This year’s National Reconciliation Week theme is ‘Now More Than Ever’, with a call for all Australians to learn more about the good and the very bad of our shared history and how we can truly move forward together. The films and series contained in the are part of that hopeful future, but they also require accepting our difficult past.
Spear
Stephen Page's Spear. Source: Supplied
Spear airs 9.30pm 1 June on NITV and will be streaming at SBS On Demand for 30 days after it airs.
The Final Quarter
The disgraceful way Adnyamathanha and Narungga and Sydney Swans hero Adam Goodes was hounded out of the AFL by unrelenting racism the code seems incapable or unwilling to shield him from remains one of the greatest stains in Australian sporting history. Ian Darling’s distressing documentary stitches difficult-to-watch archival footage from The Footy Show, news reports and more to reveal an all-pervading racism that demonstrates, beyond doubt, how the tearing down of a champion reflects the state of the nation at large.
The Final Quarter will air 8pm Wednesday 29 May on NITV and is streaming now at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
The Final Quarter
program • documentary • 2019
PG
program • documentary • 2019
PG
Emu Runner
Ngemba woman Rhae-Kye Waite was nine years old when she was spotted in the remote NSW community of Brewarrina and cast as Gem. A young grieving girl who’s struggling to cope with the loss of her mum and acting out, she finds solace in the company of a wild but surprisingly friendly Emu, a bond that carries deeper meaning teased out during this family-friendly film that also features several of Waite’s family members as well as Batjala Mununjali Wakkawakka filmmaker and actor Wayne Blair as her dad.
Emu Runner will air 7.30pm Friday May 31 on NITV and is streaming now at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Emu Runner
drama • 2018
drama • 2018
First Australians
Guided by Warumungu and Luritja filmmaker Beck Cole (We Are Still Here) and co-director Rachel Perkins (), an Arrente and Kalkadoon woman, this exhaustively informative documentary series shares what so many schools in this country did not. Retelling the history of this place since the arrival of the first fleet, but from the too-often erased perspectives of First Nations peoples, this seven-part series includes powerful contributions from author Bruce Pascoe, historian Marcia Langton and actors Ursula Yovich, Ernie Dingo and Aaron Pedersen.
First Australians is streaming now at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
First Australians
series • documentary
PG
series • documentary
PG
The Australian Wars
Perkins also co-directs and presents this unflinching examination of the bloody impact of the Frontier Wars, suspiciously missing from schoolbooks and infamously absent in Canberra’s multimillion-dollar Australian War Memorial. Talking heads speak truth to power about the many hard-fought battles against the invading British empire, and there are gut-punch recreations. They include casting Liam Walker as John Batman, a man who massacred First Nations peoples but who is commemorated all over Melbourne, the city he founded on stolen land.
The Australian Wars is streaming now at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
The Australian Wars
series • documentary
M
series • documentary
M
Tudawali
Yamatji man Ernie Dingo became a household name when he appeared alongside Paul Hogan in the smash-hit sequel to Crocodile Dundee and would later capture hearts all over as Uncle Tadpole in . Far fewer folks have seen this rarely-seen 1987 telemovie that dramatises a complicated era of Australian cinematic history. Dingo plays Robert Tudawali, often pitched as Australia’s first Aboriginal film star, alongside Rosalie Kunoth-Monks, for his leading role in Charles Chauvel’s 1955 film Jedda. But that ‘stardom’ was fraught under the insidious White Australia policy.
Tudawali is streaming now at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Tudawali
biography • docudrama • 1987
biography • docudrama • 1987
Kindred
Kindred co-directors Adrian Wills and Gillian Moody. Credit: SBS
Kindred airs 8.30pm 2 June on NITV and will be streaming at SBS On Demand after it airs.
Our Law
Following in the footsteps of the original 2020 one-off documentary special and the success of season one of the ensuing documentary series, Our Law is back, with the new second series expanding from Western Australia to follow frontline First Nations officers and cadets across NSW, Victoria, Queensland and the Torres Strait. Ngarluma filmmaker Perun Bonser’s eight-part documentary series takes us into the heart of the journeys of officers and recruits as they work in diverse communities and locations, each with their own customs, heritage and challenges.
Both seasons of the Our Law documentary series are also streaming at SBS On Demand:
Stream free On Demand
Our Law
series • documentary
M
series • documentary
M
The original Our Law Documentary series is also streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Our Law
program • documentary • 2020
PG
program • documentary • 2020
PG
National Reconciliation Week is runs 27 May to 3 June. You can discover more of the SBS on Demand .
Follow the author here: Twitter @SARussellwords
