Ronin Films

17/08/2024

A gem from the Ronin Collection, still available! ELECTRIC SHADOWS – THE STORY OF A CINEMA (50 mins, 2008). This documentary tracks the history of this Canberra cinema, through both the good times and the tough times, and looks at the cinema’s emergence as something of an icon in the city’s cultural scene. AVAILABLE ON DVD AND VIMEO-ON-DEMAND – for orders and details see: https://www.roninfilms.com.au/video/2897/0/2445.html
For 27 years, Electric Shadows ran as an independent "art house" cinema in Canberra. From its first screening in 1979 of the Monty Python documentary PLEASURE AT HER MAJESTY’S, to its last screening in 2006 of Almodovar’s VOLVER, Electric Shadows gained a strong community of followers for its quirky programming style and informal atmosphere.

17/08/2024

JOHN FARROW: HOLLYWOOD’S MAN IN THE SHADOWS is now available on DVD from Ronin Films. For information and orders see: https://www.roninfilms.com.au/video/858/0/18682.html
Part mystery, part biography, part film noir, thus feature documentary follows the stranger-than-fiction story of the Australian-born, Oscar-winning filmmaker, John Farrow (1904-1963).

One of Hollywood’s most enigmatic figures, Farrow was the director of some 50 films. He was also a sailor, a poet, a war hero, best-selling author, a religious scholar, a family man and a philanderer – a man who lived many lives.

Farrow left no memoirs, no interviews and no archival footage, and until now, has been an elusive shadow in the telling of film history.

This documentary is a riveting, meticulously researched and beautifully assembled achievement – a masterwork in its own right - by two Australian cinephiles, Frans Vandenburg and Claude Gonzalez.

View the brilliant trailer here: https://vimeo.com/724699035

The film was applauded by New York critic, Jonathan Rosenbaum, who ranked it in his top 10 films of the year. WINNER! BEST DOCUMENTARY (Biography), ATOM AWARDS. “An outstanding feature documentary… lovely, fascinating and brimming with insights”- Filmink. “A wonderful documentary.” - Jason di Rosso, ABC Radio National.

09/08/2024

PATOU: IN BLACK AND WHITE – internationally award-winning film about the life and music of Jamaican singer, Pat Powell (“Patou”), one of Australia’s most accomplished yet hidden vocal talents. A film by Fiona Cochrane. NOW AVAILABLE ON DVD and as a digital file for screenings and downloads. For information and orders, visit Ronin Films: https://www.roninfilms.com.au/video/858/0/18686.html

19/06/2024

Our documentary, PUMPHEAD, is still going strong - now being accessed for streaming on Vimeo-on Demand in 14 countries, and selling DVDs in many countries as well. Feedback has been amazing, and the film continues to help new cardiac surgery patients, ex-patients, families and friends.

For more information see the Ronin Films website: https://www.roninfilms.com.au/video/845/40/13773.html

Photo is of Peter Gallagher, the first patient who volunteered to tell his story in the film, and who really kick-started the project.

Thanks to all those who participated - Jessica Caudwell, Peter Gallagher, Lisette Breukink in the Netherlands, Peter Lynskey, Kerri Cargill, Allan Coop, Graeme Sutton, the late Rosemary Mangiamele, and psychologists from the wonderful Australian Centre for Heart Health in Melbourne (Prof Alun Jackson, Dr Barbara Murphy and Dr Rosemary Higgins), and Pamela Cohen. And thanks to the film's production team - camerawoman Zhenshi Van Der Klooster, editor James Lane, sound designer Tim Duck, and musicians David Pereira, Chris Latham and Edward Neesom. It was a great, therapeutic experience to work with you all!

And heartfelt thanks to everyone who contributed financially through the Documentary Foundation!

