In the 1800s, brickmaking was one of the largest manufacturing industries in Australia. Hoffman's Brickworks in Brunswick, Victoria, was a leader of this industry, running for 133 years and fostering a strong union. Indeed Hoffman's was the birthplace of the Brickmaker's Union in Victoria. In this film, director Grant Hobson covers the final week of operation of this historic site, in December 1993. He interviews the union representatives and the close family of workers, some of whom he is able to reunite in May 2010 on the site. It is a nostalgic reflection on the heyday and demise of brickmaking in Victoria, as well as capturing the colourful personalities that illustrate the post-war migrant experience in relation to work and settling in Melbourne.
2010-01-01
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At any given moment hundreds of people are soaring above us in a 747. From the moment the very first jumbo jet took off in 1969, it has been the aircraft against which all others are judged. But its 45-year journey has been anything but smooth. This is the definitive story of the Boeing 747, from its milestones and triumphs to its turning points and disasters. Witness its history through rare archival footage and tales from pilots, engineers, designers, and passengers who were there when it all began.
Residents of an idyllic island town off the coast of Georgia demand answers after the largest shipwreck removal in US History doesn't go as planned.
Jettingen Germany is home to Ludo Fact, one of the world's largest manufacturers of board and card games. This documentary shows how a board game makes the leap from an idea to your table. You'll see every aspect of the manufacturing process: the technology and machines, the many detailed steps, and the hundreds of people that are involved in the production of a single game. Mostly, we hope the film gives you a greater appreciation of the time, effort and investment that goes into every quality board game that makes it to the marketplace and your home. The business of fun requires a lot of hard work!
A short film about axe making in Oakland, Maine. It documents the process of creating fine axes in the Emerson Stevens shop -- the last axe factory to operate in Oakland. Oakland was once a world-famous center of quality blade-making.
With humor, chutzpah and a piece of vinyl siding firmly in hand, Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Judith Helfand and co-director and award-winning cinematographer Daniel B. Gold set out in search of the truth about polyvinyl chloride (PVC), America's most popular plastic. From Long Island to Louisiana to Italy, they unearth the facts about PVC and its effects on human health and the environment.
Bikes for Africa is an entertaining, insightful and moving documentary following the life adventures of Hap Cameron and Mandy Todd, and their attempt to help implement a self sustainable bike workshop in rural Namibia with a container load secondhand donated bikes from Melbourne. The film investigates how a bicycle can fundamentally change the lives of rural Africans, and brings to focus the great works of two-wheeled charities Bicycles for Humanity and the Bicycling Empowerment Network Namibia.
John Z DeLorean’s extraordinary and doomed attempt to build the sports car of the future in 1980s Northern Ireland is the stuff of legend. A buccaneering American entrepreneur, DeLorean had film star looks, a famous fashion model as a wife, and an enormous ego that drove him to rival the giants of the US car industry.
Rowland S. Howard, the Primitive Calculators, Ollie Olsen, Phillip Brophy and many others proffer their recollections and air their animosities in a tribute to the underground music scene of '77-'81 in Melbourne, Australia. This is a warts and all look at the Melbourne underground music scene of 1977 to 1981 that spawned the likes of Nick Cave, Rowland S. Howard, Ollie Olsen, The Birthday Party, the Primitive Calculators, The Ears as well as venues such as the Crystal Ballroom and others that fostered what became known as the Little Band scene.
This documentary film follows for 22 years a nine-member family involved in the manufacturing of Udon in the Goto Islands, Nagasaki prefecture. Mr. Toru Inuzuka called by nickname "Tora-san" is making famous 'Goto Udon' and natural salt on the island on which the depopulation is progressing. Seven children get up at 5 o'clock every morning, helping to make udon, and go to school. Children's help is recorded on the time card, and it is pocket money for children. The film talks about children's growth, marriage, childbirth, homecoming, and parting. The 22 years of familiarity of the family is drawn.
The Packard Motor Car Company and its 5-million square foot plant became a symbol of the American Dream in the heart of the Motor City. Packard left town in 1954, but the plant still stands as a symbol of decay. The half-mile stretch of rubble and ruin tells a story of failed politics and criminal activity, of scrappers and arsonists who went too far, and of the perseverance of one business to stick it out. The lawless plant has become a haven for street artists and curiosity seekers from around the world, including a developer from Peru.
In the 1870s Victorian politicians debated the virtues of constructing a 20km-long railway through Melbourne's east, simply to circumvent a privately-owned railway from South Yarra to Flinders Street Station. By 1878 the private railway had been purchased by the Victorian Government and there was no longer a need to build the orbital railway. But greedy politicians pushed legislation through parliament, authorising the construction of the railway through their own private land holdings. This is the story of Melbourne's Outer Circle Railway.
This short documentary follows the fortunes of iconic car manufacturer 'Lotus'. In the past 'Lotus' has been famous for producing championship winning race cars and iconic sports cars, but it has struggled to remain in profit. With a new investor and managing director at the helm, they set out to build the first new Lotus road cars in over a decade. From the last ever petrol powered car, the 'Emira' and also their first pure electric British hypercar the 2000 brake horsepower 'Evija'.
The Ripple Effect is a powerful documentary primarily centred around St Kilda legend and proud Noongar Nicky Winmar's generation-defining stand against racism at Victoria Park in 1993.
Detroit’s story has encapsulated the iconic narrative of America over the last century – the Great Migration of African Americans escaping Jim Crow; the rise of manufacturing and the middle class; the love affair with automobiles; the flowering of the American dream; and now… the collapse of the economy and the fading American mythos.
This award-winning documentary film chronicles the accomplishments and relationship of John and Nathanael Herreshoff. These determined brothers overcame all obstacles, including blindness, to earn a worldwide reputation in yacht design and construction.
With a career spanning well over a decade in the bloodiest, most violent subgenre of pro wrestling, David "Gweedo" Brown reflects on his time as a deathmatch wrestler.
In 2001, China joined the World Trade Organization with the strong support of a Democratic President and Republican Congress. Before the ink was dry on this free trade agreement, China began flooding U.S. markets with illegally subsidized exports while the big multinational companies that had lobbied heavily for the agreement rapidly accelerated the off shoring of American jobs to China. Today, as a result of the biggest shell game in American history, China has stolen millions of our jobs, corporate profits are soaring, and we now owe over $3 trillion to the world's largest totalitarian nation. This film is about how that happened... and why the best jobs program for America is trade reform with China.
Victorian Queens takes a deep dive into the weird, wonderful and utterly unique landscape of Melbourne's drag community.
Quiet towns across rural Australia are in the grip of an Ice epidemic. Major international drug cartels are working with local outlawed motorcycle gangs to push crystal meth to a captive market of children.