Director
In 1915, during World War One, when Australian soldiers were fighting in Gallipoli and casualties were high, a group of patriots from the NSW mid-western farming town of Gilgandra answered the call to serve God, King and mother-England. They set off to march to Sydney and to join the army, gathering volunteer troops for the Dardanelles from other farming communities along the way. They called themselves the “Coo-ees”. In 1987 a new band of “Coo-ees” set off to re-enact the march and put Gilgandra back on the map. Coo-ee captures the spirit and warmth of these true life characters from the enthusiastic send off by the townspeople of Gilgandra to their footsore and rain sodden arrival in Sydney three weeks later. The film captures the spirit of these latter day diggers and the loyalty and mateship which is still alive and well in rural Australia today.
Director
Blekbala explores the lives and aspirations of Aboriginal people living in the Northern Territory - on small outstations, remote desert locations and in regional town - from Arnhem Land to Central Australia. It looks at a selection of Aboriginal-run businesses and enterprises: cattle stations; children’s education; community projects; sports and music.
Producer
Well-known Australian anthropologist CP Mountford narrates his experiences on a journey through central Australia with a group of Aboriginal people. Mountford's films are an irreplaceable ethnographic record of the life of the Pitjantjatjara people of this area, before extended contact with European culture. It records food gathering and preparation, hunting, fire making and family life as well as scenes near and on the sacred rock formation, Uluru. This film was made from unrestricted footage shot by Mountford in 1940 and 1942 for his two 1946 films, Walkabout and Tjurunga.