15/04/2024

JAPARTA is the documentary being produced about the life, work and legacy of the Japanese historian Minoru Hokari. Andrew Pike is co-directing with Prof Ann McGrath with whom he collaborated on the award-winning MESSAGE FROM MUNGO (2014). The film is now at rough cut stage so it’s on the home track. Please consider a tax-deductible donation through Documentary Australia. You can read about the film and make a donation here: https://documentaryaustralia.com.au/project/japarta/
You can also contact Andrew Pike through Ronin Films via our website: www.roninfilms.com.au
Every contribution helps.

14/04/2024

TUPAIA'S ENDEAVOUR, a film by Lala Rolls - order now on DVD, book a high res file for screenings, or view on Vimeo-on-Demand. For details see: https://www.roninfilms.com.au/video/858/0/18489.html

Visit www.roninfilms.com.au for more information

15/03/2024

TERRA NULLIUS – acclaimed short film by Anne Pratten, scheduled to screen on NITV on Monday 18 March at 9pm, and Tuesday 19 March at 11.30am. Superbly re-mastered from the original film negatives. ALSO AVAILABLE ON DVD from Ronin Films: https://www.roninfilms.com.au/video/839/80/17400.html

“In evoking what an Aboriginal child goes through when disconnected from family and taken into foster-care, this film is ahead of its time in its treatment. … Profound and timeless.” – Margo Neale, historian and curator.

“Terra Nullius is a gem of Australian film history and culture, with a vision that it even more penetrating today, almost three decades on” – Adrian Martin, film critic.

21/02/2024

New release from Ronin Films - TUPAIA'S ENDEAVOUR - a first contact story told from a Pacific point of view. A film by Lala Rolls. NOW AVAILABLE FOR SCREENINGS AND ON DVD! For details see: https://www.roninfilms.com.au/video/858/0/18489.html

16/02/2024

VALE, TED (Edward) KERCHER, Chief Projectionist at Center Cinema in Bunda Street, Canberra City, from late 60s for several decades. Ted passed away on 3 February at the age of 92.

After working from the age of 15 as a projectionist at Hoyts, Goulburn, Ted made his way to Canberra's new independent cinema, Center Cinema. The first film he presented there was DOCTOR ZHIVAGO in 1966. In 2003, he came back out of retirement to assist in the projection of the same film for the closing night of the Cinema.

Some of us still talk about Ted as “the perfectionist projectionist”: he was unfailingly meticulous and careful, and kept the projection equipment in perfect condition. But he was much more than a projectionist: he was a Showman, a rare breed. Ted perfected the art of presenting films to the public in the most engaging and sensitive way that he could – manipulating curtains, auditorium lights, foot lights, pre-show music, exit music, and sound levels to the best possible effect, always differently planned (and manually operated) to suit the mood of each film.

I loved working with him for his showmanship, and I valued him as a friend through all the years that we worked together. I learnt a huge amount from him, things that I will always value and remember him for.

Sincere condolences to his wife, "Mac" (Berenice) who worked as Head Usherette when Ted was projectionist, and to their extended family.

02/02/2024

MESSAGE FROM MUNGO returns to NITV on Monday 5 February at 9.10pm. It’s the story of the often troubled interaction between archaeologists and Indigenous communities at Lake Mungo, one of the world’s richest archaeological sites. ALSO AVAILABLE ON DVD FROM RONIN FILMS: https://www.roninfilms.com.au/video/819/140/9901.html
WINNER! UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA MEDIA AWARD (for the Promotion of Indigenous Recognition). "This film tells accurately, the Mungo story – the most comprehensive and balanced version I have seen or heard.” - Dave Johnston, Chairman of the Australian Indigenous Archaeologists' Association.

“Particularly engaging … A dynamic essay that asks for the widest general attention. It brings together black and white, present and distant past, pastoralist and scientist, and radically different kinds of knowledge”. - Sylvia Lawson, The Inside Story.

"I thought the Mungo film was profound, radical and totally engaging. I just wish every Australian could see it." - Robert Macklin, author, filmmaker.

