Directing
Warwick Thornton
Born July 23, 1970 · Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia (age 55)
Warwick Thornton (born 23 July, 1970; Alice Springs) is an Australian film director, screenwriter and cinematographer. His debut feature film Samson and Delilah won the Caméra d'Or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and the award for Best Film at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. He also won the Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Film in 2017 for Sweet Country. Thornton is a Kaytetye man born and ra…
Known For
The New Boy · 2023The New Boy
★ 6.12023
MovieDrama
In a remote monastery in 1940s Australia, a mission for Aboriginal children is run by a renegade nun, Sister Eileen. A new charge is delivered in the dead of night – a boy who appears to have special powers. When the monastery takes possession of a precious relic, a large carving of Christ on the cross, the new boy encounters Jesus for the first time and is transfixed. However, the boy’s Indigenous spiritual life does not gel with the mission’s Christianity and his mysterious power becomes a threat. Sister Eileen is faced with a choice between the traditions of her faith and the truth embodied in the boy, in this story of spiritual struggle and the cost of survival.
Fast Charlie · 2023Fast Charlie
★ 6.22023
MovieActionCrime
When his aging mob boss is whacked, Charlie Swift, a loyal friend and hired gun, will stop at nothing to destroy the upcoming crew that took him out.
First WarriorFirst Warrior
MovieHistoryAction
Australia was colonized in the late 1700s. Pemulwuy, a man of the Bidjigal tribes — from the region that is today modern-day Sydney — led a 12-year resistance against British settlers moving into his people’s traditional lands.
Wolfram · 2026Wolfram
★ 9.02026
MovieAdventureWestern
1930s Australia, the colonial frontier: two swaggering outlaws roll into a mining town and unleash a wave of cruelty, leading three kids to break free from their white masters and set off across the 'sweet country' of central Australia in search of a safe home.
Kangaroo · 2025Kangaroo
★ 6.42025
MovieFamilyComedy
Ex TV personality, Chris Masterman, becomes stranded in an Outback town outside Alice Springs. There, he teams up with 12-year-old Indigenous girl Charlie. The pair form an unlikely friendship and work together to rescue and rehabilitate orphaned joeys in the remote but stunning Outback community—an endeavour that proves to be life-changing for them both.
Septembers of Shiraz · 2015Septembers of Shiraz
★ 5.92015
MovieDramaThriller
In this adaptation of the critically acclaimed debut novel by Iranian American author Dalia Sofer, a secular Jewish family is caught up in the maelstrom of the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
Samson and Delilah · 2009Samson and Delilah
★ 6.32009
MovieDramaRomance
Samson, a cheeky 15-year-old boy, and Delilah, live in an isolated Aboriginal community in the Central Australian desert. The two teenagers soon discover that life outside the community can be cruel. Lost, unwanted and alone they discover that life isn’t always fair, but love never judges.
The Turning · 2013The Turning
★ 5.72013
MovieDrama
Seventeen talented Australian directors from diverse artistic disciplines each create a chapter of the hauntingly beautiful novel by multi award-winning author Tim Winton. The linking and overlapping stories explore the extraordinary turning points in ordinary people’s lives in a stunning portrait of a small coastal community. As characters face second thoughts and regret, relationships irretrievably alter, resolves are made or broken, and lives change direction forever.
Movies
The New Boy · 2023The New Boy
★ 6.12023
MovieDrama
In a remote monastery in 1940s Australia, a mission for Aboriginal children is run by a renegade nun, Sister Eileen. A new charge is delivered in the dead of night – a boy who appears to have special powers. When the monastery takes possession of a precious relic, a large carving of Christ on the cross, the new boy encounters Jesus for the first time and is transfixed. However, the boy’s Indigenous spiritual life does not gel with the mission’s Christianity and his mysterious power becomes a threat. Sister Eileen is faced with a choice between the traditions of her faith and the truth embodied in the boy, in this story of spiritual struggle and the cost of survival.
Fast Charlie · 2023Fast Charlie
★ 6.22023
MovieActionCrime
When his aging mob boss is whacked, Charlie Swift, a loyal friend and hired gun, will stop at nothing to destroy the upcoming crew that took him out.
First WarriorFirst Warrior
MovieHistoryAction
Australia was colonized in the late 1700s. Pemulwuy, a man of the Bidjigal tribes — from the region that is today modern-day Sydney — led a 12-year resistance against British settlers moving into his people’s traditional lands.
