film list

Documentary

	A Little Bit Mongolian Documentary Director: Michael Dillon	Over the ranges of Northern Mongolia a foreign boy is racing on horseback with the local children. His name is Angus. He is twelve years old, and he's from Australia.
	A Very Short War Documentary Director: Myles Conti & Bill Young	A VERY SHORT WAR is the deeply moving story of the short life of Jack Clifford ‘Cliff’ Carpenter, a daredevil young Australian aviator of the 1930’s who, along with his crew, was the first of the Allied servicemen to lose their lives in the defense of Norway during World War II.
	Anatomy of a Massacre Documentary Director: Andrew Sully Starring: Dr. Soren Blau, Max Stahl, Luis Fondebrider	Anatomy of a Massacre follows an Australian led forensic investigation to find the missing protestors from the 1991 Santa Cruz Massacre in Dili, East Timor.
	Art in an Upstairs Alley Documentary Director: David Muir	This documentary, with a modern jazz score, follows David Bromley’s creation of a corporate mural at The Gauge in Melbourne. A team effort by several artists, the work is also a tribute to the great urban architect Le Corbusier.
	Artists of Ali Curung Documentary Director: Robyn Nardoo, Shane Mulcahy	This uplifting documentary demonstrates the amazing spiritual power that real, living art can bring to artists whose work is inextricably entwined in every aspect of their life.
	Aunty Betelnut Documentary Director: Natasha Henry	A diverse group of five Papua Ginean aunties gather to partake in a timeless tradition and share memories of their homeland.
	Back to Burlesque Documentary Director: Michael McCall	JoJo de Milo, a staid IT specialist by day and a risqué burlesque dancer by night, sees this vintage dance style of tease as a post-feminist revival that empowers women. Germaine Greer might have a different view.
	Big Fella Documentary Director: Michael Longbottom	This is the story about the crippling health effects of diabetes and obesity in indigenous communities throughout Australia, and one man’s love for life, his battle to stay alive, and his fight against the demons of obesity and diabetes.
	Blank Canvas Documentary Director: Tim Slade	After a difficult period of loss and change for the company, Spanish-born choreographer, Rafael Bonachela, was appointed Artistic Director of Sydney Dance Company.
	Boxing for Palm Island Documentary Director: Adrian Wills	There is a new generation of warriors on Palm Island, a place with a dark history and a less than stellar reputation. They are fighting back and taking the future into their own hands with the help and support of Uncle Ray – the man who has brought boxing back to Palm Island.
	Bring 'em Back Documentary Director: Phillip Donnellon	Director Phillip Donnellon's documentary, full of humour and passion, harks back to a time before the government sell off of public assets, to a debate that brought this city to a standstill and caused deep divisions within the Victorian Labor party.
	Cane Toads: The Conquest Documentary Director: Mark Lewis	Mark Lewis traces the devastating migration of these amphibian invaders.
	Catching Cancer Documentary Director: Sonya Pemberton	One in three of us will get cancer at some stage in our lives. From the moment of diagnosis the common cry is “why me?” Now, across the planet, a select group of scientists is hunting cancer-causing infections. Startling new evidence is revealing that viruses and bacteria are triggering some of the biggest killers of our time. And, believe it or not, this is good news.
	Cicada Documentary Director: Daniel P. Jones	An incendiary visceral monologue, cicada is a retelling of the first memory of Daniel P Jones who, aged 5, witnessed a brutal execution style murder.
	Don't Thank Me, Thank AA: the Dave Mustaine story Documentary Director: Mia Timpano	The last journalist who spoke to Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine, he publicly threatened to hospitalise. I was next. A documentary by Frankie senior writer Mia Timpano, starring the greatest thrash guitarist of all time, Megadeth's Dave Mustaine.
	Drive Documentary Director: Bronwyn Purvis, Telen Rodwell	Drive examines the relationship between men and their cars - and the impact of their love of speed on family and community.
	Every Second Weekend Documentary Director: Scott Holgate	There’s three sides to every story, his, hers, and the truth and somewhere along the journey we come to that truth – Tony Miller Director/ Founder of Dad’s In Distress.
	Eye Documentary Director: Andy Canny, Donna McCrum	Bindi Cole travels from her Melbourne home to the far north of Australia to document the beautiful transgender 'Sistergirls' of the Tiwi Islands.
	Father Joe and the Bangkok Slaughterhouse Documentary Director: James Lingwood	This confronting documentary is the story of a fearless Catholic priest caught in the crossfire between good and evil in the poorest slums of Bangkok. The impact of sex trafficking, drugs and HIV/AIDS on children is graphically depicted.
