George Ogilvie

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

Mad Max becomes a pawn in a decadent oasis of a technological society, and when exiled, becomes the deliverer of a colony of children.

Coppélia

Peggy Van Praagh directs Coppélia, a ballet by Arthur Saint-Léon inspired by Hoffmann’s haunting short story The Sandman. The story narrates the adventures of Swanilda (played by the sublime Ako Kondo) and Franz (the majestic Chengwu Guo), two lovers put to the test by the magician Dr. Coppelius, a manufacturer of automaton dolls. In Van Praagh’s production, Franz falls under the spell of Coppélia, the daughter of the ill-intentioned Coppelius. Swanilda manages to save her fiancé from a sinister fate, and the two lovers marry and seal their union with a tender pas de deux. The magnificent décor of the Sydney Opera House, the sumptuous costumes by Kristian Fredrikson, and the highly theatrical nature of the ballet and the music by Léo Delibes make it easy to be swept away into this magical world!

The Crossing

A single day. To challenge the past. To accept the present. To decide the future. Sam arrives in his home town after 18 months away, hopeful that Meg, the girlfriend he abandoned, will go back with him to the city. His return brings the outside world into the parochial confines of the town, provoking mixed reactions which fuel conflict. Meg, heartbroken when Sam left her, has begun an affair with Sam's friend Johnny. On the eve of Sam's arrival, Johnny asks Meg to marry him. The marriage proposal, along with Sam's unexpected return, forces Meg to choose not only between the two men but also the type of life she wants. The conflicting loyalties and emotions generated by the triangle provide the focus for an array of inter-related characters enmeshed in the life of this country town. There is a feeling of impending tragedy as night falls and Johnny becomes increasingly desparate.

The Battlers

Fairly sensitive melodrama about life on the back-roads in Australia at the height of the Great Depression. Centring on the developing romance between two drifters this presents a commendable level of period detail. Based on the novel by Kylie Tennant.

Short Changed

Described as "an Aboriginal Kramer vs Kramer," this is the moving account of an Aboriginal political activist fighting his white ex-wife for joint custody of their son.

The Place at the Coast

Teenager Ellie is distressed by forces that threaten the special family holidays she shares with her widowed father. These threats are posed by a new coastal development and her father's new relationship with a local woman. Ellie desperately clings to memories and places that preserve the memory of her late mother.

The Making of 'Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome'

Follows the cast and crew of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome filming in the heat and dust of central Australia.

Touch the Sun: Princess Kate

Kate McLelland's life is a normal one of a girl her age in the eastern suburbs, until her discovery that she is adopted. This is the story of her search for her natural mother and the resulting relationship.

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

Mad Max becomes a pawn in a decadent oasis of a technological society, and when exiled, becomes the deliverer of a colony of children.

Coppélia

Peggy Van Praagh directs Coppélia, a ballet by Arthur Saint-Léon inspired by Hoffmann’s haunting short story The Sandman. The story narrates the adventures of Swanilda (played by the sublime Ako Kondo) and Franz (the majestic Chengwu Guo), two lovers put to the test by the magician Dr. Coppelius, a manufacturer of automaton dolls. In Van Praagh’s production, Franz falls under the spell of Coppélia, the daughter of the ill-intentioned Coppelius. Swanilda manages to save her fiancé from a sinister fate, and the two lovers marry and seal their union with a tender pas de deux. The magnificent décor of the Sydney Opera House, the sumptuous costumes by Kristian Fredrikson, and the highly theatrical nature of the ballet and the music by Léo Delibes make it easy to be swept away into this magical world!

The Crossing

A single day. To challenge the past. To accept the present. To decide the future. Sam arrives in his home town after 18 months away, hopeful that Meg, the girlfriend he abandoned, will go back with him to the city. His return brings the outside world into the parochial confines of the town, provoking mixed reactions which fuel conflict. Meg, heartbroken when Sam left her, has begun an affair with Sam's friend Johnny. On the eve of Sam's arrival, Johnny asks Meg to marry him. The marriage proposal, along with Sam's unexpected return, forces Meg to choose not only between the two men but also the type of life she wants. The conflicting loyalties and emotions generated by the triangle provide the focus for an array of inter-related characters enmeshed in the life of this country town. There is a feeling of impending tragedy as night falls and Johnny becomes increasingly desparate.

The Battlers

Fairly sensitive melodrama about life on the back-roads in Australia at the height of the Great Depression. Centring on the developing romance between two drifters this presents a commendable level of period detail. Based on the novel by Kylie Tennant.

Short Changed

Described as "an Aboriginal Kramer vs Kramer," this is the moving account of an Aboriginal political activist fighting his white ex-wife for joint custody of their son.

The Place at the Coast

Teenager Ellie is distressed by forces that threaten the special family holidays she shares with her widowed father. These threats are posed by a new coastal development and her father's new relationship with a local woman. Ellie desperately clings to memories and places that preserve the memory of her late mother.

The Making of 'Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome'

Follows the cast and crew of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome filming in the heat and dust of central Australia.

Touch the Sun: Princess Kate

Kate McLelland's life is a normal one of a girl her age in the eastern suburbs, until her discovery that she is adopted. This is the story of her search for her natural mother and the resulting relationship.

The Last of the Ryans

Ron Ryan is accused of a murder he did not commit. As his family races to prove his innocence, he and a priest aim for redemption.

The Australian Ballet: Coppélia

This delightful ballet tells the story of Dr Coppelius, an eccentric toymaker, who attempts to bring life to his beautiful doll Coppélia. He is foiled by the mischevious Swanilda, who masquerades as Coppélia and saves her love, Franz, from the Doctor's magic. Recorded live at the Sydney Opera House, this acclaimed production by Dame Peggy van Praagh, the founding Artistic Director of the Australian Ballet, is a triumph.

Blue Heelers

Blue Heelers was one of Australia's longest running weekly television drama series. Blue Heelers is a police drama series set in the fictional country town of Mount Thomas. Under the watchful eye of Tom Croydon (John Wood), the men and women of Mount Thomas Police Station fight crime, resolve disputes and tackle the social issues of the day. We watch their successes and their failures and learn to grow with them and their loved ones as the heart of the series develops.

Bodyline

Dramatization of the 1932/33 Test cricket series between England and Australia. Played in Australia, the series gained notoriety in Australian and worldwide cricketing history for the fact that the English team (headed by captain Douglas Jardine) applied a bowling technique called "leg theory", or more commonly, Bodyline. This technique involved bowlers bowling the ball directly at the batsman's body, and resulted in many of the Australian team receiving numerous bruises and injuries, with batsman Bert Oldfield sustaining a cracked skull. The series generated much anger and resentment towards the English team within Australia and seriously damaged Anglo-Australian cricketing relations at the time.

The Shiralee

Macauley is a swagman on the road in the 1940s looking for work. He's a laid back, laconic sort of bloke but when he gets landed with his daughter after his drunken play-girl wife in Adelaide makes him face up to what she believes are his responsibilities, neither he nor his daughter are ready for each other. But in the beginning he's all she's got, and at the end, she's all he's got.

The Dismissal

The sensational dismissal of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam's Labor Government by the Queens representative in Australia, the Governor General, Sir John Kerr on November 11, 1975.