Search our film database
-
The Art of Regret
Directed by Judith MacDougall
Photography is known in China as the “Art of Regret”. In the rapidly changing city of Kunming, people are ambivalent about whether they want photography to be a medium of...
-
Awareness
Directed by David MacDougall, Judith MacDougall
Filmed in South India, Andhra Pradesh, at Rishi Valley School, founded by the 20th Century Indian thinker Krishnamurti, ‘Awareness’ explores the sensibilities of two groups of young Indian teenagers, a...
-
Collum Calling Canberra
Directed by David MacDougall, Judith MacDougall
An account of Aboriginal people steering their way through the often frustrating processes of official decision-making, as it is seen from their viewpoint far away from Canberra. Gordon Smith, head...
-
Diya
Directed by Judith MacDougall
A diya is a small terra cotta oil lamp used throughout India in Hindu ceremonies. The film follows the life history of an object through the every day experience of...
-
The House-Opening
Directed by Judith MacDougall
When Geraldine Kawanka’s husband died, she and her children left their house at Aurukun on Cape York Peninsula. In earlier times a bark house would have been burnt, but today...
-
Lorang’s Way
Directed by David MacDougall, Judith MacDougall
The Turkana are a group of semi-nomadic pastoralists who inhabit a harsh environment of dry thorn country in northwestern Kenya. Lorang’s Way focuses upon a Turkana elder. Having spent time...
-
Nawi
Directed by David MacDougall, Judith MacDougall
This classic ethnographic documentary, by the renowned filmmaking team of David and Judith MacDougall, explores the nomadic life of the Jie of Uganda. During the dry season the Jie leave...
-
Photo Wallahs
Directed by David MacDougall, Judith MacDougall
This film is an exploration of the cultural and personal meanings of photographs in a hill station in northern India. The ‘photo wallahs’ are the local photographers of Mussoorie, a...
-
Stockman’s Strategy
Directed by David MacDougall, Judith MacDougall
A film which explores the philosophy of teaching and learning of Sunny Bancroft, manager of an Aboriginal-run cattle station in northern New South Wales. It also tells the story of...
-
Sunny and the Dark Horse
Directed by David MacDougall, Judith MacDougall
A true story of a country family’s gradual involvement and growing passion for ‘picnic racing’. Sunny Bancroft is an Aboriginal cattle-station manager in New South Wales. With his non-Aboriginal wife...
-
Takeover
Directed by David MacDougall, Judith MacDougall
On March 13, 1978 the Queensland Government announced its intention to take over management of Aurukun Aboriginal Reserve from the Uniting Church. The people of Aurukun complained bitterly, fearing that...
-
Three Horsemen
Directed by David MacDougall, Judith MacDougall
Bob Massey Pootchemunka has spent most of his life as a stockman and drover. Now over 75, his ambition is to see an all-Aboriginal cattle station operating at Ti-Tree on...
-
A Transfer of Power
Directed by David MacDougall, Judith MacDougall
Replacing the engine in an old car is a familiar rural task, but how people go about it differs. For these Aboriginal men in New South Wales, it’s an occasion...
-
Under the Men’s Tree
Directed by David MacDougall, Judith MacDougall
At Jie cattle camps in Uganda men often gather under a special tree to make leather and wooden goods and talk, relax, and sleep. This brilliant ethnographic documentary by renowned...
-
The Wedding Camels
Directed by David MacDougall, Judith MacDougall
Also about individuals from the Turkana in north-western Kenya (see ‘Lorang’s Way’ and ‘A Wife Among Wives’), this film chronicles a series of events which surround the marriage of Lorang’s...
-
A Wife Among Wives
Directed by David MacDougall, Judith MacDougall
This segment of the trilogy on the Turkana of northern Kenya (see ‘Lorang’s Way’ and ‘The Wedding Camels’ above) evolves around the role of women in the society. The audience...
RAI FILM Festival 2025
The next RAI FILM Festival will take place in person from 27-30 March 2025 at the Watershed Cinema and the Arnolfini International Centre for Contemporary Arts in Bristol (UK) and online throughout the month of April 2025.
