Operation Orangutan (2015)

Eternal Enemies: Lions and Hyenas

Trek into the hidden battlefields of northern Botswana where lions and spotted hyenas clash in overlapping territories. With never-before-seen footage, much of it filmed at night, you'll uncover an intense and vicious blood feud that has been waged for millennia. Follow the Southern Clan, led by a powerful hyena matriarch whose firstborn female cub kills her sister at birth to assure her succession as leader of the clan. Lurk in the shadows as a lioness from the Central Pride gives birth to three cubs and then encounters a deadly Egyptian cobra. You'll be stunned by breathtaking chase scenes as the hyena matriarch is brutally killed by a male lion, throwing the clan into chaos. Discover nature's savage conflicts in this ancient rivalry.

Lion Ark

When operators of animal circuses in Bolivia defy a nationwide ban, a team of investigators tracks them down and saves every animal. The rescue team endure confrontations, heartache, and incredible risk to see 25 lions airlifted to freedom in Colorado. An uplifting story of bravery, compassion, camaraderie, and determination: How a poor but proud country said 'no' to cruelty, and how attitudes to animals were changed across an entire continent.

Indonesia: New Nation of Asia

Hosted by Ubud's political leader Agung Jakarta Sulawesi Mas, William Deneen here visits important sites and describes the political, religious, and economic situation on the island of Bali in the Indonesia of 1959.

Ice Cold: Murder, Coffee and Jessica Wongso

This documentary delves into the unanswered questions surrounding the trial of Jessica Wongso — years after the death of her best friend, Mirna Salihin.

Disenchanted Forest

We call them o-rang-u-tans, which literally means "forest persons" in the Malay and Indonesian languages. They are the only great apes native to Asia. Of all the apes, they are the closest to man in genetic makeup. And they face extinction. Two years in the making, the film is an intimate portrayal of the world of orangutans, the threats to their survival and the people committed to help them thrive. The film focuses on a recent discovery that orangutans do not rely on animal instinct for survival, but instead have a culture that they have preserved from generation to generation.

Back to Linggajati

Joty ter Kulve grew up in the house where the historic Linggajati agreement was concluded in 1946. She experienced the Second World War in Indonesia, was imprisoned in camps and left for the Netherlands after the war. Now she returns, perhaps for the last time, to the place where she grew up. The young documentary maker Twan Spierts accompanied Joty to that historic place, where the first step was taken towards the independence of the Dutch East Indies. The documentary was previously broadcast on Omroep West.

Wet Earth and Warm People

This documentary by Michael Rubbo (Waiting for Fidel) offers candid glimpses of Indonesia and its people. Filming in and around the capital of Jakarta, the cameras follow where chance leads, capturing the flavour of life in this fertile crescent of tropical islands. Throughout the film, the focus is on a society caught between the past and the conflicting options for the future - to change or not to change from long-established patterns of life to ones more influenced by western technology.

Orangutan Rescue - Back to the wild

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The Sign of Doom

The pandemic has changed many things. Including Alfia, she is a teacher who has learned a lot from the phenomenon she saw. For Alfia, trash is no longer appropriate to be disposed of in its place.

The Look of Silence

An optician grapples with the Indonesian mass killings of 1965-1966, during which his older brother was exterminated.

The Borneo Case

The Borneo Case is a unique story filmed over 25 years and tells the epic tale of how the rainforest, home of the last nomads was stripped of its natural resources. It reveals how billions of dollars of illegal profits solicited by the Chief Minister of Sarawak State in Malaysia were money laundered with the assistance of the largest global banks into offshore accounts and property portfolios all over the world. The case was labelled as the largest environmental crime of the century.

My Duduś

A Polish mother grieves when her only child leaves their home in the suburbs of Chicago to study in Poland. While her son is away, she finds a baby squirrel in her backyard and forges a unique and powerful bond with the animal, raising him as if he were her own child.

Sarikat

A short documentary about an elderly couple who grew old together in a house. In their old age, they recount important moments in their lives, such as the first time they met.

Video Visits: Bali - A Window on Paradise

A comprehensive tour of the beautiful Indonesian island of Bali - its slumbering volcanoes, mountain lakes, lush green rice paddies and intricate temples. Bali, despite its dependence on tourism, still retains its vital four thousand year old culture. The video takes us to Lake Bratan; Ubud, the country’s cultural centre; Mas, famous for its carved wood masks; the port of Singaraja and the beaches of Sanur.

The Green Army

Andy is a loyalist of the Ka'bah Youth Movement (GPK) which is one of the 'civil militias' under the United Development Party (PPP) based in Yogyakarta. In 2019, Andy decided to support Prabowo Subianto to become the President of Indonesia. During the unstable political tension in Indonesia, Andy was required to maintain the condition in Yogyakarta.

Us, Our Pets and the War

The film highlights the stories of people and their pets against the backdrop of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Guilty

A film about convicted drug smuggler Myuran Sukumaran, who became an accomplished artist before he was executed by firing squad in Indonesia in April 2015.

Tawai: A Voice from the Forest

Explorer Bruce Parry visits nomadic tribes in Borneo and the Amazon in hope to better understand humanity's changing relationship with the world around us.

