Film Australia

The adventures of Golden Retriever pup Napoleon and his friend, the parrot Birdo Lucci.

The difficulty of separating sexual fantasy and reality becomes apparent in an investigation of an alleged sexual harassment case.

A disturbing drama about a young mother who physically abuses her baby. Feeling overwhelmed and aware that she's not coping after the birth of her third child, she sends desperate cries for help. But her mother, husband, neighbour and clinic sister do not recognise the seriousness of the situation until the baby ends up in hospital with a fractured skull. A heart-wrenching film that illustrates the experiences of many women who suffer from post-natal depression.

Generally regarded as Australia's finest railway film and winner of many awards the world over, A Steam Train Passes is a nostalgic, imaginative essay on one of the majestic C38 class steam locomotives, 3801. The locomotive has recently returned to service and is currently operating out of the NSW Rail Museum at Thirlmere, south of Sydney.

Why do women and girls feel insecure about body image, and what thoughts tempt them towards eating disorders and other strange beauty rituals? Gorgeous follows the perils of cartoon character Hermoine the Modern Girl as she tackles plastic surgery, beauty therapy and bulimia in a feral fit of inadequacy. Undermined by her evil inner voice, otherwise known as Deirdre the Weird Fairy, Hermoine journeys from heavy chocolate biscuit abuse to tortuous treatment at the beauty salon, the boutique and the gym. After narrowly escaping the clutches of an out-of-control plastic surgeon, Hermoine finally rebels against Deidre’s obsession with eating behaviour and ‘beauty’ and proves that modern girls can stop feeling inadequate and regain their self-esteem.

For 24 years East Timor's freedom fighter and Nobel Peace Prize winner José Ramos Horta campaigned to secure independence for his country, a Portuguese colony invaded by Indonesia in 1975. The Diplomat takes up Ramos Horta's story in the final dramatic stages of his long journey - the fall of Indonesia's President Suharto, the referendum to determine East Timor's future, the overwhelming vote for independence, the devastating carnage that ensued, the intervention of United Nations peacekeepers, and Ramos Horta's final triumphant return to his homeland.

On 20 October 1973, the Sydney Opera House was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II. From conception to completion, it had taken more than 15 years and over $100 million dollars. In the years since its completion, the Sydney Opera House has become one of the most identifiable of Australia’s icons - ranking with the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Uluru, the koala and kangaroo - and is considered by many to be among the world's great architectural masterpieces.

Ann (Kerry Walker) cleans for a living. She confronts problems like a vacuum cleaner sucks up dirt from the carpet. She shares everything she has with her two moody children (Noah Taylor, Sarah Hooper) and her equally erratic neighbours. She also shares everything her rich and constantly out-of-town employers have. While Ann vacuums her clients’ penthouses, her friends enjoy the million dollar views, luxury appointments, home gyms, cocktails by the pool - the things they have always wanted, but could never in their wildest dreams afford.

Aussie boys of Asian descent candidly discuss their status as a "minority within a minority".

Cunnamulla, 800 kilometres west of Brisbane, is the end of the railway line. In the months leading up to a scorching Christmas in the bush, there's a lot more going on than the annual lizard race. Here, Aboriginal and white Australians live together but apart. Creativity struggles against indifference, eccentricity against conformity.

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.

An observational documentary which looks at Sydney’s first community Aboriginal radio station, 88.9 Radio Redfern. Set against a backdrop of contemporary Aboriginal music, 88.9 Radio Redfern offers a special and rare exploration of the people, attitudes and philosophies behind the lead up to a different type of celebration of Australia’s Bicentennial Year. Throughout 1988, 88.9 Radio Redfern became an important focal point for communication and solidarity within the Aboriginal community. The film reveals how urban blacks are adapting social structures such as the mass media to serve their needs.

Made by the Department of Immigration to entice immigrants from Great Britain, this film shows an idyllic picture of life in the New South Wales regional town of Wagga Wagga in the mid 1960s.

When six-year-old Robbie takes up residence in his favourite tree to be with his friend the peewee bird, his family is forced to se the world from his point of view.

The Douglas Mawson Antarctic Expedition of 1912 is considered one of the most amazing feats of endurance of all time. Although his two companions perished, Douglas Mawson survived, but how? In a bold historical experiment, scientist and adventurer Tim Jarvis is retracing the gruelling experience, with the same meagre rations, primitive clothing and equipment to uncover what happened to Mawson physically — and mentally — as a man hanging on the precipice of life and death.

Made by the Department of Immigration to entice immigrants from Great Britain, this film shows an idyllic picture of life in the Western Australian regional town of Geraldton in the mid 1960s.

Shot with a big cowboy nod to the Western genre, this road safety film shows the danger of speeding on an unknown country road at night.

This animated short film traces the adventures of a young Muttaburrasaurus who gets separated from his family. He wanders through wooded and coastal areas encountering other prehistoric animals and reptiles as he tries to find his way home.

A documentary detailing the spread of Hawaiian sugar-cane toads through Australia in a botched effort to introduce them as counter pests.

Torn by the conflict between society and her own life, as well as her failing marriage and love for another woman, Cass desperately tried to pull together the pieces of her shattered life.