In 1950 in the USA ten communist filmmakers were jailed. The same year Frank Hardy faced a long prison sentence in Australia for writing a novel. An experiment in documentary form working in the border region between narrative/fiction and documentary/fact.
An idyllic ride in the country is shattered when Tessa takes a joke too far and hitches a ride with a stranger. Too late she finds the driver has other games in mind for her and she is no match for his addiction to thrills. In this psychological game of cat and mouse, Tessa and her boyfriend Nick are led on a merry dance of murder and intrigue. This film takes you into the darker limits of madness but on a ride with offbeat and strangely humorous turns.
Based on a true story, James Coburn portrays a military lawyer assigned to defend a confessed psychotic killer. Set in the context of WWII and the uneasy US-Australian military alliance. The accused killer claims to have killed 3 women in order to possess their voices. Despite the defense lawyer's concerns that the killer is not fit to stand trial, the US military presses forward with the case and its desire to have the killer executed in order to strengthen the shaky alliance.
Phoenix is an Australian police drama television series. Phoenix screened as two thirteen-part series on Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1992 and 1993.
The first series of Phoenix in 1992 recounted the investigation of the bombing of the Victorian state police headquarters, loosely based on a real case in the mid-1980s, the Russell Street Bombing. It was aided by extensive research into police techniques and was lauded as one of the most realistic depictions of police investigation techniques, including both surveillance and forensics, as well as having an involving storyline.
The series was notable for its dark visual tone and for its no-holds-barred attitude to violence and language.
It spawned a second thirteen-part series, Phoenix II, in 1993 as well as a spin-off series, Janus, in 1994 devoted to the machinations of court cases.
The series was created and produced by Tony McDonald and Alison Nisselle and screened by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The ABC have released Series 1 and 2 on DVD as a 4 DVD box set.
Blue Heelers was one of Australia's longest running weekly television drama series. Blue Heelers is a police drama series set in the fictional country town of Mount Thomas. Under the watchful eye of Tom Croydon (John Wood), the men and women of Mount Thomas Police Station fight crime, resolve disputes and tackle the social issues of the day. We watch their successes and their failures and learn to grow with them and their loved ones as the heart of the series develops.