“This beautifully crafted film captures the nuances, complexities, and vital revelations of a real case that transformed an Indigenous community as much as a scientific discipline. I cannot recommend it highly enough.” – Dr Chip Colwell, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, USA.

Produced and directed by Andrew Pike and Ann McGrath
Associate Producer – Harriet Pike
Cinematography – Scott Wombey
Editor – James Lane
Music – Russell Wombey

With thanks to the Paakantji, Ngyiampaa and Mutthi Mutthi peoples and their Elders’ Council.

04/01/2024

See BLISS now on DVD from Ronin Films, or on Vimeo-on-Demand. Visit the Ronin website for DVD orders and for a direct link to the Vimeo-on-Demand site: https://www.roninfilms.com.au/video/840/0/17627.html

“BLISS is a key film in the story of Australian movies. … When the film won the AFI Awards for Best Picture, Best Direction and Best Adapted Screenplay for 1985, it became an art-house hit. … (It is) a completely original kind of Australian comedy, with a surreal and sardonic sense of humour … gleefully vulgar but sophisticated, irreverent and yet full of poignancy.” – Paul Byrnes, Australian Screen Online

Directed by Ray Lawrence from the novel by Peter Carey. Starring Barry Otto, Lynette Curran and Helen Jones. Produced by Anthony Buckley.

28/11/2023

RECOMMENDED VIEWING ON SBS ON SATURDAY 2 DECEMBER, 4.40pm - from Chris Noonan, director of BABE, one of the most honoured documentaries in Australian film history: STEPPING OUT. Superbly remastered from the original film negatives, this multi-award-winning film from 1981 is the magical story of 40 extraordinary people who took to the stage of the Sydney Opera House. Labelled by society as mentally handicapped, isolated in institutions since early childhood, they gave a performance that held audiences spellbound. The film tells the joyous story of that event. SEE IT ON SBS ON SATURDAY 2 DECEMBER, 4.40pm. View trailer here: https://vimeo.com/838261848 Available on DVD from Ronin Films: https://www.roninfilms.com.au/video/10855/20/615.html

23/10/2023

RECOMMENDED VIEWING - ON SBS ON SATURDAY 28 OCTOBER AT 4pm – MY REMBETIKA BLUES by M. Zournazi. Rembetika music or the Greek blues is a music born of exile and the streets. The film traces the roots of this music in the mass migration of people in the early twentieth century and in particular the journey of the filmmaker’s own forebears from Smyrna in Turkey to Sydney, Australia. The film documents experiences that are often left out of the chronicles of history. It is a universal story about love, life and music. AVAILABLE ON DVD: For information and orders, see https://www.roninfilms.com.au/video/858/0/17941.html

30/09/2023

A GEM FROM THE RONIN COLLECTION: Kathryn Millard's superb documentary, THE BOOK CAKE (2009), will screen at the Canberra International Film Festival (a fully retrospective event) on Sunday 22 October at 1.30pm, in the Arc Cinema, National Film and Sound Archive, Canberra. BOOKINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE CIFF WEBSITE: https://ciff.com.au/

The film is a delightful exploration of the seemingly universal appeal of Chaplin’s Tramp character, with his baggy pants, tight waistcoat and twirling bamboo cane. The filmmaker found his ghosts and reincarnations in sophisticated cities, back-street slums and theatres in countries as widely disparate as Mexico, Brazil, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Australia, Japan and India. People all over the world seem to find something in Chaplin's Tramp that speaks directly to them: Charlie is the universal outsider, the immigrant, the underdog, the clown, the wise fool. He thumbs his nose at authority, deflates puffed-up officialdom and triumphs over adversity. As the film depicts, in the small town of Adipur in India, the local doctor prescribes Charlie’s movies for mental health and well-being, and each year the whole town joins in a celebration of Chaplin’s birthday. (Hindi dialogue, English subtitles).

Music for the film is by Elena Kats Chernin.

