SAM WATSON
- The Street Fighting Years -

We're pleased to announce delivery of our latest production.  NITV have just taken delivery of SAM WATSON The Street Fighting Years and are hopefully planning a November broadcast to coincide with the anniversary of the Aboriginal activist's death.  

In this exclusive record, Sam looks back at the revolutionary years of the 1970s and 80s - a time when social revolution was shaping internaitonal landscape.

Sam Watson was a leading fighter for social justice for black Australians and one of the leading figures in the establishment of the Aboriginal Legal Service and the Aboriginal Medical Service in Queensland.  He was also one of the central figures at the Aboriginal tent Embassy in Canberra.  This was arguably the most potent political action ever undertaken by Aborigines in the twentieth century.  He and Denis Walker established the Black Panther Party of Austalia in Brisbane in 1972 in an atmosphere which can only be descirbed as oppressive.  Under the extreme right wing junta of Joh Bjelke-Peteresen Queensland in 1972 resembled more a third world dictatorship than a responsible Westminster parliamentary democracy.  

Sam and his colleagues were spied upon, followed and harrassed by Queensland Police and the Australian Scurity and Intelligence Service (ASIO).

Their connections to the Communist Party of Australia made them prime targets.  The Communist Party were the only mainstream Australian party to support landrights for Aborigines and had been instrumental in helping the establishment of the Aboriginal tent embassy in Canberra.  

Using previously unseen ASIO surveillance photographs this is an intimate portrait of the man, his wry wit and intelligence.  

We'll announce time and date when NITV have scheduled the film.

October 6, 2020

THE YEAST IS REDClick the cover to download

Now, for the first time comes a seering tale of revolution, sex and Gestetner machines.   Torn from the pages of life, this recently discovered text, lifts the lid on the revolutionaries, cadres and part time insurrectionists holed up in The Bakery in Melbourne during the late 1960s. With every move watched by the security services and the psycho sexual pressure reaching boiling point, this explosive tale is an unforgettable journey into the dark byways of dialectic materialism.  From the pen of hard hitting scribe and historian Ken Mansell here for your pleasure is the illustrated, digital, interactive edition of The Yeast Is Red.  You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll stare in wonder at the adventures of the Monash Labor Club. Using previous unseen research materials from our Award winning TV series PERSONS OF INTEREST, this unique document is free to down load, its even got end notes.  In exchange we want you to buy the DVD of our series. Do yourself a favour and buy PERSONS OF INTEREST here and maintain the rage.

Tribute to cinematographer
Michael Edols
from Haydn Keenan

Michael Edols was the man who gave our first feature film it's distinctive look.  While the rest of the Australian film industry wass plodding through wide brown historical melodramas, we were more interested in what was happening internationally. From Ken Loach to Haskell Wexler, the verite school was in the ascendancy and Michael became the pre-eminent Australian exponent of getting the camera into the action.  He died suddenly last month and a tribute was organised by local film makers.  Here is the video tribute from Smart St's Haydn Keenan to the man who shot our Award winning first feature film 27A.

March 2018:  Smart St has entered an agreement with ABC-TV to develop a documentary series for their digital platform.   RETRO REPORT AUSTRALIA is a web-based series of bite sized high quality news documentaries. Based on the U.S. version, currently hosted on the NEW YOR TIMES platform, RETRO REPORT will look at major news stories from the last forty years by producing stylish 10-12 minute films which summarise the news story, analyse the media coverage and using fresh interviews and research bring the story up to date casting light on policy making, Government and how the story’s consequences have affected us

In the increasingly hectic 24 hours news cycle significant stories often fade from view quickly. What happened in the end; to the disaster, the corrupt behaviour, or the personalities who were so high profile for a moment. RETRO REPORT is the final draft on the biggest news stories and a timely addition to the news cycle.  Using award winning producers, journalists and editors RR will go back over the source material, find eye witnesses and re-examine the news coverage to produce high quality short form documentaries.