Arcadia Public Library

Between 1910 and 1970 in Australia, 1 in 3 children were removed from Aboriginal families and placed in institutions and foster homes. These children, in most cases, were never to see their family again. The film tells 3 stories of Aboriginal people who were removed. Bobby Randall: a singer/songwriter, recalls the traumatic experience of being placed in a mission dormitory at the age of 4. He describes the experience of 'shrinking' emotionally. Bobby...

Opened in 2008, the Arlpwe Arts Centre and Gallery, in the town of Ali Curung, 350 km north of Alice Springs, provides a focus for the work of a diverse range of Indigenous artists. Artists such as Anita Dickson, May Nampijinpa Wilson, Judy Nampijinpa Long, Valerie Nakamarra Nelson and artefact maker Joe Bird, talk about their work as an expression of their link to their Country. Their art also represents a means whereby they can teach younger people...

A series of seven five-minute shorts directed by women, made to celebrate Australia’s Bicentenary in 1988, depicting Australian women’s achievements and contributions to the social and welfare development of our country. The programs look at the sombre history of Aboriginal women since European colonisation through dance, voice and photographs. The previously unsung praises of women who pioneered the outback are orchestrated, and the stories of...

This powerful documentary was made by Oomera (Coral) Edwards on Super 8mm film as a training exercise at the (then) Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies in Canberra. The film surveys the New South Wales policy of taking Aboriginal children from their families and putting them in institutions run by the Aborigines Welfare Board. From 1883 to 1969, this policy deprived generations of children of their Aboriginal identity. Oomera was one of these...

A film of considerable historic importance, this documentary narrates the emergence of Indigenous broadcast media in Australia, and discusses its role in maintaining Indigenous languages and culture. In the early 1980s, the Federal Government announced that there would be a national satellite (AUSSAT), and encouraged the use of this satellite by Aboriginal peoples in remote areas of central Australia. The ground-swell of concern among Aboriginal communities...

This documentary is one of the most compelling films on this subject that we have yet seen. We are confident that it will become a landmark film in the fullness of time. Much of its power comes from its beautifully staged re-enactments of key moments in the lives of the individuals who tell their stories in the film. Why me? contains the stories of five stolen children who are now adults trying to get on with their lives. The stories are told using...

Each series explores the works of Australia's contemporary photographers, including 'After two hundred years' which documents the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander life in the late 1980's.The series features talented photographers Fiona Hall, Emmanuel Angelicas, Jon Lewis, Max Pam and Grant Mudford. Episode 4 - After two hundred years. After two hundred years documents the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander life in...

This whimsical journey into original bush toy creations in the central desert of Australia puts a new slant on the craft of toy making. From the early pastoralist days of colonisation to current international art exhibitions as far afield as New York, we see the inventive adaptation of traditional European-style toys now accepted into modern Aboriginal culture. Made from salvaged materials stripped from car bodies and found amongst discarded refuse...

Australians have an historic hatred of police and of authority - but for black Australians it is a brutal reality. Some Australians call it a secret war. Others see it as evidence of an on-going penal mentality. But despite the attempt at cultural genocide, Aboriginal juveniles remain defiant and resilient, with a clever humour that gets them into even more trouble with police. They have to contend with over-policing and police harassment, and a criminal...

"To stop the world from burning, it's up to Sigma Force to uncover a secret buried at the heart of our planet. The Titan Project-an international research station off the coast of Australia-discovers a thriving zone of life in an otherwise dead sea. The area teems with a strange bioluminescent coral that defies science, yet holds great promise for the future. But the loss of a military submarine in the area triggers a brutal attack and sets in motion...