Discover Movies

A film made for the Melbourne Super-8 Film Group's "Postcode" series. In this case, images of 3066 (Collingwood), set to Patti Smith's "Spell" - holy, holy, all is holy.

Hundreds of millions of years pass by in less than half an hour in this fascinating journey through Australia's natural history, from the creation of the world to the extinction of humanity far in the future. Ancient fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals and marsupials are all brought back to life in brilliant 3-D animation.

Jack and Terri decide to run away from their foster parents to find their real dad, Tom, a merchant seaman. Their journey takes them through adventures and mishaps.

A look at the local court system in Campbelltown, NSW.

A Marxist/feminist critique of capitalism and consumerism.

The landscape was never indifferent. The barbed-wire fence has snagged the skyline. The bath water is tepid. And every night when you lie down you fall flat.

A group of different activities and things are associated according to the idea of "construction".

A couple of happy-go-lucky Venetian gondoliers discover that one of them is heir to the throne of a distant kingdom.

Aftershocks is a 1998 Australian TV film based on the theatre production of the same name about the 1989 Newcastle earthquake, focusing on the Newcastle Workers Club.

Ruby and Corbet have a mutual friend, Professor Von Dog-Reutter. The professor enjoys a good scientific challenge. Unfortunately it leads to death, destruction and possession by demons.

Linda Dement's Smile (1996) represents an abstracted bodily form that evolves through technology. The video begins with a skin-like texture stretched across the surface of the screen. The skin is slit, lips grow from the bloody gash and metal adaptations replace teeth in a swift gesture.

In the history of Aussie Rules footy, the games Wild Men have become a legend through their on-field antics. From the greats of yesteryear to the champions of the modern era.

This astonishing documentary investigates how an advertising slogan invented by Madison Avenue executives in 1948 has come to define our most intimate and romantic rituals and ideals. The Diamond Empire, which sent shockwaves through the transnational diamond industry when it first appeared, systematically takes apart the myth that "diamonds are forever." It exposes how one white South African family, through a process of monopoly and fantasy, managed to exert control over the global flow of diamonds and change the very way we think about courtship, marriage, and love - an achievement all the more stunning given that diamonds are in fact neither scarce nor imperishable. Zeroing in on how "the diamond empire" managed to convert something valueless into one of the most coveted commodities in history, the film provides a riveting look at how marketing and consumer culture shape not only global trade and economics, but also our very identities.

An underground nightclub in recovery from a dance party plays host to 'Vixen' who encounters and interviews the beautiful and the bizarre.

A view of Sydney Harbour. Australia's feathered icon laughs the bridge into animation. The bridge dances to a rhythm created by the hype which sails beneath it. A parody of a view which people pay millions to be near.

A hitman encounters opposition from the organisation he works for when he decides to leave his job for the woman he loves. Fists, feet and bullets fly in the explosive finale.

Sweethearts is a 1990 Australian film directed by Colin Talbot and starring Christabel Wigley and John F. Howard.

A film about Michelangelo's dream of the connection of the fingertips.

Zubrycki’s controversial, provocative and rarely screened documentary about the Australian trade-union movement was originally commissioned by the ACTU and funded by the Bicentennial Authority to provide an audio-visual history stretching from the birth of the movement in the mid-1850s and the formation of the Australian Labor Party to key events like the 1891 shearers’ strike and the 1988 Bicentenary. This pro-union but objective history, focusing on the struggle between capital and labour, and featuring the candid testimony of many unionists, was refused sanction by the ACTU and has long languished in obscurity aside from some “illegal” screenings in the early 1990s.

A love poem, set to Big Star's song "Thirteen".

Documentary on Australian actor Ernie Dingo. As an actor, Ernie Dingo has played many parts, but many people see his major achievement as being a role model for other Aborigines. This film traces the life of the WA actor from his birth in a corrugated iron shed on Bullado station to early childhood in Mullewa, and his high school years in Geraldton to the beginning of his acting career.

A report following the dramatic events of the Sandline affair, which resulted in the resignation of Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister, Sir Julius Chan.

Doc, an American Vietnam vet, travels to Australia to discover his friend John has been murdered by a mysterious crime boss known as Pirate. Doc inherits John's nightclub and finds it staffed by beautiful women. Finding himself at war with thugs trying to take over the club, he hatches a plan to expose Pirate's identity, save the club, and allow him to get it on with the babes.