Dragon Island

There is an island where dragons still roam. A Jurassic type underworld where ancient warlords still rule. Where they fight for supremacy...where they fight to survive. Komodo Island - deep in the remote basin of the Pacific Ocean - its an ancient Kingdom of fire and brimstone. Here, a string of 452 volcanoes erupt from the ocean bed, its known as "The Ring of Fire" and it's the perfect habitat for dragons. Komodo Dragons! The largest living lizard on the planet with 34 million years of survival in his DNA. Its no surprise that he's still known as a dragon, he has the presence of an ancient gladiator. He's armored in claws and scales, but instead of spitting fire, he spits deadly venom.

Canine

A family in rural area of West Java, Indonesia enjoys their time with 'Ngadu Bagong', a sundanese traditional game where dogs put to fight against a wild boar in a single event. Ngadu Bagong has always been some sort of animal abuse but it's been in the tradition for a long time. Ade Rohmat has been in the game for a long time; a hobby that he now passes on to his daughter, Ilma Nurjanah. The potentially controversial Ngadu Bagong has always brought intense emotion, prestige, and fortune upon its practicioners.

Indonesia Calling

Two weeks after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in August 1945, Indonesian Independence leaders proclaimed “Indonesia Merdeka!” ‘Freedom for Indonesia’ and an end to Dutch colonial rule over the Netherlands East Indies. Internationally renowned Dutch filmmaker Joris Ivens, in Australia as Film Commissioner for the Netherlands East Indies government in exile, resigned his position in protest against Dutch policy, which sought to re-impose its colonial rule. In collaboration with Indonesian activists, Chinese, Indian and Australian trade unionists, and local artists and filmmakers, Ivens made Indonesia Calling, a film documenting the crucial role of Australian trade union support in the establishment of the new Republic of Indonesia. Ivens’ film was an activist documentary; it actively contributed to the events it depicted. All those who worked on it became ‘adversely known’ to the security services.

RITUAL, Part IV: The Blends

Tracing the footsteps of urban space involves understanding the various elements that influence urban development. One of the inseparable problems of cities is the attraction of migrants from various fields. The river, which has been a part of the city’s long history, brings with it all the polemics related to the city’s development.

Nénette

Nénette, an orangutan, is the star of the Parisian zoo where she has lived most of her long life. She is a mother of four and has survived three mates, and she bonds only with a few select keepers. The camera rests throughout on Nénette and the other apes in everyday situations. We only see the visitors as occasional reflections in the glass, but we hear their recorded comments and conversations alongside interviews with the zoo keepers.

The Act of Killing

Filmmakers expose the horrifying mass executions of accused communists in Indonesia and those who are celebrated in their country for perpetrating the crime.

Among the Great Apes with Michelle Yeoh

Renowned actress Michelle Yeoh journeys home to Malaysia to get to know her adopted orangutan, learning from the Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre about the efforts being made to safeguard and sustain this endangered species.

Wild Lapland

Snow blankets the trees and green lights dance in a star-filled sky. For a brief time during the festive season, our thoughts turn to a winter wonderland, far to the north. It’s a place best known to outsiders as Lapland, the magical home of Santa Claus. But far from the festive lights, Santa’s home is even more enchanting than you may realise.

The Night in IV Chapters

A group of students surround their beloved campus. But what they did was unnatural. In general, other people will surround the campus in the afternoon or evening, but they will circle the campus at night, to be more precise, starting at 11 pm. There are various things that they find while circling their beloved campus…

Into the Inferno

With stunning views of eruptions and lava flows, Werner Herzog captures the raw power of volcanoes and their ties to indigenous spiritual practices.

Raising Joey

The fires that have devastated Australia left behind countless injured and orphaned animals. This is the story of rescued joeys and their adoption by human carers. World-renowned animal photographer and advocate for rescued animals, Alex Cearns OAM, leads us into the quirky world of kangaroo care in this heart-warming journey that sheds light on the work of Wildlife Care WA Inc.

They are Called Junkmobile

A group of volunteers unite to spread happiness through effortless measures from the internet.

Any Which Way You Can

Philo takes part in a bare knuckle fight - as he does - to make some more money than he can earn from his car repair business. He decides to retire from fighting, but when the Mafia come along and arrange another fight, he is pushed into it. A motorcycle gang and an orangutan called Clyde all add to the 'fun'.

The Tiger from Tjampa

Set in the 1930s, and narrated like a ballad from the past, "The Tiger from Tjampa" tells of how a young man, Lukman, seeks to avenge his father’s murder by learning pencak silat, a traditional form of self defence, based on the movements of animals.

Costume

A Malaysian eats at an Indonesian food court in Jakarta during times of confrontation & disputes between the two countries.

Fair Wind to Java

The Dutch East Indies, at the end of the nineteenth century. An adventurous captain of an American merchant vessel is looking for a sunken Dutch vessel containing 10,000 precious diamonds. Unfortunately, he's not the only one and then there's also that volcano on the nearby island of Krakatau, waiting to explode in its historical, disastrous eruption...

Tjoet Nja' Dhien

Set in 1896, "Tjoet Nja' Dhien" celebrates one of Indonesia's great heroes who fought for independence from the Dutch. The pious Muslim people of Aceh, a city that had flourished since ancient times as a trade port, enter into a fierce war with the Dutch. Tjoet Nja' Dhien, the widow of a rebel leader operating in Aceh in Sumatra, assumes the leadership when her husband Teuku Uma is killed in an ambush. Dhien's charismatic presence and power of survival motivate the locals to join and later continue their opposition to the Dutch. Despite personal obstacles, she remained in the thick of the struggle for ten years.