BOOKINGS AVAILABLE ON THE CIFF WEBSITE: https://ciff.com.au/

15/09/2023

HOMELAND STORY - a feature documentary by Glenda Hambly, filmed in Donydji Country, East Arnhem Land. See it on NITV on Monday 18th Sept at 9pm. "An extraordinarily uplifting story of cross-cultural co-operation."- Fairfax Media. AVAILABLE ON DVD FROM RONIN FILMS: https://www.roninfilms.com.au/video/819/80/16232.html

12/09/2023

LAKE OF SCARS screens on NITV on Sunday 17th September at 8.30pm. ‘“A deeply moving, evocative and beautiful insight into how a battle to preserve timeless Indigenous culture found hope in a remarkable act of black and white conciliation.” - Paul Daley, author and Guardian journalist. A film by Bill Code, Available now on DVD from Ronin Films: https://www.roninfilms.com.au/video/858/0/17998.html

09/09/2023

CROCODILE DREAMING screens on NITV on Monday 11th September at 9.20pm. This short drama is a modern day supernatural story about estranged brothers, played by the late DAVID GULPILIL and TOM E. LEWIS. It marks the debut fiction film of writer-director Darlene Johnson, after a distinguished career in documentaries such as RIVER OF NO RETURN, STOLEN GENERATIONS and GULPILIL: ONE RED BLOOD. These documentaries and CROCODILE DREAMING are available on DVD from Ronin FIlms: https://www.roninfilms.com.au/video/840/0/691.html

"Crocodile Dreaming is my Mother's dreaming. It's not Crocodile Dundee, it's not Ten Canoes ... It's my true story." - David Gulpilil.

06/09/2023

TO NEVER FORGET is an important feature-length documentary providing new insights into wartime atrocities that occurred 80 years ago but still have ramifications today. It has been 3 years in the making by Brisbane filmmaker, Peter Hegedüs, and is now entered in this year’s AACTA Awards for best Australian documentary. Trailer: https://vimeo.com/752813238

Please support the film by voting if you are an AACTA member!
Voting form for AACTA members: https://www.research.net/r/PM7TRDY
Voting closes 5pm, 18 September 2023

19/08/2023

Vale Robert McFarlane! THE STILL POINT – PHOTOGRAPHY OF ROBERT McFARLANE explores the life’s work of one of Australia's most respected and pioneering documentary photographers. AVAILABLE AS A DVD, AND ON VIMEO-ON DEMAND: for details see https://www.roninfilms.com.au/video/15661/0/15658.html For many decades, the late Robert McFarlane put a mirror up to the changing face of Australia, providing a record of film and theatre during cultural rebirth in the 1970s and 80s, political figures at times of upheaval, and leading Aboriginal rights campaigners. An outstanding film by Mira Soulio. WINNER! Best Documentary, as well as Best Film, South Australian Screen Awards.

12/08/2023

A superb art documentary, newly released by Ronin Films, from New Zealand filmmakers, Clare O’Leary and Glenis Giles: GEOFF DIXON – PORTRAITS OF US. This feature-length film is NOW AVAILABLE ON DVD AND VIMEO-ON-DEMAND. For details see https://www.roninfilms.com.au/video/858/0/18281.html Geoff Dixon grew up in New Zealand in the 1970s, and now lives and works in north Queensland. His work celebrates the birds we have around us, as well as those that are on the verge of extinction in Australasia, and reflects on the state of our ecology. He says that the paintings are ‘portraits of us.’ The film also explores his close relationship over many years with the late Australian Indigenous artist, Arone Meeks. It’s astonishing, visceral, vibrant art, and a film to match.