	First Love Documentary Director: Claire Gorman Starring: Featuring Jess Laing, Nikki van Dijk, and India Payne	17 year old Jess Laing, 14 yr old Nikki van Dijk and 15 yr old India Payne have grown up surfing together and competing against each other on Phillip Island. First Love follows the girls on their journey through school, life and fulfilling their surfing dream in Hawaii.
	From Dope to Dalai Lama Documentary Director: Jason Raftopolous	From drug fueled psychosis to Buddhist monk and now diamond dealer, this is one man's journey to spiritual enlightenment.
	Glottal Opera Documentary Director: John Fink
	Going Vertical: The Shortboard Revolution Documentary Director: David Bradbury Starring: Featuring Bob McTavish and Dick Brewer. Narrated by Simon Baker.	It's an intriguing 'David vs Goliath' tale that still rages after 42 years. Who really is responsible for the shortboard revolution? At the centre of this debate are two men, now in their 60's - Aussie Bob McTavish and American Dick Brewer. Going Vertical tells both sides sides of this compelling and fascinating story...
	Gorrrgeous Vonni Documentary Director: Charles Bracewell & Nathan Little Starring: Vonni, Nathan Little, Charles Bracewell	Legendary Showgirl and accidental activist Vonni unpacks her outrageous life and gorgeous times! A glittering exploration of one of Australia's great unsung Queer icons who made her name as an original member of Les Girls. From her beginnings as a boy from Elizabeth to her TV and stage celebrity today, the hosts of Beauty & the Bear TV get to the heart of a MegaStarlet in this short documentary film.
	Harwood Documentary Director: David Threlfo	The Harwood Sugar Mill, near Maclean on the NSW north coast, still uses large steam engines to process the cane. This film shows both the beauty and the contrast of manufacturing in a rural setting.
	Helmut's House Documentary Director: Jess Dickenson	During a 50,000 km road tour of Australia the filmmaker encountered 89 year old Helmut. Living alone and remote for nearly 40 years in a hand-built house on the bed of one of the largest rivers in the country, he was wearing only a loin cloth when she arrived. 'Helmut's House' is a unique encounter with a remarkable human being, an original character leading a truly unconventional lifestyle in the wilderness.
	Identity in Motion Documentary Director: Martha Goddard	Dr Karen Pearlman, former dancer, now academic and author of Cutting Rhythms, Shaping the Film Edit discusses the links between dance and film editing.
	Indonesia Calling: Joris Ivens in Australia Documentary Director: John Hughes	“Our documentary history shouldn’t be forgotten.” – filmmaker John Hughes. In 1946 celebrated Dutch documentarian Joris Ivens defied his government and released a radical film supporting Indonesian independence. This feature documentary revisits Australia’s early relationship to its northern neighbour, and the impact of this small film on emerging Australian film culture.
	Kuru: The Science and the Sorcery Documentary Director: Rob Bygott	Filmmakers Rob Bygott and Ben Alpers spent two months with the Fore population in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. Their film project was supported by the locals who shared their culture and the tragedy of the Kuru epidemic with the documentary-makers.
	Lani's Story Documentary Director: Genevieve Grieves	Lani's Story follows a woman’s experience of two relationships – one she has to escape to survive, the other she cannot survive without. It is a moving and intimate portrait of a young Aboriginal woman’s journey from victim to victor, from a broken and violent relationship to discovering the redemptive power of love.
	Lessons from the Night Documentary Director: Adrian Francis	As dusk approaches and workers stream out of the city, Maia is about to begin her day. She reflects on life, work and toilet bowls as she goes about her nightly cleaning round through silent empty spaces.
	Little Ripper Documentary Director: Craig Boord	Pigeon fanciers train their birds to fly home. It's a tough competition and highly competitive. No holidays, no backyard, full dedication, it's all about the birds.
	Living Colour Documentary Director: Eva Ramdohr	Meet artists Donna Franklin and Tanya Visosevic as they introduce the concept of BioArt. Scientists and artists work together to produce artwork created from living matter.
	Living with Ol'Timers Documentary Director: Meg-Isabella Hewett	This short documentary explores the effects of Alzheimer's disease of both the sufferer and their families.
	Lost Years: A Sea Turtle Odyssey Documentary Director: Jeremy Hoogart	The documentary explores the mystery of Loggerhead Sea Turtles' so called 'lost years' - as tiny hatchlings they reach the ocean and vanish, then reappear years later, out of the blue..
	Love, Lust and Lies Documentary Director: Gillian Armstrong Starring: Kerry Carlson, Josie Peterson and Diana Doman	Love Lust & Lies is the fifth film in the landmark documentary series Gillian Armstrong has been making about the lives, hopes and dreams of three lively, working class Adelaide girls since they were fourteen in 1976.
