Documentary

"Documentary as a form of story telling is something I only learned gradually as I began to realise the importance of watching, not only making, films. While finding your own documentary filmmaking voice is a fascinating and sometimes difficult process, there are so many others to be challenged by or become engrossed in." Says Mandy King - Documentary Maker

"Documentary is a survivor and its coming back more and more, after all recording reality was the first form of filmmaking. Documentary will always be a fascination for me - a process of drawing from an unlimited source of stories." Says Fabio Cavadini - Documentary Maker

 

SYDNEY FILM SCHOOL's award winning documentaries include: 

'MY DAD SUSAN' directed by Teagan McCarthy, who tackles a highly personal and confronting subject in a short form documentary of 8 minutes. She says, 'As the daughter of a cross-dresser, this is a documentary I wish I had when I was growing up.’
Awards:
Best Short Form Documentary - St Kilda Film Festival
The Queer Perspective Award - Mardi Gras Film Festival
Official Selection:
Official Selection - St Kilda Film Festival
Official Selection - Mardi Gras Film Festivals, Sydney & Melbourne
Official Selection - Women On Women International Film Festival (WOW), Paddington 2007 & their Touring Film Festival

‘RICHARD' – the most interestingest person I ever met is  a documentary recieved DVD distribution in 2008. The moving and highly personal interaction of a young student filmmaker, Maya Newell and her subject, toyshop owner, Richard Blackie is broken when circumstances take a dramatic turn.
Awards:
Best Director of a Documentary - Asian Festival of First Films (AFFF), Singapore
Official Selection:
Official Selection - Asian Festival of First Films
Official Selection - Perth Revelation Film Festival
Screened at the Film Market of the Cannes Film Festival
Distributor: Siren Visual, Melbourne

‘I MET A REAL STREETY ONCE’ is a half hour documentary directed by Caroline Ingvarsson about life on the streets of Sydney’s inner city homeless seen through the eyes of a young filmmaking team.
Awards:
Best Film - Film for Film Festival
Official Selection:
Official Selection - Film for Film Festival
Official Selection - St Kilda Film Festival
Official Selection - Perth Revelation Film Festival
Official Selection - Singapore International Film Festival
Official Selection - TGHFF International Digital Shorts Competition
Screened at the Film Market of the Cannes Film Festival

SYDNEY FILM SCHOOL's documentaries that have screened at film festivals both nationally and internationally include: 

‘TROY’ directed by Daniel Hayward, who’s short documentary about the eccentric and highly talented artist, Troy Davies, features an interview with Richard Lowenstein and footage of Michael Hutchince.
Awards:
Best Documentary - South Florida International Student Film and Video Festival
Official Selection:
Official Selection - South Florida International Student Film and Video Festival
Official Selection - New York Film Festival
Official Selection - Melbourne International Film festival 
Official Selection - Brisbane International Film Festival 
Official Selection - Chicago Underground Film Festival

‘Mr HECTOR DUDLEY’ directed by Brian Lye, celebrates the quirky and amusing character traits of a pug-nosed dog.
Awards:
The Promo D’Oro Award - ViVa Leichhardt Short Film Festival
Official Selection:
Official Selection - ViVa Leichhardt Short Film Festival
Official Selection - 7th Global Chinese University Student Film and TV Festival, Hong Kong
Screened at the Museum of Sydney’s Tails of the City exhibition

‘BUZZ’ directed by IL HOON CHANG, an international student who took a hard look at the lives of younger Korean students, based his doco in Sydney’s northern suburbs, where a fifteen year old International student embraced life unhindered by parental supervision.
Official Selection:
Official Selection- Asian Symposium of Film, Singapore

‘TO SEE’ follows filmmaker Chris Wohlers, who sticks patches on his eyes for a week to experience the world of the blind. ‘Close your eyes, step out your door - and see the world a bit differently.’
Official Selection:
Official Selection - International Documentary Forum, Beijing


DOCUMENTARY TEACHERS:

Mandy King and Fabio Cavadini 



Amanda (Mandy) King is a documentary film director and producer who’s been making films since the late 1980’s. In 1990 she co-produced The Shadow over East Timor, a Finalist, Best Documentary, AFI Awards 1988 which was sold to 6 different countries. She has created extensive international broadcasts and is an acclaimed visual artist.

In 2010, she completed the documentary, A Thousand Different Angles, broadcast on ABC Television’s Artscape program.  A Thousand Different Angles explores the life and work of one of Australia’s foremost sculptors, Inge King, whose monumental abstract sculpture graces many public buildings and plazas.

‘This is an absolutely great piece - strong and interesting. I think she’s a really strong character and it has a really strong narrative.’ (Michael Idato, Sydney Morning Herald, March 2010)

Mandy is now researching a documentary about Australian born, US based sculptor Clement Meadmore. A Matter of Looking is the story of a sculptor’s search for his place in the world of art. This film aims to reinstate Meadmore as one of this country's most significant sculptors.

She has received development funds from Screen Australia, the Australia Japan Foundation, the Elisabeth Murdoch Trust and private donors. You can view the trailer on the Frontyard Films website:
http://www.frontyardfilms.com.au/Promo%20clip.html


 
Fabio Cavadini has over thirty years experience as a cinematographer on Australian award winning documentaries. He shot and co-directed Buried Alive - The Story of East Timor, which screened at the Sydney Film Festival and sold to Ch4 (UK) and P.B.S.(NY).
 
Since 1987 Mandy King and Fabio Cavadini have been collaborating as a co-producer / director team. They have produced a string of documentaries, many being broadcast on SBSTV. Their project 'An Evergreen Island', an inspiring story of the people of Bougainville Island who survived a ten year blockade imposed after they protested against the operations of one of the world’s largest copper mines, was an AROM Award finalist in Short Form Documentary in 2008, and screened at the Kalamata International Documentary Film Festival, the Commonwealth Film Festival in Manchester, Version 02 in Chicago MCA in 2008, and the World Social Forum Film Festival in Mumbai India in 2004.


Kathryn Milliss



Kathryn Milliss graduated from the Swinburne Film and Television School, winning the Kodak Prize for Best Achievement in Cinematography. She has been lecturing at the University of Technology Sydney, AFTRS & Sydney Film School.

As a Director of Photography her credits include more than 20 projects: features, documentaries and TV series. In 2003 she was a DOP on 'Helen's War' directed by Anna Broinowski. The 50 minute long documentary won Best Documentary Award at the 2004 AFI Awards. In 2006 Kathryn and Anna collaborated again on the feature documentary 'Forbidden Lies' which won 9 awards including Best Feature Documentary Award at the 2007 Film Critics Circle Awards.

She has also worked in 3D technology as one of three DOPs on the 2009 documentary ‘Cane Toads 3D’. Her latest project is feature film ‘Careless Love’ directed by John Duigan. The film is to be released in 2012.