An idyllic ride in the country is shattered when Tessa takes a joke too far and hitches a ride with a stranger. Too late she finds the driver has other games in mind for her and she is no match for his addiction to thrills. In this psychological game of cat and mouse, Tessa and her boyfriend Nick are led on a merry dance of murder and intrigue. This film takes you into the darker limits of madness but on a ride with offbeat and strangely humorous turns.

"A famous filmmaker said 'Cinema is the history of men filming women.'" These 12 words are rearranged in Cheap Blonde 22 times, to alter and corrupt the original meaning of the statement. This work aims to highlight the contrived nature of every filmed image.

Set in 1950s Australia, in which a Chinese family comes to terms with its new country.

A document of various '45's, various 'singles'. Bill, Eléni, and George. Diary film? Documentary film? Fiction film? All this and more, in the film-maker's 45th film.

A crooning rat with an accoutrement of gifts tries to woo the lady of the lair - a cat no less. Will he succeed where others failed, thanks to his loving ballad?

Various shots of inner-city Melbourne, with an eclectic soundtrack.

In 1990 Macartney-Snape returned once again to Mt Everest with the idea of climbing the mountain from the sea to the summit. The idea had originally been floated by adventure cameraman Michael Dillon. With sponsorship provided by Australian Geographic amongst others, it would take Macartney-Snape three months to achieve this goal. This was the first time anyone had walked from sea level and reached the top of Mt Everest, as even the first expeditions started from Kathmandu, at 1400m above sea level. Although Macartney-Snape planned climbing Everest via the more difficult West Ridge, bad weather and strong avalanche risk changed his plans and he finally ascended via the South Col route.

The name Shaw is synonymous with Collingwood. The name Tony Shaw belongs now in the history books of Australia's greatest game. Captain of Collingwood's drought-breaking 1990 Premiership team, Tony Shaw stepped into history by leading Collingwood to that emotion-charged victory.

A life veiled, by a very old tree. Rock solid. One shot. From darkness to light, the aperture opens. Only one thing can be said: vale Karen Carpenter.

The Doug Anthony All Stars were an Australian musical comedy group who performed together between 1984 and 1994. The band was an acoustic trio comprising Paul McDermott and Tim Ferguson on main vocals and Richard Fidler on guitar and backing vocals. They were known for their aggressive, provocative style; their habit of involving audience members and their tendency to attack topical and sometimes controversial issues in their comedy. Dead & Alive, is a live recording of one of their London shows...

Australian Short Film

A gay man has lost his lover to a fatal illness and is trying to go on with his life. If only his preparations for a night of dancing weren't constantly reminding him of the one that he lost.

In Memory of Laura is a shocking blend of psychological horror and sexual obsession. When a man loses his one true love his depression soon turns to insanity. His fractured mind leads him on a relentless hunt through sordid lonely streets for a replacement for Laura, dead or alive. This unnerving, squalid short is truly unsettling to watch.

An exploration into the different types of families, be it queer, straight or whatever takes your fancy.

A drug artist designs a new piece that is triggered by exposure to audio visual static.

Jarman was blue. Mousoulis is green.

During World War II there were nearly 2,500 Allied prisoners held in Sandakan POW camp in British North Borneo. Along with the ravages of war and the struggle to survive abject conditions, only six of these POW's were found alive when the war finally ended. In the years that followed, the horror stories of human depravity and the atrocities committed by the Japanese at Sandakan POW camp would come to light, considered by many as one of the most devastating chapters of the Pacific War.

“Somewhere I read a headline ‘One million trees will be chopped down’ and I was absolutely horrified. My association with the Bush goes back a long time, and thinking that one day it might not be there tied my stomach in knots. I felt physically sick...like seasick...really off. Images were fermenting in my head, but I couldn’t see how to film what I was feeling. How do you film a blinding headache? A churning premonition? I tried shooting toothpaste glasses, filters, but nothing worked...until I found a way of doing it where I had these household glasses spinning at very fast speed in front of the lens. I didn’t want the film to be didactic, like Scars...more a veiled and brooding warning about impending loss.” (Paul Winkler)

This acclaimed adaptation of Tchaikovsky's fabled masterwork from Graeme Murphy and the Australian Ballet tells the story of a famous Russian ballerina who immigrates to Australia in the 1940s, only to find a newly tumultuous life awaiting. Noel Smith conducts the State Orchestra of Victoria, and Vicki Attard, Siobhan Elsmann, Steven Heathcote and Dame Margaret Scott star in this 1994 production. Nutcracker was recorded live at the State Theatre, Melbourne, Sep. 22, 1994.