	Machete Maidens Unleashed! Documentary Director: Mark Hartley	The all-too often overlooked world of Filipino exploitation flicks gets the Mark Hartley (Not Quite Hollywood, MIFF 08) treatment in Machete Maidens Unleashed! Featuring interviews with Roger Corman, Joe Dante, John Landis, Eddie Romero and a host of filmmakers, actors and critics, each with a story about a genre with no scruples, no scripts, no boundaries and – more often than not – no clothes.
	Making It Handmade! Documentary Director: Anna Brownfield	Following four local women who’ve taken a seemingly staid past-time and injected it with a youthful, modern aesthetic, filmmaker Anna Brownfield shows a side of craft more closely aligned with punk DIY culture than with Martha Stewart and ‘home sweet home’ tapestries.
	Michael Kirby: Don't Forget the Justice Bit Documentary Director: Daryl Dellora	Filmed during and after his time on the High Court of Australia, this documentary about Justice Michael Kirby explores the personal, moral and spiritual convictions of one of our most compassionate and incisive legal minds.
	Mind Documentary Director: Emma Crimmings	An exploration of the nature of identity: from an early age, award-winning writer Tom Cho thought he was different and knew he didn't match his mother's expectations of a good daughter.
	Miracle in the Desert Documentary Director: Jen Peedom	Featuring Don Hany – Miracle In The Desert is the second of three incredible drama-documentaries about miraculous feats of survival against deadly odds in extreme circumstances. Alaskan fireman Robert Bogucki (Don Hany) went missing in Western Australia’s Great Sandy Desert in July, 1999. Bogucki survived 43 days and was eventually found some 400km from his departure point by an Australian television news helicopter. He’d lost 30 kilograms, endured six weeks without food and 12 days witho
	Miracle in the Storm Documentary Director: Guy Norris, Leo Faber	Over the north-western plains of New South Wales, in February, 2007, German paraglider Ewa Wisnierska is sucked 10,000 metres into a massive thunderstorm. Facing a multitude of life-threatening forces – low oxygen, freezing temperatures and wild weather – Ewa Wisnierska (Inge Sildnik) manages to navigate her way out of the storm, land her glider and miraculously survive with only minor frostbite.
	Mother of Rock: The Life and Times of Lillian Roxon Documentary Director: Paul Clarke	A tribute to a pioneer of modern rock journalism. In New York City in 1968 a revolution was under way in a tiny club called Max’s Kansas City. The reigning queen of Max’s was Australian journalist Lillian Roxon. She was a music visionary who understood before anyone else how important music would be in shaping popular culture, publishing her landmark Rock Encyclopedia in 1969.
	Move Your RRRs Documentary Director: Mat Govoni, Cameron Mellor	A short film documenting Melbourne's beloved Triple R FM, and their struggle to find a new home.
	Mr Sin: The Abe Saffron Story Documentary Director: Hugh Piper	The life of enigmatic crime boss Abe Saffron. This story of bribery, blackmail and corruption and the man who eluded the authorities for so long is irresistibly intriguing.
	My Nan & the Yandi Documentary Director: Denise Groves	‘My Nan and the Yandi’ tells the story of a granddaughter’s love for her grandmother and the important role a humble piece of tin played in her family’s story.
	My Uncle Bluey Documentary Director: Britt Arthur	'I never met my Uncle Bluey and my family never talked about him...'
	New Beijing: Reinventing a City Documentary Director: Georgia Wallace-Crabbe	A fascinating record of the changing face of Beijing - the demolition of the old and the construction of the new.
	Nin's Brother Documentary Director: Mary Munro	Nin’s Brother is the story of a family’s love as they journey from NSW to South Australia to unravel the fate of their brother and uncle, and to bring him home to a proper resting place with the graves of his family.
	On the Move Documentary Director: The Dungog Hero Project Team	The obelisk in Dungog’s main street is in the wrong place. Some claim that its signs even point the wrong way. Moving it is controversial, as not all locals like change. This burning issue divides the small community.
	Palestine, Beer and Oktoberfest, Under Occupation Documentary Director: Lara Van Raay	Meet the family who created Palestine’s first beer and see a different side of Palestine where Jews, Muslims and Christians drink together in peace.
	Pedalling for Peace Documentary Director: Adam Dostalek & Benjamin Holzman	Follow four inspiring young Australians - a Jew, Christian, Muslim and a Baha'i - who cycled from Sydney to Melbourne to demonstrate interfaith cooperation in action.
	Primo Bacio Documentary Director: Sez (Sarah Vassilas)	An elderly couple share their first kiss with us, but not before they let us in on the way kissing has changed over the years. A documentary dedicated to the elderly couple in the film, who have been together for 49 years.
	Proof and Experiment Documentary Director: Ella Macintyre	An intimate portrait of Adelaide-based artist/musician Joelie Croser, a queer single mother of two young boys, whose work spans multiple mediums.
