Nazi Supergrass
This documentary explores the life and times of Russell Dean Willey, a neo-Nazi supergrass, in order to explain the presence of Jack Van Tongeren's Australian Nationalists Movement in Australia, and its spread, especially in difficult economic times.
Antarctic Pioneers
Presented by explorer Frank Hurley in his final film appearance, this documentary chronicles Australia's role in the scientific exploration of Antarctica and the hardships the pioneers endured. Using archival footage, this film spans from 1911, following Sir Douglas Mawson's first expedition, to Phillip Law establishing the continent's first permanent research station in 1954.
First Warrior
Australia was colonized in the late 1700s. Pemulwuy, a man of the Bidjigal tribes — from the region that is today modern-day Sydney — led a 12-year resistance against British settlers moving into his people’s traditional lands.
Burke & Wills
A story based on true events about two explorers on a doomed journey trying to cross Australia on foot in the 19 century.
Dan Morgan
From the life and criminal career of bushranger Dan Morgan, leading up to his violent death at the hands of police.
The Legend of Fred Paterson
The story of Fred Paterson, member for Bowen in the Queensland parliament in the 1940s and the only Communist Party member ever elected to any Australian parliament.
Federation
An epic tale about the making of Australia. This tells the stories of the founding fathers and of the people in six separate colonies in the decades leading to Federation. It's a tale of winners and losers, of great debates which unified the country, of the struggle not just to make an Australian nation, but to create Australian democracy.
Sydney in Time
Sydney in Time is a rich and powerful story that charts the evolution of Sydney from its early years as a colonial outpost through to its emergence as a dynamic world city. The one-hour documentary looks back at the people, places and front page stories that have shaped a great city and helped define Australia.
Cavalcade of Australia 1901-1951
Produced to celebrate the Jubilee of Federation, Cavalcade of Australia provides an historical review of the development of the nation between 1901 and 1951. The film opens with the visit of the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George V and Queen Mary) to Australia in 1901 to open the first Commonwealth Parliament. Through the use of historical footage, the film not only covers notable events in the Commonwealth story but also social development, fashions and economic growth over the period.
For the Honour of Australia
For the Honour of Australia is a 1916 film composed of footage from two 1915 Australian silent films, For Australia and How We Beat the Emden, plus the documentary How We Fought the Emden.
The Birth of White Australia
An early Australian silent film depicting historical events on the Young district goldfields, then known as Lambing Flat. During the gold rush of 1861, tensions between Australian miners and immigrant Chinese led to rioting, with Chinese miners attacked and driven from the diggings. The film portrays these events as being the genesis - or birth - of the White Australia policy, a significant political issue of the day.
The Ripple Effect
The Ripple Effect is a powerful documentary primarily centred around St Kilda legend and proud Noongar Nicky Winmar's generation-defining stand against racism at Victoria Park in 1993.
For Love or Money
Using almost totally historical material, For Love or Money encompasses the role of Australian women in both paid and unpaid work, over a 200 year period.
The Skin of Others
Douglas Grant (c. 1885–1951) was an Aboriginal man who became widely known in his own lifetime: an intellectual, a journalist, a soldier in the First World War, a reader of Shakespeare and a bagpipe player who could hold a convincing Scottish accent. His path ran from Australia to Britain and Europe and back, crossing those of Henry Lawson and Archduke Franz Ferdinand along the way. Balang Tom E. Lewis retraces that life in reflections by turns thoughtful and playful, and through it the longer history of colonial Australia and its relationship with First Nations people.
Shares in Murder
Beth Tyson is murdered in her mansion. Chief Inspector Fields, Inspector Bramell and Detective Philbert present three different versions of this crime.
Fortress Australia: The Secret Bid for the Atomic Bomb
This documentary explores one of the most extraordinary chapters in Australia's history - the attempts by successive Australian governments to fortress the nation with atomic weapons.
An Inconvenient Encounter
In the midst of The Great Emu War and post depression in rural Australia, two contrasting yet equally half-witted farmers, John and Rob, face head to head with one of the dangerous beasts. Against the guidance of indifferent Army officials, the farmers deal with the situation themselves.
Blood on the Coal
A story of struggle and tragedy, the film features harrowing underground disasters, heroic rescues and traces a history of strikes, industrial turmoil and the current push by global mining giants to destroy regional communities and replace local mineworkers with a subservient itinerant workforce.
The Search for the Palace Letters
This remarkable documentary tells the story of Professor Jenny Hocking, the historian who took on the Australian Government and HM Queen Elizabeth II in a landmark legal battle - and won.
Australia Says Yes
Packed with drama, high emotions and cliff-hanger moments, Australia Says Yes is the intimate and personal history of struggle and perseverance that propelled Australia to say Yes to marriage equality. The film shows how a group of determined individuals fought tirelessly against unjust laws that treated LGBTIQ people as second-class citizens, creating a movement that saw them go from criminals to legally equal over the course of five decades.