Katele (mudskipper)
Synopsis:
An Indigenous woman is toiling away in a city laundromat when she’s visited by a man embodying the spirit of the katele (mudskipper). A joyous slice of magic realism that bursts from the screen with vivid cinematography, enchanting dance sequences and an uplifting connection to spirit of homelands.
Writ: Walter Waia & John Harvey Dir: John Harvey Prod. Gillian Moody & John Harvey
Co-Production: Brown Cabs & Kalori Productions
Year of Production / Running Time: 2022 / 13mins
Festivals & Awards: 2023 Flickerfest (Winner Best Australian Short Film Award); 2023 Melbourne International Film Festival (Winner Best Australian Short Film Award); 2023 Sydney Film Festival (Finalist Dendy Short Awards); 2023 Cinefest Oz (Best Indigenous Short Film); 2023 Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival (Winner Best Short Film).
Broadcaster: NITV (TBA)
Off Country
Synopsis: Off Country follows the lives of seven Indigenous students as they leave home to spend a year boarding at one of the most elite boarding schools in the country, Geelong Grammar School. Wrestling with their conflicting identities as students move between boarding life and home life, Off Country creates a historic record of one of Australia’s key Indigenous education Pathways and a complex portrait of what it is to be an Indigenous child in Australia today.
Writ, Dir, Prod: John Harvey & Rhian Skirving Prod: Charlotte Wheaton & Nick Batzias
Exec Prod: Virginia Whitwell & Tom Zybrycki
Co-Production: Brown Cabs, Letterbox Films, Good Thing Productions
Year of Production / Running Time: 2021 / 1 x 96mins feature / 4 x 30mins tv series
Festivals & Awards: 2022 Australian Directors Guild Award – Best Directionin a TV or SVOD Documentary Series Episode or Documentary One-Off; 2022 Melbourne International Film Festival; 2022 Hawai’i International Film Festival;
Broadcaster: NITV
Warburdar Bununu: Water Shield
Synopsis: In the late ’70s, Borroloola elders co-produced a landmark film to expose the threat to their homelands from mining development. In 2019, the eco-battle re-ignites.
Writ & Dir: Jason De Santolo Prod. John Harvey
Year of Production / Running Time: 2019 / 25mins
Film Website: http://watershieldfilm.com/
Festivals: Sydney Film Festival; Doc Edge Festival (NZ) – Schools Touring Program.
Broadcaster: NITV ; available on SBS OnDemand
Film Website: https://watershieldfilm.com/
Out of Range
Synopsis: A father decides to take his estranged son fishing, but when the car breaks down he realises the engine isn’t the only broken thing
Writ & Dir: John Harvey Prod. Lydia Fairhall
Year of Production / Running Time: 2019 / 13mins
Festivals: Melbourne International Film Festival
Broadcaster: SBS; available on SBS OnDemand
Kutcha’s Koorioke – Series
Synopsis: Cruise the streets of Fitzroy with Mutti Mutti songman Kutcha Edwards and some of our most loved Indigenous artists sharing their stories of this iconic suburb – it’s a chance for a laugh, a few songs and a yarn.
Dir: John Harvey Prods. Anna Grieve & John Harvey
Year of Production / Running Time: Series One – 2019 / 4 x 10mins Series Two – 2022 / 11 x 5mins
Release: NITV, available on SBS OnDemand
Series Website: https://kutchaskoorioke.com/
Spear
Synopsis: Using gesture and dance, with minimal dialogue, SPEAR follows a young Aboriginal man named Djali (Hunter Page-Lochard) from the outback to the streets of Sydney on his quest to understand what it means to be a man with ancient traditions in a modern world.
Writ: Stephen Page Dir: Stephen Page & Justin Monjo Prod. John Harvey
Executive Producers: Robert Connolly & Liz Kearney
Year of Prod / running time: 2015 / 84mins
Australian Distributor: CinemaPlus
International Sales: Level K https://www.levelk.dk/
Film Website: https://www.spear-film.com.au/
Festivals: Toronto International Film Festival; Adelaide Film Festival; Special Mention – Asia Pacific Screen Awards – UNESCO Award; Sydney Arts Festival; Perth International Arts Festival; MONA FOMA; Human Rights Arts & Film Festival.
