Independent distributor bringing exciting world cinema and alternate screen content to Australia and New Zealand
Dir. by Sally Ingleton | 2020 | 89 mins | M
Wild Things spends a year on the frontline with environmental activists hell-bent on saving their futures from the ravages of climate change. Armed only with mobiles phones, this growing army of eco-warriors are mobilising against forces more powerful than themselves and saying, enough.
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Curious to see how the Method works first hand, filmmaker Alexandre Mourot sets his camera up in the oldest Montessori school in France (with kids from 3 to 6) and observes. The teacher remains discreet. Alexandre was warmly welcomed in a surprisingly calm and peaceful environment, filled with flowers, fruits and Montessori materials. The children guided the film director throughout the whole school year, helping him to understand the magic of their autonomy and self-esteem – the seeds of a new society of peace and freedom, which Maria Montessori dedicated her life work to.
Watch this space for screenings and info on how you can book the film for your own group screenings.
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Dir. Travis Beard | Australia 2017 | 90 min | Documentary | M
ROCKABUL by Melbourne based director Travis Beard, follows Afghanistan’s first rock band District Unknown in the war torn capital of Afghanistan, Kabul, where Rock music is forbidden by Islam.
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Dir. by Em Baker, Australia, 2019. 77 mins | Documentary. Women spend their lives receiving contradictory messages about marriage: an aspiration, a fantasy, a trap. An ancient institution, whose meaning has been fiercely debated the world over, it can be difficult to pin-point what marriage means to modern women.
To Benay, in Turkey, it means a new beginning and a new family, something she lost with the passing of her mother when she was a child. To honour this, she’s getting married on Mother’s Day. To Anna, in Australia, it means being made one with her partner and her God, and preparing to lose her virginity. To Luthanlu, in India, it means an opportunity to continue her Rongmei Naga culture, a tribal minority in the North-East of the country. And to Dalia, in Mexico, it means the validation of her relationship with her girlfriend, and hopefully, reconciliation with her conservative mother.
Dir. by Naina Sen, Australia, 2017. 84 min | Documentary
Australia’s answer to The Buena Vista Social Club, The Song Keepers tells the inspiring story of an Aboriginal women’s choir and their first tour of Germany.
In the churches of remote Central Australia, a 140-year musical legacy of ancient Aboriginal languages, German sacred hymns and baroque music is being preserved by four generations of women that make up the Central Australian Aboriginal Women’s Choir. With their charismatic musical director Morris Stuart, the choir embarks on an historical tour of Germany, singing the baroque Lutheran hymns brought to their great grandparents by German missionaries in their own Western Arrarnta and Pitjantjatjara languages. Together these remarkable women take their music and stories of cultural survival, identity and cross-cultural collaboration to the world.
(M) Dir. by Marco del Fiol, Brazil, 2016. 87 min | Documentary
Marina Abramović travels through Brazil, in search of personal healing and artistic inspiration, experiencing sacred rituals and revealing her creative process. The route is comprised of poignant encounters with healers and sages from the Brazilian countryside, exploring the limits between art and spirituality. The film features healing sessions with the medium John of God in Abadiania, herb healers in Chapada dos Veadeiros, spiritual rituals at Vale do Amanhecer in Brasilia, the strength of religious syncretism in Bahia, ayahuasca in Chapada Diamantina, shamanic processes in Curitiba and energy of crystals in Minas Gerais. This external trip triggers in Marina a profound introspective journey through memories, pain and past experiences. A mixture between road movie and spiritual thriller, the documentary brings an unprecedented approach of the intimate creative process of one of the most important artists of our time.
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(G) Dir. Jenny Walsh & Lesley Hammond, Australia, 2015. 90 min | Documentary
This dazzling wildlife spectacle propels us into the very private world of some of our most endearing critters. Set across a global stage, a parade of four legged talent struts its stuff against the backdrop of some great classical works. A live action ‘Fantasia‘ features mighty whales breaching, charging elephants, the big cats, and dozens of favourites performing with the symphony orchestra. A highly original event which will thrill everyone, particularly those who share a growing concern for the health of the planet.
