

2014-01-02
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6.9Milk is Big Business. Behind the innocent appearances of the white stuff lies a multi-billion euro industry, which perhaps isn't so innocent…
10.0takayna / Tarkine in northwestern Tasmania is home to one of the last undisturbed tracts of Gondwanan rainforest in the world, and one of the highest concentrations of Aboriginal archaeology in the hemisphere. Yet this place, which remains largely as it was when dinosaurs roamed the planet, is currently at the mercy of destructive extraction industries, including logging and mining. Weaving together the conflicting narratives of activists, locals and Aboriginal communities, and told through the experiences of a trail running doctor and a relentless environmentalist, this documentary, presented by Patagonia Films, unpacks the complexities of modern conservation and challenges us to consider the importance of our last truly wild places.
0.0Suellyn thought the Department of Community Services (DOCS) would only remove children in extreme cases, until her own grandchildren were taken in the middle of the night. Hazel decided to take on the DOCS system after her fourth grandchild was taken into state care. Jen Swan expected to continue to care for her grandchildren but DOCS deemed her unsuitable, a shock not just to her but to her sister, Deb, who was, at the time, a DOCS worker. The rate of Indigenous child removal has actually increased since Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered the apology to the ‘stolen generations’ in 2008. These four grandmothers find each other and start a national movement to place extended families as a key solution to the rising number of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care. They are not only taking on the system; they are changing it…
10.0About trauma, resilience and post-traumatic growth in the medics who served with Australia's special forces in Afghanistan. From losing mates in the battlefield to treating horrifically injured Afghan kids in remote surgical theatres.
8.5Exposing the dark underbelly of modern animal agriculture through drones, hidden & handheld cameras, the feature-length film explores the morality and validity of our dominion over the animal kingdom.
8.7This groundbreaking film reveals the truth surrounding Australia’s love-hate relationship with its beloved icon. The kangaroo image is proudly used by top companies, sports teams and as tourist souvenirs, yet when they hop across the vast continent some consider them to be pests to be shot and sold for profit. KANGAROO unpacks a national paradigm where the relationship with kangaroos is examined.
As if they were showing their film to a few friends in their home, the Johnsons describe their trip across the world, which begins in the South Pacific islands of Hawaii, Samoa, Australia, the Solomons (where they seek and find cannibals), and New Hebrides. Thence on to Africa via the Indian Ocean, Suez Canal, North Africa, and the Nile River to lion country in Tanganyika. (They are briefly joined in Khartum by George Eastman and Dr. Al Kayser.) Taking a safari in the Congo, the Johnsons see animals and pygmies, and travel back to Uganda, British East Africa, and Kenya.
0.0Once a year 2000 garden gnomes and 10,000 gnome carers gather in the sleepy mountain hamlet of Glenbrook, for the Annual Australian Garden Gnome Convention.
6.5A fascinating compilation of scenes showing diversity and disparity in 1940s China. The ancient Forbidden City and Great Wall are followed by Shanghai’s metropolitan skyline; primitive farming methods are juxtaposed with mechanised factories; children in rags are contrasted with models wearing the latest fashions; Nationalist commanders and Communist leaders vie for support.
9.0Discover the untold story of Pinball and Arcade in Australia in this heart-warming, and at times heart-breaking, nostalgic journey through the golden era of gaming.
8.0The plight of small-scale farmers in Africa and Asia forced off their land by an unprecedented corporate land grab. If they refuse they are subject to horrific violence, which has led to women miscarrying and deaths. Exploring the personal stories of those affected, this documentary gives a voice to threatened subsistence farmers throughout the developing world. If your livelihood was ripped away from you, how would you cope?
6.0Christmas Island, Australia is home to one of the largest land migrations on earth—that of forty million crabs journeying from jungle to sea. But the jungle holds another secret: a high-security facility that indefinitely detains individuals seeking asylum.
0.0This is a film about 12-year-old girls, made by 12-year-old girls, for 12-year-old girls, or anyone that has been a 12-year-old girl, or will be a 12-year-old girl, or wishes they were a 12-year-old girl. This inquisitive cross between a documentary and a theatre piece was created by Tilda Cobham-Hervey and twelve 12-year-old girls, where real girls articulate what they hope for, what they remember and what it feels like to be twelve. Performing themselves in a filmed field guide, together these specimens investigate their own species.
0.0Gurwinder comes from Punjab, he’s been working for years as a farm hand in Agro Pontino, not far from Rome. Since he first came in Italy, he’s been living with the rest of the Sikh community in Latina province. Hardeep is also Indian, but her stress is Roman, and she works as a cultural mediator. She, born and raised in Italy, is trying to free herself from the memories of a family that emigrated in another age, while he is forced, against his faith, to take methamphetamine and doping to bear the heavy work pace, to be able to send money in India.
0.0Made 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.
6.8The iconic Finke Desert Race, the largest off-road motorsport event in the southern hemisphere and Australia's fastest, deadliest, toughest and certainly dustiest race. Filmed over three years, Finke explores the race from within – competitors, organisers, paramedics, and the drive to win against the desert at all costs. Finke is a visual adventure of inspiration and danger, excitement and spills.
5.0Reveals a revolutionary chapter in Australian history, the Women’s Liberation Movement (1965 -1975). Interweaves fresh archival footage, personal photographs, memorabilia, and personal accounts from activists all around Australia to show how a daring and diverse group of women joined forces to defy the status quo, demand equality, and create profound social change. These women defined one of the greatest social movements of the 20th century, sometimes at great personal cost.