Wolfram · 2026Wolfram
★ 9.02026
MovieAdventureWestern
1930s Australia, the colonial frontier: two swaggering outlaws roll into a mining town and unleash a wave of cruelty, leading three kids to break free from their white masters and set off across the 'sweet country' of central Australia in search of a safe home.
Kangaroo · 2025Kangaroo
★ 6.42025
MovieFamilyComedy
Ex TV personality, Chris Masterman, becomes stranded in an Outback town outside Alice Springs. There, he teams up with 12-year-old Indigenous girl Charlie. The pair form an unlikely friendship and work together to rescue and rehabilitate orphaned joeys in the remote but stunning Outback community—an endeavour that proves to be life-changing for them both.
Septembers of Shiraz · 2015Septembers of Shiraz
★ 5.92015
MovieDramaThriller
In this adaptation of the critically acclaimed debut novel by Iranian American author Dalia Sofer, a secular Jewish family is caught up in the maelstrom of the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
Samson and Delilah · 2009Samson and Delilah
★ 6.32009
MovieDramaRomance
Samson, a cheeky 15-year-old boy, and Delilah, live in an isolated Aboriginal community in the Central Australian desert. The two teenagers soon discover that life outside the community can be cruel. Lost, unwanted and alone they discover that life isn’t always fair, but love never judges.
The Turning · 2013The Turning
★ 5.72013
MovieDrama
Seventeen talented Australian directors from diverse artistic disciplines each create a chapter of the hauntingly beautiful novel by multi award-winning author Tim Winton. The linking and overlapping stories explore the extraordinary turning points in ordinary people’s lives in a stunning portrait of a small coastal community. As characters face second thoughts and regret, relationships irretrievably alter, resolves are made or broken, and lives change direction forever.
Sweet Country · 2018Sweet Country
★ 6.62018
MovieWesternCrime
In 1929, an Australian Aboriginal stockman kills a white station owner in self-defense and goes on the lam, pursued by a posse.
The Sapphires · 2012The Sapphires
★ 6.82012
MovieComedyDrama
It's 1968, and four young, talented Australian Aboriginal girls learn about love, friendship, and war when they entertain the US troops in Vietnam as singing group The Sapphires.
Green Bush · 2005Green Bush
★ 8.52005
MovieDramaMusic
An Australian Aboriginal DJ realizes that his job at the country radio station is about more than just playing music.
Words with Gods · 2014Words with Gods
★ 5.72014
MovieDramaComedy
The first of four installments in the groundbreaking Heartbeat of the World anthology film series. Comprised of several short films by some of the world's most exciting directors, Words with Gods follows the theme of religion - specifically as it relates to an individual's relationship with his/her god or gods...or the lack thereof. In Words with Gods, each director recounts a narrative centered around human fragility, as well as environmental and cultural crises involving specific religions with which each has a personal relationship; including early Aboriginal Spirituality, Umbanda, Buddhism, the Abrahamic faiths, Hinduism, and Atheism. An animated sequence by Mexican animator Maribel Martinez is woven through each of the film segments, with each segment narratively connected as a feature-length film.
Audacious · 1995Audacious
★ 8.01995
MovieDrama
A sexually repressed but inquisitive wife stumbles across an interactive pornographic computer program when she borrows her workmates computer. The program is AUDACIOUS; a husband and wife team who invites you to share your fantasies. She submits her fantasies, and becomes addicted to watching them being enacted on the videos they create. Her husband discovers the videos, leading them to question the relevance fantasy has to their marriage. Sometimes simple fantasies are the most telling.
Bear · 2011Bear
★ 6.72011
MovieComedy
Jack means well, but sometimes good intentions have horrible consequences.
Nana · 2007Nana
★ 6.22007
MovieDrama
Nana’s granddaughter thinks Nana’s pretty special. She loves her Nana because she helps the old people, she’s a good painter and other people love her too. Nana’s got everyone under control.
Here I Am · 2011Here I Am
★ 5.12011
MovieDramaFamily
'Here I Am' is driven by three generations of Aboriginal women - Karen Lee Burden, her mother Lois and her daughter Rosie. When Karen is released from prison, through a series of chance encounters the women learn that freedom is hard to find when hearts are still broken.
Mparntwe Sacred Sites · 2004Mparntwe Sacred Sites
2004
MovieDocumentaryHistory
This documentary focuses on the sacred sites in and around Mparntwe (Alice Springs) in central Australia, and the struggle of the Arrernte people to identify, document and preserve these sites in the face of rapid urban expansion and property development.