	Rock N Roll Mudwrestling Documentary Director: Mike Hoath	Join Mick and Shirley O’Brien and a ragtag bunch of barmaids, strippers and ex-cons as they take their mud wrestling show on the road in northwest Australia. It’s all about mud, rock ‘n’ roll and good clean fun.
	Salt Documentary Director: Michael Angus, Murray Fredericks	For six years photographer-artist Murray Fredericks has cycled out onto Lake Eyre. On the vast emptiness of the salt lake, he has created an amazing body of time-lapse photography. And like all wanderers in the desert, he has had to confront himself.
	Somewhere Near Tapachula Documentary Director: Stefan Hunt Starring: Featuring Pam & Alan Skuse, Cheyne Cottrell, Brian Noell and the 54 kids of Mision Mexico children's	Pam and Alan Skuse left their comfortable lives in Australia 10 years ago and accidently started an orphanage in Tapachula, southern Mexico. They started teaching the 54 kids in their care to surf on the world-class, deserted waves with extremely positive results.
	Strange Birds in Paradise Documentary Director: Charlie Hill-Smith	Director Charlie Hill-Smith embarks on a journey through the culture and complex history of West Papua, jamming with exiled musicians in musicologist Dave Bridie's Melbourne studio.
	Swamp Dogs Documentary Director: Tom Hearn	Doc or mock? Either way, this little nugget tells it like it is as a pushy father goes all the way with his off-spring.
	The 10 conditions of Love Documentary Director: Jeff Daniels	Rebiya Kadeer spent six years in a Chinese prison before being exiled to Washington DC. A tireless advocate for the independence of her oil-rich Uyghur home-land known as east Turkestan. She has been punished at every turn by the Chinese authorities, who have now condemned two of her sons to lengthy prison sentences.
	The Bubbleologist Documentary Director: Oyvind Opshaug	A school assignment on bubbles in dish-washing liquids leads Dr Froth to the amazing discovery that the entire universe is made of bubbles. His passion, bubbleology, gives us a whole new way of looking at the world.
	The Dreaming Man Documentary Director: Amber Wright	Inspired by artist Gordon Syron’s The Dreaming Man, this film confronts us with the exploitation of indigenous people since 1788. Now the Dreaming Man tells us, there is too much sorrow, for “the Dreamtime has gone up in smoke”.
	The Extraordinary Tale of William Buckley Documentary Director: Malcolm McDonald	On a stifling hot Christmas night in 1803 William Buckley, a young English convict, escaped from the doomed first settlement of Port Phillip Bay in South Eastern Australia. He risked his life in the unknown and hostile Australian wilderness rather than surrender his freedom. His account, told towards the end of his amazing life, of joining and living with an aboriginal tribe for thirty-two years before white colonisation, is one of the greatest survival stories ever told.
	The Long Goodbye Documentary Director: Kaye Harrison	Thousands of Baby Boomers are living in fear of what may lie ahead. On the eve of a dementia epidemic, three families reveal how love and humour can balance despair for those living The Long Goodbye.
	The Mission Documentary Director: Varcha Sidwell	This is the story of missionaries in reverse, as three young Nigerian Catholic priests, who haven't volunteered, who have never left Africa before, are sent to save Tasmania's struggling Church. But can they fulfil, The Mission?
	The Snowman Documentary Director: Juliet Lamont	A poignant story about the filmmaker's search for the truth behind her father's mental collapse.
	This is How You'll Make Your Bed in Prison Documentary Director: Katie Mitchell	From the confines of prison Vickie Lee Roach takes on the highest powers to get back the most basic rights.
	Three Boys Dreaming Documentary Director: Michael Cordell	In 2005, Australia's best young indigenous AFL players attended a Melbourne talent camp. Michael Cordell follows three boys over three years, as they struggle to keep their dreams alive.
	Tide of Change Documentary Director: Amie Batalibasi	When Amie returns to the Solomon Islands for her grandmother’s funeral, she finds her village severely affected by increasingly high tides. The traditional community is on the brink of inevitable change
	Transparentsea Voyage Documentary Director: Steve Chamberlain and Angelo Mei Starring: Dave Rastovich, Chris Del Moro, Will Conner, Hilton Dawe
	View from the Outer Documentary Director: Billy Morrell, Andrew Paton	Follows five fanatical AFL football supporters who express a devotion verging on the religious.
	William Yang: The Art of Seduction Documentary Director: Craig Boreham
	Yajilarra Documentary Director: Melanie Hogan	In 2007 a group of Aboriginal women from the Fitzroy Valley in Australia's remote northwest decided enough was enough. Their community had experienced 13 suicides in 13 months. Reports of family violence and child abuse were commonplace and alcohol consumption was rising at an alarming rate. Something had to be done. Something had to change.