Sons from Afar

General Hercules

2022

In June 1893, European prospectors unlawfully took claim to ‘The Golden Mile’ on Aboriginal land. In little over a hundred years the natural landscape has been transformed into the industrial hellscape of Kalgoorlie-Boulder. As incumbent Mayor John Bowler starts to campaign for a second term, independent prospector John ‘General Hercules’ Katahanas decides to run against him on an anti-corruption ticket. What starts out as a quirky David-vs-Goliath political battle, unravels into a portrait of a man, a town and a country sent mad by the timeless cycles of exploitation, racism and greed.

The Last of the Nomads

1997

Like an antipodean version of Romeo and Juliet, it emerges that Warri and Yatungka became the last nomads because they had married outside their tribal laws and eloped to the most inaccessible of regions. In 1977 the land was stricken by a severe drought and their tribal elders mounted a search for them with the help of a party of white men led by Dr Bill Peasley and one of their own number, a childhood friend named Mudjon. The film takes Dr Peasley back into the desert to relive his momentous journey with Mudjon and culminates with poignant archival footage of the elderly couple found naked and starving.

Tree Kangaroos: Ghosts of the Forest

2022

Seldom seen and very rarely filmed in their natural environment, Lumholtz tree kangaroos are the ghosts of the north Queensland forests. This film follows the intimate lives of these tree-climbing specialists in the wilderness of the Atherton Tableland.

Girt by Sea

2014

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.

Sacred Vessels: Navigating Tradition and Identity in Micronesia

A 1997 documentary by Micronesian scholar, Vicente M. Diaz, that follows a new generation of traditional outrigger canoe builders and navigators from Polowat, Central Carolines, Federated States of Micronesia, and Guam in their respective efforts to continue and resuscitate an ancient tradition of outrigger canoe carving and sailing in the late twentieth century. Like the motif of water that flows through the documentary and blurs lines between surface and depth, and between water, land and air, an indefatigable tradition and aesthetic of seafaring is shown to also challenge pat and problematic distinctions between past and present, tradition and modernity, indigenous and Christian religiosity and spirituality, that prevail in conventional understandings of Micronesian culture and history.

The Pace That Kills

1959

Excessive speed is the number one killer on the roads: one-thrid of all road deaths are caused by it. By excessive speeding drivers risk their own lives and those of others.

Gallipoli from Above

2012

Gallipoli from Above: The Untold Story is the true story of how a team of Australian officers used aerial intelligence, emerging technology and innovative tactics to plan the landing at Anzac Cove. It is now nearly 100 years since the landing and hundreds of books, movies and documentaries have failed to grasp the significance of the ANZAC achievement. Instead, the mythology has clouded the real story of how these two influential Australian officers took control of the landing using every innovation they could muster to safely land their men on Z beach.

Australia: Land Beyond Time

2002

Australia: Land Beyond Time takes viewers on a breathtaking journey back in time to witness the birth and evolution of a mysterious land that harbors remnants of Earth's earliest life and many of it's strangest creatures that exist nowhere else on the planet.

Becoming Bond

2017

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.

The Welcome

2021

The Welcome is a life-affirming collection of short films sharing stories that will transport you across countries, borders and oceans. Hear fresh voices and emerging Queensland artists from diverse backgrounds tell honest and authentic stories about migrant and refugee experiences and what it means to belong in Australia. The Welcome is an extension of La Boite’s critically acclaimed 2020 stage production, The Neighbourhood. This intimate storytelling experience was created by La Boite with Brisbane-based production company KIOSK and proudly supported by the Commonwealth Bank and Queensland Government. The Welcome screens across multiple digital platforms, in recognition and celebration of Queensland’s diverse communities.

Undercurrents: Meditations on Power

2023

Made from reimagined/recycled images and sounds from the filmmaker’s archive and other found materials, Undercurrents is a poetic essay documentary about the undercurrents of history playing out in the present. It is also (at its heart) about the power of resistance.

The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce

2009

Eight men escape from the most isolated prison on earth. Only one man survives and the story he recounts shocks the British establishment to the core. This story is the last confession of Alexander Pearce.