Lost Film Festival

“Lost” and rare documentaries from the 1970s and 1980s

presented by the Radical Times Historical Archive


1970 Moratorium demonstration in Brisbane - part of national protests against Australia's military involvement in the Vietnam War   © Fryer Library.

Screening Wednesday 12th, Thursday 13th, and Friday 14th November
starting at 10:00 until 17:00 (5pm).

Continuous screenings at the theatrette in the West End Uniting Church foyer,
corner of Vulture & Sussex Streets, West End, Brisbane.

Click for screening times


Special Brisbane / Queensland program

 If You Don't Fight, You Lose (1977 / 24 minutes)
The story of the democratic rights struggle in Brisbane from August until Christmas 1977.

 The Battle For Bowen Hills (1974 / 21 minutes)
Working class Australians, migrants and old-age pensioners battle the police and the Queensland government, and win (but at a price).

 The Whole World Is Watching (1982 / 25 minutes)
Produced to mobilise support for the planned protest activities at the Brisbane Commonwealth Games in 1982 in order to expose racism in Australia to the rest of the world.

 1982 Commonwealth Games Protest Film (1982 / 61 minutes)
A landmark film about the 1982 protests at the Commonwealth Games from a Black perspective. Formerly called WE FIGHT (Guniwaya Ngigu).

 Sport, Race and Politics (2006 / 11 minutes)
Overview of the 1971 Springbok demonstrations and the 1982 Commonwealth Games Protests.

 30th Anniversary of the Commonwealth Games Protests 1982 (2012 / 23 minutes)
A look back at the meaning and significance of the 1982 campaign and its influence on the movement today.

 1967 & 1977/78 Civil Liberties Campaigns (2006 / 8 minutes)
Produced by ToadShow for the Taking To The Streets exhibition in the Brisbane Town Hall presented by the Museum of Brisbane in 2006.

 Costa Nippon (1978 / 19 minutes)
Local opposition to Japanese billionaire, Iwasaki, buying up large tracts of freehold land in Queensland with Bjelke Petersen's help.

 Manufacturing Dissent (1997 / 65 minutes)
A “fast-forward” overview of the political antics of the Queensland government from the late 1960s to the early 1990s.

 Queensland Dossier (1978 / 44 minutes)
A portrait of Queensland in 1978 linking Bjelke Petersen's ban on street marches with the State's repression of opposition to uranium mining and Land Rights.

 Demolition of the Bellevue Hotel (1979 / 9 minutes)
Segment from the ABC REWIND series.

 Protected: The Truth About Palm Island (1977 / 50 minutes)
A dramatised documentary reconstructing the Aboriginal strike on the Palm Island Reserve in northern Queensland in June 1957.

 We Stop Here (1977 / 29 minutes)
Describes life on the Aboriginal reserve of Palm Island in Queensland. Old men from Dyirbal tribe tell stories of the massacres and poisoning of their people when they first came in contact with the white settlers.

 A History of 4ZZZ-FM (2006 / 26 minutes)
Produced by ToadShow for the Taking To The Streets exhibition in the Brisbane Town Hall presented by the Museum of Brisbane in 2006.

 Radical Theatre in Brisbane (2006 / 14 minutes)
Produced by ToadShow for the Taking To The Streets exhibition in the Brisbane Town Hall presented by the Museum of Brisbane in 2006.

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Other Australian documentaries (many made by Queenslanders or involving Queenslanders):

 The Long March (1974 / 26 minutes)
Join this 1974 traveling protest caravan against US military bases heading for Northwest Cape in Western Australia.

 The Bloodhouse (1975 / 24 minutes)
A film about “The Big Australian”, B.H.P. from the worker's perspective.

 Know Your Friends, Know Your Enemies (1977 / 20 minutes)
A rank and file view of the historically important Latrobe Valley Power Workers strike in Victoria in 1977.

 Ningla A-Na (Hungry For Our Land) (1972 / 72 minutes)
A classic documentary about the events surrounding the establishment of the Aboriginal tent embassy on the lawns of Parliament House in Canberra in 1972. “The single most important film on the Aboriginal political struggle in the last 50 years.” - Gary Foley.

 Vietnam Timeline (Australia's Involvement)
Produced by ToadShow for the Taking To The Streets exhibition in the Brisbane Town Hall presented by the Museum of Brisbane in 2006.

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International Program (made by Australians with a connection to Brisbane):

 The Shadow Over East Timor (1987 / 58 minutes)
The first Australian film to comprehensively examine the genocide and resistance in East Timor following the Indonesian invasion in 1975.

 The Stream (1993 / 8 minutes)
Dramatic recreation based on a true story from the war in Bosnia.

 The Lake (1994 / 9 minutes)
A young German tires to kill a Jewish woman as his initiation into a neo-nazi gang ...... but the tables are turned when the woman must decide whether to try and save her attacker's life.

 The Bridge (1995 / 11 minutes)
Lovers, planning to get married, are separated by a bridge guarded by snipers. The film is based on a true story from the war in the former Yugoslavia in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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The Lost Film Festival was presented as part of Visioning Another World: The G20 Peoples Summit, Brisbane, 12 – 14 November 2014