IDA LUPINO: GENTLEMEN & MISS LUPINO
Previously discussed in FilmInk’s regular Unsung Auteurs column, Ida Lupino is one of the most essential ground-breaking figures in the world of female Hollywood directors. She worked consistently and creatively in a true boys’ club, and this doco looks at her fascinating life and career.
MY MOTHER THE ACTION STAR
This doco pulls back the curtain on a truly unsung powerhouse of Australian cinema: Western Sydney-based actor, martial artist and director Maria Tran, an action star in Asia who has worked with high profile players like Jackie Chan and Roger Corman. This doco introduces Australia to one of its few cinematic action heroes.
MY FIGHT
Bebi Zekirovski’s My Fight is a documentary portrait of young Australian Mitchell Bath, who spiralled down into the terrifying world of drug addiction after a life filled with pain and bullying, only to rise again via the life-changing sport of boxing.
A CERTAIN MOTHER
Mothers are the very backbone of not just the country, but quite possibly the entire world. But how do you define a good mum? This reasoned doco sensibly doesn’t try, but simply introduces audiences to four very different mothers from four very different parts of Australia, and allows us to watch them navigate the difficult day-to-day of raising a child.
A-HA: THE MOVIE
Take On Me? Yes, please. This doco tells the surprisingly fascinating story of a-ha, Norway’s biggest band, who roared onto the international scene in the 1980s with their (for the time) ground-breaking animation-live action hybrid music video for their smash hit single “Take On Me”.
TELEVISION EVENT
Digging curiously back into not-so-distant history, this doco looks at the creation, impact and legacy of Nicholas Meyer’s incendiary 1983 television movie The Day After, which dealt horrifically with the threat of nuclear war, and forced a worldwide conversation about what could be done to prevent it.
A LIFE ON THE FARM
“Outsider art” is one of the most compelling and curious corners of modern creativity, and A Life On The Farm introduces the unusual figure of late Somerset farmer Charles Carson, an inventor, a wonderfully weird and truly outré filmmaker, and a pioneer of death positivity whose treasure trove of creativity was only discovered upon his passing.
THE WIKIPEDIA PROMISE
Seriously, what we do without Wikipedia? Well, the information is all out there, but things would certainly take a lot longer if the click-your-fingers-and-then-you-know-it website wasn’t around to provide us with answers to just about everything. This doco looks at the intentions and legacy of this extraordinary online resource.
# KIDS ON TECH
Do you have to engage in a WWE-style throwdown just to separate your kids from their phones and tablets? Well, this doco – which details the way in which technology has truly come to dominate and define the lives of young people, via a wide range of interviews with various experts and commentators – might just be for you.
ABBY’S LIST: A DOGUMENTARY
In need of a little feel-good factual storytelling? Well, we are, and this documentary looks all set to provide it, but in a clearly bittersweet way, as a beloved pet dog in its last days embarks on a bucket list cross-country tick-off trek with its owner. Get ready to laugh and cry…
The Melbourne Documentary Film Festival runs from July 1-31 (online) and July 21-31 in-cinema. For all ticketing, session and programming details, click here.
