Wednesday 24 February - Session One 5pm
Introduction and Q&A featuring special guest Tom Zubrycki with first filmmaker William Head
Kemira: Diary of a Strike
Director Tom Zubrycki
Australia / 1982 / 60mins / Rated G
In September 1982, during the height of an economic recession, BHP’s Wollongong-based steelworks announced its intention to close down some of its collieries just south of Sydney.
The worst affected was Kemira where 300 workers were to lose their jobs. 20 days before the closure of the mine a group of 31 miners occupied the pit and established themselves 5 kilometres underground.
The miners received the backing of other unions and the people of town of Wollongong. The Womens Auxiliary took over one of the company buildings and organised a kitchen, while fellow miners and supporters set up an embassy at the pit-top and kept vigil.
A few days later several thousand miners and steelworkers boarded a train to Canberra. On arrival they stormed Parliament House bringing the issue to the attention of the whole nation.
The film captures these dramatic events and then proceeds to follow the fortunes of some of the strikers and their families.
Kemira premiered at the Sydney Film Festival, had a theatrical season at the Opera House, and went on to win the AFI for Best Documentary. Kemira was in the first batch of independently made documentaries to be sold to the ABC.
World Premiere
Night Fare
Director William Head
2009 / 5:40mins / Admission 18+
In the dead of a lonely night, Melbourne's Punjabi taxi drivers meet post-shift at the Red Pepper Indian restaurant.
Outsiders in a foreign land, they find solidarity and companionship by sharing the food, language, music and culture of their homeland.
Night Fare follows one driver as he steps out of the cold night and into the bustle of this early morning scene.
What emerges is an impression of a lively and unknown pocket of a culture establishing itself in the heart of a sleeping metropolis.
For more information visit the official Night Fare website.