Sand (chapter of feature film The Turning)
Synopsis: On a fishing trip at the beach, brothers Frank and Max are playing in the sand dunes. Sibling rivalry turns nasty when Max plays a dangerous trick on his brother.
Writ: Justin Monjo Dir: Stephen Page Prod: John Harvey
Executive Producers: Robert Connolly & Maggie Miles
Film Website: http://www.theturningmovie.com.au/
Australian Distributor: Madman Entertainnment
Year of Prod / Running time: 2013 / 108mins
Man Real
Synopsis: Recently released prisoner Carp, is initiating his childhood friend with a back yard tattoo. His beer soaked stories grow darker as he tells his friend what it means to be a man.
Writ & Dir: Tracey Rigney Prod: John Harvey
Year of Prod / Running time: 2015 / 10mins
Festivals: Sydney Film Festival; Melbourne International Film Festival; ImagineNative Film & Arts Festival; Flickerfest Film Festival; WOW Film Festival; St Kilda Film Festival
You Turn
Synopsis: After a bungled robbery, James is on the run from the law with nothing but the open road ahead of him. Thinking he is in the clear he tries to relax and drive, until he realises he has unexpected passengers on board. James has only one chance to turn his life around. Will he take it?
Writ & Dir: Ryan Griffen Prod: John Harvey
Year of Prod / Running time: 2015 / 10mins
Festivals: Sydney Film Festival (Special Mention for Best Director); St Kilda Film Festival; Flickerfest Film Festival
Under Skin, In Blood
Synopsis: Inspired by real events experienced by Aboriginal workers in the 1970s at the Baryulgil asbestos mine in New South Wales, a woman recalls happier times before her life was ruined by something nobody could see.
Writ & Dir: Larissa Behrendt Prod: John Harvey
Year of Prod / Running time: 2015 / 12mins
Festivals: Sydney Film Festival; Melbourne International Film Festival; ImagineNative Film & Arts Festival; Flickerfest Film Festival; WOW Film Festival; St Kilda Film Festival; Canberra International Film Festival; Workers Unite Film Festival; Environmental Film Festival Australia.
The Hunter
Synopsis: An Aboriginal hunter and his true love journey through sacred lands on a quest that finds them up against an ancient creature.
Writ : Cameron Costello Dir: Margaret Harvey Prod: John Harvey
Year of prod / running time: 2012 / 11mins
Broadcaster: ABC TV
Festivals: Melbourne International Film Festival; WOW Film Festival, Sydney; Wairoa Maori Film Festival, NZ.
Photography by James Henry & Steven Rhall
The Oysterman
Synopsis: A young Indigenous oyster farmer meets a mysterious young woman when the circus comes to town and must decide whether he will follow in his family footsteps, or love.
Writ & Dir: Romaine Moreton Prod: Romaine Moreton
Year of prod / running time: 2012 / 14mins
Broadcaster: ABC TV
Festivals: Melbourne International Film Festival; WOW Film Festival, Sydney; Wairoa Maori Film Festival, NZ.
Photography by Heidrun Lohr
The Chuck In
Synopsis: 24 Beers, 3 Boys and 1 Flawless Plan
Writ / Dir: Jon Bell Prod: Ryan Griffen
Year of prod / running time: 2012 / 11mins
Broadcaster: ABC TV
Festivals: Sydney International Film Festival
Photography by Rachel Kara
The Farm
Synopsis: A young Indigenous girl longs to know the people who came before her, prompting landscape imbued with mystery and treasure, urging her mother confront her own beliefs when faced with living histories woven throughout the countryside.
Writ / Dir: Romaine Moreton Prod: John Harvey
Year of prod / running time: 2009 / 10mins
Broadcaster: ABC TV
Awards: Best Short Film, 2009 Chashama Film Festival, New York
Festivals: 2009 Message Sticks Indigenous Film Festival (Aust); 2009 Flickerfest Film Festival (Aust) ; 2009 Cornwall Film Festival (UK); 2009 Southern Appalachian International Film Festival (USA); 2010 All Roads Film Festival, Washington (USA); Chashama Film Festival, NY (USA); Wairoa Maori Film Festival (Aotearoa, NZ)
Photography by Mark Rogers
