Kokoda

A series of surreal short scenes portraying a suburban family and their everyday rituals.

Imagine what it would be like if black settlers arrived to settle a continent inhabited by white natives? In 1788, the first white settlers arrived in Botany Bay to begin the process of white colonisation of Australia. But in Babakiueria, the roles are reversed in a delightful and light-hearted look at colonisation of a different kind. This satirical examination of black-white relations in Australia first screened on ABC TV in 1986 to widespread acclaim with both critics and audiences alike. This is the story of the fictitious land of Babakiueria, where white people are the minority and must obey black laws. Aboriginal actors Michelle Torres and Bob Maza (Heartland) and supported by a number of familiar faces from the time, including Cecily Polson (E-Street) and Tony Barry, who starred in major ABC-TV hits such as I Can Jump Puddles and his Penguin award-winning Scales of Justice. Babakiueria was awarded the United Nations Media Peace Prize in 1987.

The extraordinary story of how the Allies turned the tide in the final months of 1918 to win the First World War.

Documentary on Australian actor Ernie Dingo. As an actor, Ernie Dingo has played many parts, but many people see his major achievement as being a role model for other Aborigines. This film traces the life of the WA actor from his birth in a corrugated iron shed on Bullado station to early childhood in Mullewa, and his high school years in Geraldton to the beginning of his acting career.

David Hockney is unquestionably one of the most passionate and versatile experimental artists on the contemporary scene. In the late 1970s the British artist developed a pioneering concept which also changed his perspective on painting – his “joiners”. In this film, the artist himself talks about this photographic approach, a kind of Cubism-inspired photocollage which explores the space-time continuum. Hockney allows the viewer to share in the creative “joiner” process and leads us step by step into the universe of his artistic creativity.

A profile of the Australian poet Les Murray. Shot on location in Northern New South Wales. Featuring dramatisations of his poems and evocative footage of the most unusual landscape. He talks illuminatingly about his life and work.