The good news for Australian cinema: Last year ranks as the third biggest ever for Oz films and feature docs released theatrically in the home market
When Tom Zubrycki set out five years ago to make a feature documentary on a South Sudan refugee in Sydney who returns to his village to build a school, he had no idea how the story would unfold.
The challenges of making observational documentaries in Australia can be so daunting that some filmmakers may be afraid of tackling that genre.
It's taken five years but the makers of Stolen feel their documentary's revelations of slavery in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Algeria controlled by the Polisario Front have been vindicated.
Screen Australia has released the final guidelines for its new suite of documentary programs, sparking a wave of criticism that little has changed since the draft guidelines were published in September
Documentary maker Tom Zubrycki has been announced as the winner of the Australian International Documentary Conference's Stanley Hawes Award
Wanja, written and directed by Angie Abdilla and produced by Tom Zubrycki, has been selected for competition at IDFA (International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam).
The Australian Directors Guild has announced the recipients of
the three non-competitive ADG awards for 2008: Bruce Petty will receive
the ADG Outstanding Achievement Award; Tom Zubrycki will receive the
Cecil Holmes Award and Kate Woods will receive t