Undercurrents: Meditations on Power

When the Century Took Shape (War and Revolution)

July 1978 •French

In 1978, just after Le fond de l'Air Est Rouge, which mercilessly analyzed the previous ten years of the revolutionary left's momentum until its collapse, Chris Marker made this complementary piece entitled Quand le Siècle a Pris Forme (Guerre et Révolution).

Dr Tscharniblues

June 1979 •German

Bern, 1979: a tower block called Tscharnergut. A group of friends get together to make a film about their experiences growing up in suburban Switzerland.

Les 16 de Basse-Pointe

April 2009 •French

René Vautier, le rebelle

April 2000 •French

Les Enfants de la Patrie

July 2018 •French

All This Can Happen

January 2013 •English

A flickering dance of intriguing imagery brings to light the possibilities of ordinary movements from the everyday which appear, evolve and freeze before your eyes. Made entirely from archive photographs and footage from the earliest days of moving image, All This Can Happen (2012) follows the footsteps of the protagonist from the short story 'The Walk' by Robert Walser. Juxtapositions, different speeds and split frame techniques convey the walker's state of mind as he encounters a world of hilarity, despair and ceaseless variety.

Loyal to My Image

April 1992 •English

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.

Palestro, Algérie : Histoires d'une embuscade

March 2012 •French

Girt by Sea

February 2014 •English

Girt By Sea is a cinematic love letter to the coastline of Australia - a poetic celebration of our connection to the sea as documented through archival footage over the past 100 years.

Adwa

November 1999 •Amharic

In 1896, Ethiopia, an African nation, largely armed with spears and knives, defeats a well-equipped and organized Italian military bent on colonization.

Feed Them to the Cannibals!

January 1993 •English

Originally broadcast on ABC's True Stories in 1993, Feed Them to the Cannibals tells the story of Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. It was the first time cameras were allowed at Sleaze Ball and the Mardi Gras Party.

To Stay Alive: A Method

November 2016 •English

Iggy Pop reads and recites Michel Houellebecq’s manifesto. The documentary features real people from Houellebecq’s life with the text based on their life stories.

Pornografia

May 1993 •English

An essay-film about images and politicians.

Montezuma

September 2009 •English

Montezuma is a 2009 BBC Television documentary film in which Dan Snow examines the reign of the Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II.

Kakadu: Land of the Crocodile

January 1988 •English

Val Plumwood, environmental philosopher returns to Kakadu, where she was the victim of a crocodile attack. Against the backdrop of the steamy, intensely beautiful Kakadu National Park, she shares her thoughts on wilderness and wildlife.

Negotiating Amnesia

November 2015 •English

Negotiating Amnesia is an essay film based on research conducted at the Alinari Archive and the National Library in Florence. It focuses on the Ethiopian War of 1935-36 and the legacy of the fascist, imperial drive in Italy. Through interviews, archival images and the analysis of high-school textbooks employed in Italy since 1946, the film shifts through different historical and personal anecdotes, modes and technologies of representation.

Becoming Bond

March 2017 •English

The stranger-than-fiction true story of George Lazenby, a poor Australian car mechanic who, through an unbelievable set of circumstances, landed the role of James Bond despite having never acted a day in his life.

Memories of Australia

June 1943 •English

This Traveltalk series short visits Australia.

In the Intense Now

November 2017 •Portuguese

A personal essay which analyses and compares images of the political upheavals of the 1960s. From the military coup in Brazil to China's Cultural Revolution, from the student uprisings in Paris to the end of the Prague Spring.

Lynch/Oz

May 2023 •English

Victor Fleming’s 1939 film The Wizard of Oz is one of David Lynch’s most enduring obsessions. This documentary goes over the rainbow to explore this Technicolor through-line in Lynch’s work.