03/08/2023

DEATH IN THE CITY – a remarkable new film by Balaka Ghosh, award-winning filmmaker based in Kolkata. NOW AVAILABLE FROM RONIN FILMS ON DVD AND VIMEO-ON-DEMAND. For details, visit https://www.roninfilms.com.au/video/858/0/18289.html The sacred city of Varanasi, situated on the holy Ganges, ‘the river of life’, is a revered destination for death for Hindus since time immemorial. Its legendary funeral pyres have burned non-stop for over three millennia on the river bank. This poetic film is an intimate portrait of Varanasi and the myriad communities who live and work in its ancient streets. “This beautiful, spellbinding film, a weaving of cultural anthropology and visual poetry, explores sacred traditions and rituals as deep and complex as the mystery of death itself.” - Elizabeth Frank, Pulitzer Prize-winning American author.

24/07/2023

WHERE THE WATER STARTS - a film written and directed by Amanda King, and co-produced with Fabio Cavadini, now available on DVD and for Educational use from Ronin Films: https://www.roninfilms.com.au/feature/18309/where-water-starts.html The film reveals how the fragile alpine region, particularly Kosciuszko National Park, the largest in the Australian Alps, is seen by a number of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, most of whom were born or live there, and are prepared to fight to protect it.

19/07/2023

MUSIC CENTRAL is a new film by award-winning cinematographer and documentary director, Kaye Harrison, exploring musical engagement for all ages as a pathway to mental health and well-being. Screening on ABC Compass on Sunday 23 July at 6.30pm. Available in early August from Ronin Films on DVD and as a digital file. For details and pre-orders see https://www.roninfilms.com.au/video/858/0/18329.html Filmed on the Central Coast of New South Wales, MUSIC CENTRAL follows the stories of local First Nations Elder Uncle Kevin 'Gavi' Duncan, the staff and students at Woy Woy Public School, young singer-songwriter Ruby Archer and the Artistic Director of the Central Coast Conservatorium of Music, Patrick Brennan. The film gently interweaves their narratives to explore social and cultural connection through music. At a time when humanity is increasingly disconnected from self, from each other and from the land on which we live, MUSIC CENTRAL is a timely roadmap for healing.

18/06/2023

Dear friends, we are pleased to be a supporter of JAPARTA, a new documentary on the life and legacy of the late Minoru Hokari. The film is now in post-production. Minoru was a young Japanese historian who spent many months being mentored by Gurindji Elders and was tasked by them to take their history to the world - which he did with a PhD thesis, two books (one in Japanese, the other in English) and numerous journal articles before his untimely death at the age of 32 in 2004.

Approx $12,000 is still needed to fulfil the vision for the film.

Here is a 3 minute promo reel, https://vimeo.com/502001967

Andrew Pike is producing, and working with Prof Ann McGrath as co-director (Ann and Andrew previously made the award-winning MESSAGE FROM MUNGO in 2014).

Please help them get over the line with this new film! For information and tax-deductible contributions please go to: https://documentaryaustralia.com.au/project/japarta/

Minoru's book, Gurindji Journey, is now available from the Ronin website: https://www.roninfilms.com.au/video/858/0/18109.html

Thanks to Editor, James Lane; Cinematographer, Zhenshi van der Klooster; and Sound Designer Tim Duck. And thanks also to Screen Canberra and the ACT Screen Arts Fund for early support.

Visit www.roninfilms.com.au for more information

31/05/2023

THE BYSTANDER STORY is a provocative "documentary noir" from Kathryn Millard (director of the Olive Cotton portrait, LIGHT YEARS). The film fuses studio re-enactments, interviews, archival, bodycam and CCTV footage to tell a story about psychology's bystander experiments, exploring how, when and why strangers come together, even putting themselves at risk, to help strangers in trouble. NOW AVAILABLE ON DVD AND ON VIMEO-ON-DEMAND. For details and orders see: https://www.roninfilms.com.au/video/858/0/18253.html