The most requested segments from the Rats Arse tour including - 'Celebrity Sperm Bank', 'Ladies and Gentlemen'. Also featuring the songs - 'I Hate Cats Vol. 02' and 'Why Won't Rolf Harris Just f*!#off and Die'.

Australian cultural attaché Sir Les Patterson visits his old haunts in Hong Kong before its administrative rule is returned from Britain to China.

The tragic story of an underground film star who's hedonistic and thrill-seeking lifestyle came to a sudden stop when his body was found on the side of the road.

Single frame glimpses of life in Ubud, Bali, to Kecak Music. (Arthur Cantrill & Corinne Cantrill)

Explores the life and work of Gordon Bennett, a young artist from Brisbane whose paintings break away from established images and concepts and instead have their perspectives shaped by Australian and European cultural influences.

Photography and music by Michael Lee.

Cassie thought that the deserted beach town would be the perfect escape from the past, from her unfaithful lover and painful memories. Peace is short-lived. In this serene town hides a sickening evil. Her only escape may be in the obscurity of a mental asylum. However, it is here the evil will find her also.

OZ Encounters is the remarkable eye-popping one-hour documentary that features extraordinary UFO sightings and encounters. The result is an amazing cross-section of case studies from all walks of life--farmers, bank managers, wedding photographers, nurses, doctors, children, housewives. These people's experiences range from multiple sigh tings and encounters to abductions. OZ Encounters takes a non-judgmental approach to the accounts, providing a truly impartial Australian perspective on this fascinating subject which is bound to stimulate public consciousness. The film incorporates people presenting their stories in their own words with the latest in 3-D animation and exciting dramatizations of their experiences. OZ Encounters ... unbelievable stories told by the ordinary people whose lives will never to be the same again.

Fourth of 6 animated shorts made for Nickelodeon.

“Sydney. Another symphony of the city...inspired by the hectic, rollercoaster times. Buildings were going up left right and centre...‘Money Makes the World Go Round’ came to mind...I developed a little device which carried lenses in front of the camera, with a motor which made the images actually go around...people in the city...people and money going ‘round and ‘round. The soundtrack was pinball machines and muzak. Sydney was showing off its wealth, spreading out and up...Darling Harbour...more and more sparkling glass. A lot of it was the Emperor’s new clothes...many of those ‘buildings’ are still only holes in the ground.” (Paul Winkler)

Jørn Utzon, acclaimed architect of the Sydney Opera House, tells the story of the design and construction of his masterpiece.

A charcoal animation of the meeting of a woman and a man.

The proboscis monkey is one of Borneo's most threatened species. This program is about the behaviour of the proboscis monkey, the habitat in which it lives and some of the creatures it shares this habitat with.

This playful video from famed director and photographer Tracey Moffatt turns the tables on traditional representations of desire to examine the power of the female gaze in the objectification of men’s bodies. HEAVEN begins with surreptitiously taped documentary footage of brawny surfers changing in and out of bathing and wet-suits. While the soundtrack switches between the ocean surf and male chanting, Moffatt moves closer to alternately flirt with and tease her subjects, who respond with a combination of preening and macho reticence.

In the tradition of the 20th century classic novel 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance', Growing Old Disgracefully is a biker documentary about a son's struggle to understand his father five years after a family break-up. Riding with his dad and the Ulysses club, we trace a motorcycle adventure across the southern Australian landscape, and the emotional terrain of family relationships.

The Crusades had finished and Robin Hood and his band of merry men had disbanded. That is until the Sheriff of Nottingham escapes with the much valued Crown Jewels of the King.

A gay nightclub owner decides to stand for the first presidency of Australia. His motive was commercial at first but he sees he could contribute something to the job. On election night he is not elected but on advice from his solicitor they contest the outcome in the courts. They win on a technicality. The boyfriend of the president though confesses he's still a royalist at heart.