5 Seasons · 20055 Seasons
★ 8.02005
MovieDocumentary
In these fast and modern times, the Numurindi people are still guided by the seasons and stories of the Dreamtime. This observational documentary focuses on Moses Numamurdirdi and his family's fight to hold onto their culture and ways in an ever-changing world.
Nulla Nulla · 2015Nulla Nulla
★ 7.62015
MovieComedy
Fresh out of the academy, White Cop experiences his first taste of Aboriginal community life, as Black Cop puts him to the test.
My Bed Your Bed · 1998My Bed Your Bed
★ 7.01998
Movie
This short romantic drama from Erica Glynn uses the power of silence to communicate the tension between two characters who have been promised to each other.
Between Two Lines · 2019Between Two Lines
2019
MovieWar
When two First World War enemy soldiers become stranded in no man’s land, an unlikely bond is formed. Will they still be able to pull the trigger if the time comes?
Wirriya: Small Boy · 2004Wirriya: Small Boy
2004
MovieDocumentary
This moving documentary is a record of a few hours in the life of a small 7 year old boy, Ricco, from Hidden Valley, one of the many town camps on the outskirts of Alice Springs. He has lived in the camp for most of his life, and is looked after by his three older sisters and his foster mother, Nanna Maudie.
Mimi · 2002Mimi
★ 5.52002
MovieComedy
A white collector of Aboriginal art gets a shock when the Mimi sculpture she purchased comes to life.
Stone Forever · 1999Stone Forever
★ 6.81999
MovieDocumentary
Over 30,000 bikers turned up in 1998 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Stone and recreate the funeral scene.
TV Shows
Firebite · 2021Firebite
★ 6.32021
SeriesSci-Fi & Fantasy
In a remote South-Australian desert mining town — a hive for the last vampire stronghold — two Indigenous Australian hunters embark on a quest to battle the last colony of vampires.
Mystery Road · 2018Mystery Road
★ 6.92018
SeriesMysteryDrama
When there is a mysterious disappearance on an outback cattle station, Detective Jay Swan is assigned to investigate. Working with local cop Emma James, Jay’s investigation uncovers a past injustice that threatens the fabric of the whole community.
The Beach · 2020The Beach
★ 6.72020
SeriesDocumentary
Filmmaker Warwick Thornton's international success has come at a personal cost. He has reached a crossroad in his life and something has to change. He has chosen to try giving up life in the fast lane for a while, to go it alone, on an isolated beach in one of the most beautiful yet brutal environments in the world, to see if he can transform and heal his life.
Creative Types with Virginia Trioli · 2024Creative Types with Virginia Trioli
2024
Series
Award-winning journalist and unabashed arts fan Virginia Trioli explores the essence of creativity with some of Australia's greatest artistic minds.
Blue Water Empire · 2019Blue Water Empire
2019
SeriesDocumentaryDrama
A dramatised-documentary series giving a unique insight into the compelling history of the Torres Strait Islands, told through key stories by the men and women of the region.
First Australians · 2008First Australians
2008
SeriesDocumentary
First Australians is an Australian historical documentary series produced by Blackfella Films over the course of six years, and first aired in October 2008. The documentary is part of a greater project that further consists of a hard-cover book, a community outreach program and a substantial website featuring over 200 mini-documentaries.
The series chronicles the history of contemporary Australia, from the perspective of its first people, or Aborigines. The series is essentially a synthesis of well documented historical information. It relies heavily on archival documents and interpretations from historians and members of both the Indigenous and European community and leaders. The story begins in 1788 in Sydney, with the arrival of the First Fleet and ends in 1993 with Koiki Mabo's legal challenge to the foundation of Australia.
The series comprises seven episodes in which it explores what unfolded when the oldest living culture in the world was confronted by the British Empire. It explores the lives of particular individuals and uses their stories as a vehicle to explain the larger situations of the time. It explains violent aspects of European settlement of Australia, such as killings, battles, wars, as well as acts of friendship and decency between the early European settlers and Indigenous Australians. Indigenous Australian history has until recently been clouded by the "great Australian silence" where ignorance of the real history of Australia can be seen as a way for non-Indigenous to hide shame for their own history. In this respect it has been controversial in that many of these stories have not been portrayed on Australian television before and the Indigenous Australian perspective of European settlement is confrontational for many.