22/05/2023

THE BOOT CAKE – from Kathryn Millard (director of the Olive Cotton documentary, LIGHT YEARS) – another superb film, reflecting on the many manifestations of Charlie Chaplin’s “Tramp” character in diverse cultures around the world. AVAILABLE FROM RONIN FILMS ON DVD AND SELECTED STREAMING PLATFORMS – for details and orders visit: https://www.roninfilms.com.au/video/847/0/2759.html
The story ranges from affectionate imitations by vaudevillians in Australia, to the Charlie Circle in the small provincial town of Adipur in western India, where the whole community engages in an annual celebration of Chaplin’s birthday. In Adipur, young and old, including pre-schoolers and the frail aged, dress in the Tramp costume, complete with bowler hat, moustache and cane, and eat festive food, in this case a huge cake in the shape of the boot that the starving Chaplin boils and eats in THE GOLD RUSH. Even the doctor in Adipur prescribes Chaplin’s films for mental health and wellbeing. A film about the universal and enduring appeal of silent cinema and of Chaplin’s resilience and compassion.

16/05/2023

LIGHT YEARS – a film about the life and work of Olive Cotton, the legendary Australian photographer with a portfolio spanning sixty years. Superbly re-mastered from the original film negatives, the film has never looked better. Made in 1990 by Kathryn Millard, the film incorporates invaluable on-screen conversations with Olive Cotton talking about her work. AVAILABLE NOW ON DVD AND SELECTED STREAMING PLATFORMS: https://www.roninfilms.com.au/video/15661/0/430.html In the 1930s and 1940s, Olive Cotton successfully ran a photographic studio in Sydney with the renowned Max Dupain. Her work was exhibited both in Australia and overseas. At the end of the war she married and moved to central New South Wales to live on the land and raise a family, and it seemed that Cotton had left her career as a photographer behind. Living for many years without running water or electricity, she continued to take photographs but was unable to print them. Her negatives were carefully stored in an old sea trunk until the 1960s. It was at this time that her friends and family built a darkroom in Cowra. In the early 1980s she resumed exhibiting to critical and public acclaim, and was able to devote much of her time to printing from her vast personal archive of negatives.

30/04/2023

Visit www.roninfilms.com.au for more information

30/04/2023

THE STORY OF THE 1967 REFERENDUM – now available on DVD and Vimeo-on-Demand. For information and orders, please go to the Ronin Films website: https://www.roninfilms.com.au/video/819/220/492.html The film is a superbly crafted documentary by Frances Peters-Little, made for the 40th anniversary of the Referendum. The film revisits the social attitudes and influences that shaped the referendum and led to an overwhelming YES vote. Over 90% of voters agreed that Aboriginal people should be counted in the census and that the Commonwealth Government should take charge of Aboriginal affairs, effectively acknowledging Aboriginal people as citizens within their own country.

Visit www.roninfilms.com.au for more information

02/04/2023

Dear friends, we'd be incredibly grateful for your support for our new documentary, JAPARTA, if you are able. It's the perennial finance problem for indie doco makers, and we have a $10-12,000 gap to achieve what we aspire to do with the film. For information and tax-deductible contributions please go to: https://documentaryaustralia.com.au/project/japarta/
Here is a link to a 3 minute promo reel for the film: https://vimeo.com/502001967

JAPARTA is about the life and work of the young Japanese historian Minoru Hokari and his tuition by Gurindji Elders in their own mode of understanding and telling their history. Hokari died in 2004, at the age of 32, but his legacy is vast. Minoru’s book, Gurindji Journey, is now available from the Ronin website: https://www.roninfilms.com.au/video/858/0/18109.html

Thanks to all contributors to date, and to the production team - co-directors Andrew Pike and Ann McGrath, editor James Lane, cinematographer Zhenshi van der Klooster, and Sound Designer Tim Duck. Thanks also to Screen Canberra and the ACT Screen Arts Fund for early support.

A young Japanese student, Minoru Hokari, was driven by a dream to come to Australia and study Aboriginal culture and history first-hand. In his short life-time, before his death in 2004 at the age of 32, Minoru achieved work of lasting value which commands an ever-widening audience. Minoru was inspi...