection to his
heritage, an acknowledgement and acceptance of his past.
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Your Turn
This short film shows a typical incident of bullying, giving examples of verbal, physical and
racial abuse, direct and indirect. It also shows the point of view of each participant in the
incident as well as highlighting examples of stereotypes that can hurt and denigrate people.
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