John Cruthers

Dead to the World

Two women battle for control of an inner-city boxing school.

Words And Silk: The Imaginary and Real Worlds of Gerald Murnane

A documentary about the Australian fiction writer Gerald Murnane's love of writing and horse-racing. The film is an interwoven mosaic of still imagery, archival footage, dramatic recreations, and talking head, reflecting the film's fine-line between fact and fiction.

Kelvin and His Friends

A closely observed portrait of a single man in his 40's who lives in St. Kilda. Although he has none of the trappings of conventional existence, Kelvin's obsessive interest in born again Christianity, physical culture and recent German/Jewish history has given him a way of making sense of the world and led him to a number of people, friends through whom we see something of his life and beliefs.

Wrong World

David Trueman is a young doctor who dreams of going to South America to practice medicine among the disenfranchised. Arriving in Bolivia, he encounters enough corruption and oppression to drive him away from his dreams and into the drug scene. Disillusioned and escaping to the U.S., he meets Mary, a young heroin addict who shares his angst. As the two commiserate, their bleak outlook lightens, promising a glimmer of hope for the both of them.

I'll Be Home for Christmas

I'll be Home for Christmas cuts through social taboos to explore the subculture of people commonly dismissed as ‘derelicts'. In its portrayal of five homeless men, the film challenges conventional views of alcoholism and homelessness by depicting these men as members of a social network with a highly developed sense of mutual concern and camaraderie.

The Plains of Heaven

Two technicians manning a tracking station on the Victorian High Plains pursue opposite ways of coping with isolation. The ageing Cunningham seems to be rejuvenated by and obsessed with the landscape, while the younger Barker withdraws into the interior and technical world of the station.