(R) Dir. Beth B, USA, 2013. 77 min | Documentary
Burlesque performance art beyond anything you’ve seen before. It’s satire. It’s parody. It’s an explosion of art and entertainment. Exposed delves deep into the heart of burlesque with a focus on eight female and male artists who use their nudity to transport us beyond sexual and social taboos. It’s powerful, enlightening, humourous, and it challenges traditional notions of body, gender, and sexuality.
(G) Dir. Fernando Trueba, Spain/France/Italy, 2000. 105 min | Documentary
A musical documentary celebrating the music of some of the world’s greatest Latin Jazz musicians. Narrated by the film’s director Fernando Trueba (Belle epoque), musicians including Jerry Gonzalez, Gato Barbieri and the late Tito Puente, are introduced before their respective performances, filmed and recorded under the finest conditions at the Sony Music Studios in New York.
(M) Dir. Hubert Sauper, France/Austria/Belgium, 2004. 111 min | Documentary
Winner Best Documentary, 2004 European Film Awards and Nominee Best Documentary Academy Award
Some time in the 1960’s, in the heart of Africa, a new animal was introduced into Lake Victoria as a little scientific experiment. The Nile Perch, a voracious predator, extinguished almost the entire stock of the native fish species. However, the new fish multiplied so fast, that its white fillets are today exported all around the world. This documentary is captivating with fascinating subject matter.
(G) Dir. Tony Gatlif, France, 1993. 103 min | Documentary
Winner Un Certain Regard Award, Cannes Film Festival 2003. The film takes the viewer on a journey west, from India to Spain, with stops along the way, to dramatise Romany’s nomadic culture. Gatlif holds his camera on the elemental essentials of this life: water, the wheel, fire, beasts of burden and of sustenance, colorful clothes, jewelry, musical instruments, song, and dance. Throughout, via song and dance, young and old celebrate, embody, and teach the cultural values of family, journey, love, separateness, and persecution.
(G) Dir. Agnès Varda, France, 2000. 82 min | Documentary
35mm prints available.
Agnès Varda’s award-winning documentary. The secluded life of the deep French countryside is portrayed in this semi-autobiographic study of the obscure lifestyle. Focusing primarily on gleaners, those who scavenge an already harvested field, the moral, political and aesthetic aspects of these people are gradually revealed.
(G) Dir. Agnès Varda, France, 2002. 63 min | Documentary
Available on DVD only
Varda revisits some of those profiled in The Gleaners and I and visits others who were so delighted by the film that they wrote to her to tell her so. An amusing, and once again, fascinating follow-up.
(G) Dir. Nicolas Vanier, Canada/France, 2004. 100 min | Documentary
A mix of documentary and fiction this poetic ode to ecology and the protection of the environment follows the life of Norman Winther and his wife who live in complete isolation the Yukon (Canada) hunting grizzlies and wolves. The changing seasons, relationship with their much relied upon huskies and the sometimes perilous conditions form a dramatic and engaging narrative.
(PG) Dir. Graham Coleman, UK, 1979 & 2005. 134 min | Documentary
Available on Digibeta, Betacam and DVD formats only.
Stunning cinematography, unprecedented access and informed direction take us on an intimate journey deep into the heart of the ancient Buddhist culture of Tibet. A classic work filmed on location in India, Nepal and Ladakh over 25 years ago it has recently been digitally re-mastered and edited into a spellbinding introduction to Tibetan Buddhism.
(PG) Dir. Philippe Béziat, France, 2012. 113 min | Documentary
An intimate and fascinating documentary that invites you to go behind the curtains of one of the world’s greatest operas, Verdi’s masterpiece, La Traviata. Director Philippe Béziat offers you a rare glimpse into the creative process of renowned singers and musicians as they collaborate to produce a contemporary re-telling of this classic opera at the prestigious Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in France.
