Life, land and law: works from Indigenous storytellers at SBS On Demand

Discover films, documentaries and more that explore the past and present.

Another Country

Source: SBS Movies

Another Country

"This film is about you as much as me," says the great Australian Aboriginal actor David Gulpilil. "This film is about place, and about history, and about a strange town called Ramingining. This film is about what happened to my culture when it was interrupted by your culture."

Our Law

At WA's first Indigenous-run police station in Warakurna, two Noongar officers learn Yarnangu Lore and culture and master the local Ngaanyatjarra language to police in a more meaningful way, in indigenous filmmaker Cornel Ozies' 2019 landmark documentary. 

Putuparri and the Rainmakers

Lauded as , this powerful documentary tells the story of Putuparri Tom Lawford, a Kimberley Wangkajunga man with a colonised upbringing who attempts to reconnect with his ancestral lands and traditional culture.

Uncle Jack Charles on Who Do You Think You Are?

In the new season of Who Do You Think You Are? the actor, elder and member of the Stolen Generation explores his family history, discovering details of the father he never knew. Delving into his family history was an emotional experience, as he tells NITV in .

My Survival as an Aboriginal

Essie Coffey, a Murrawarri woman and black activist, shows the conflicts of living as an Indigenous woman under white domination. The film holds the distinction of being the first film directed by an Indigenous Australian woman.

Sweet Country

Set in 1929 in the Northern Territory, this universally lauded film by Warwick Thornton is the story of a young boy, Philomac, who witnesses an Aboriginal stockman kill station owner Harry Marsh in self-defence. Sam and his pregnant wife Lizzie then go on the run and a posse pursues them across the outback. Inspired by true events.

First Australians

From directors Beck Cole and Rachel Perkins, this vital  chronicles the origins of contemporary Australia as never told before, and from the perspective of its First people.

We Don't Need a Map

Warwick Thornton examines Australians' relationship to the Southern Cross, a journey that takes him through Australia's political and cultural landscape as he discovers the constellation's astronomical, colonial and Indigenous history.

History Bites Back

A modern take on history that challenges the status quo of the prevailing historical narrative of Australia. The one-hour special is directed, written and presented by Trisha Morton-Thomas alongside Craig Anderson, and stars Steven Oliver and Elaine Crombie.

Samson & Delilah

Director Warwick Thornton's story of two star-crossed 14-year-olds who escape their bleak circumstances by stealing a car and heading to Alice Springs. Thornton received the Camera d'Or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival for this, his first feature.
Discover more about the experiences of Indigenous Australians in Incarceration Nation, a landmark documentary from writer and director and Guugu Yimithirr man Dean Gibson, now streaming at SBS On Demand

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3 min read
Published 27 August 2021 5:22pm
Updated 30 August 2021 10:08am
By SBS Guide
Source: SBS

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