In My Own Words

Shows new methods in treating those afflicted with mental health issues. Contrasts past treatment regimes where people were locked away out of sight with the new, 1960s, psychiatric ideas of "group therapy" and talking therapy. Also shows practical behaviours aimed at returning patients to productive lives in society and outpatient services.

Christmas 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.

A look at James Gilliland in Australia

Western Australia's iconic black cockatoos are in crisis. Their numbers have fallen dramatically over the past few decades and all three species in the south west of WA could become extinct in just 20 years unless something is done to protect their habitats. With the loss of the banksia woodlands on the Swan Coastal Plain to housing, Carnaby's Black Cockatoos have come to depend on the once vast exotic pine plantations on Perth's northern fringe.

Australian writer Wongar lives a secluded life taking care of his 6 dingoes for which he believes embody the spirits of his tragically lost Aboriginal family.

Lake Mungo is an ancient Pleistocene lake-bed in south-western New South Wales, and is one of the world’s richest archaeological sites. Message from Mungo focuses on the interface over the last 40 years between the scientists on one hand, and, on the other, the Indigenous communities who identify with the land and with the human remains revealed at the site. This interface has often been deeply troubled and contentious, but within the conflict and its gradual resolution lies a moving story of the progressive empowerment of the traditional custodians of the area.

Through one woman's experience as an adopted person and also as a mother who relinquished her child in 1971, this documentary highlights the many complex issues associated with adoption.

"I’ve done 23 years 9 months in Jail. I’ve done 10 ½ years in H Division. I’ve been stabbed 13 times in 7 difference episodes. I’ve been hit on the head with iron bars. I’ve been hit on the head with claw hammers, shot once, I’ve been run over. I’ve survived 60 serves of shock treatment in 6 months, 1 serve 3 days… I’ve had everything done to me… I wouldn’t recommend it to anybody." Fatbelly is a raw, unique and gritty portrait of Mark ‘Chopper’ Read’s life in his own words. Fatbelly recounts the most graphic and brutal stories of violence, blood, love and survival from Australia’s most notorious gangster. From mental hospitals to the infamous Pentridge division, this jaw dropping film will leave you with a different understanding of the man that is ‘Chopper’.

Taking us through Bangarra Dance Theatre’s spectacular growth, we follow the story of how three young Aboriginal brothers — Stephen, David and Russell Page — turned the newly born dance group into a First Nations cultural powerhouse.

A century in the making, a unique and touching documentary of a small beach side rugby league club in Clovelly Australia.

A compelling portrait of an extraordinary figure, Aboriginal WWI soldier Douglas Grant, featuring acclaimed Indigenous actor Balang Tom E. Lewis (in his final performance). Grant (c.1885-1951) was extraordinarily famous in his day, an intellectual, a journalist, a soldier, a reader of Shakespeare and a bagpipe player who could put on a fine Scottish accent. His life story connects Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Adolf Hitler, and Henry Lawson among other famous figures as he moved from Australia to Europe, UK and back. Lewis’s thoughtful and often playful reflections on Grant’s life, along with guest appearances from Max Cullen and Archie Roach, connect to the larger story of Australia’s tragic colonial history and its troubled relationship with First Australians.  

Blowin' in the Wind examines the secret treaty that allows the US military to train and test its weaponry on Australian soil. It looks at the impact of recycled uranium weapons and the far-reaching physical and moral effects on every Australian. The film's release has been timely as the Australian government currently moves to approve more uranium mines while arguing the contrary - that by going nuclear Australia is being both 'safe' and 'green'.

The Australian pelican is built for long distance travel. One of the largest pelicans in the pelican family, with a light skeleton and a wingspan of over eight feet, it can be airborne all day and deep into the night, riding far and high on rising thermals. When rare weather systems bring heavy rains, huge numbers of Australian pelicans abandon the sea and coastal waters and embark on a mass pilgrimage to a place a thousand miles inland. It’s the last place you would look for one of their kind, the Australian Outback, one of the driest, hottest places on the planet.

At Western Australia’s first Indigenous-run police station, two officers learn language and culture to help them police one of the most remote beats in the world.

A Hundred Years of Happiness; an observational documentary, is a personal portraiture of a Vietnamese farming family and their daughter Tram. While her father instils in her the importance of familial obligation to care for one’s ageing parents, her mother desires a secure future devoid of economic hardship. Determined to fulfil both her parent’s wishes, Tram pursues a new life in South Korea as a migrant bride, but her fast-tracked journey leaves little time for reflection.

The Queensland country town of Warwick was shocked when a flock of sheep was brutally massacred on a local property. They were even more shocked when they discovered the killings were, in fact, a sacrificial offering to Satan. For the first time, John Burdoe, the teenager who started this satanic cult, tells how he planned and executed the bloody ceremony. He also tells how he came close to stabbing one of his followers, a young man who later died in mysterious circumstances.

Made by the Department of Immigration to entice immigrants from Great Britain, this film shows an idyllic picture of life in the South Australian regional town of Mount Gambier in the mid 1960s.

On Sunday December 4, 2005, 3 Cronulla lifesavers were coming off duty when they passed a group of 8 Lebanese young men. They stared at each other, a heated verbal exchange turned quickly into a violent brawl, resulting in 3 lifesavers being beaten up. This event was to spark 10 days of violent mob attacks and retaliations, the likes of which Australia had never witnessed. This is the story of the dramatic events covering the lead up to and the 10 days between 4th and 13th December 2005 known as the Cronulla Riots.

The Wood Royal Commission unleashed an extraordinary investigation that swept through the NSW Police Force like a tsunami. For many, the stakes were life or death. Not everyone survived.

Rod O'Hara bought Bellingen Video Connection in 2018 when video stores were already considered to be on the way out – if not already dead. Now, years later, against all the odds, and after facing many personal setbacks, Rod and the local community have kept this iconic local business and bastion for lovers of television, film and screen culture alive - but for how long?