MALCOLM McKINNON
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RECKLESS EYE PRODUCTIONS
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FILMS - sample works
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Mulka Yata

A short film about Adnyamathanha artist Kristian Coulthard for exhibition Mulka Yata (Knowledge of Place) presented at the SAMSTAG Museum of Art, Adelaide, in 2024.

A collaborative project with Jared Thomas.





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CLOSE TO THE BONE (teaser)
 
A half-hour film exploring legacies of violence from Australia’s pastoral frontier, developed in collaboration with Jared Thomas and others for ABC TV and the South Australian Museum, 2022.

For on-line viewing, education kit and DVD purchase see:
here, here and here.
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Everything was Fine...

Four accomplished jazz musicians reflect on their experience of catastrophic illness - the impacts upon their lives and their art. Featuring Scott Tinkler, Tony Gould, Angela Lumicisi and Ray Pereira.

A project for Merri-bek City Band, Melbourne, 2022

40 Years Challenging the System

A short film celebrating the work of Flemington & Kensington Community Legal Centre, produced in collaboration with History at Work, 2022.



Miner Poets

A work-in-progress short film for a project exploring the history and culture of poetry and song in the mining communities of western Tasmania.

Miner Poets is also a radio documentary for ABC Radio National - see here

Developed in collaboration with Annie Venables & Richard Wolfe
© Reckless Eye Productions 2021


The Auctioneer’s Call
 
A short film created for the Geelong Digital Outdoor Museum pilot project - an initiative of Deakin University’s MinDLab - revealing hidden histories in locations around Geelong, Victoria.
See: here
 
© Malcolm McKinnon 2021
RE/POSSESSION

Exploring the repatriation of a colonial collection of Aboriginal artefacts to their traditional owners.

​A project for the Burke Museum in Beechworth, Victoria.

Developed in collaboration with Bernard Lloyd
© No Flicker Films & Reckless Eye Productions 2020

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​SWANSTON & FLINDERS 
 
A short film exploring the history and significance of Melbourne's most famous site, developed with Prof. Andrew May (Melbourne History Workshop at University of Melbourne). 

© Malcolm McKinnon, 2019
Unanchored World
 
A short film produced in collaboration with artist Stephen Eastaugh, documenting a voyage on a container ship in the Indian Ocean.
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© Malcolm McKinnon & Stephen Eastaugh, 2018
The Sound of Music at Finniss Springs

One of a series of short films telling stories of life at Finniss Springs, once the site of an Aboriginal Mission in outback South Australia.
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© Malcolm McKinnon & Marree Arabunna Peoples’ Committee, 2007
This is a Border(town)

Short film created as part of an artist-in-residence project in Bordertown, South Australia, telling stories of relationships between local people and recently arrived migrants and refugees.
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© Malcolm McKinnon & Country Arts SA, 2016​
The Farmer’s Cinematheque (teaser)

A lyrical one-hour documentary interpreting a remarkable film archive from the Victorian Wimmera.
A meditation on the power of country and also a demonstration, quite literally, of the power of film, The Farmer’s Cinematheque teases out important questions about our custodianship of places and communities.
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Full film available to view via Beama Film: here
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© Reckless Eye Productions 2016
Roasting the Rabbit

One of two films about ‘feral foods’ produced with storytellers in Quorn, South Australia, as part of a filmmaker in residence project, 2010.
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See also: here 

© Malcolm McKinnon, 2010
Legendary Appearances

From a series of short films telling stories of The Gaiety Theatre in Zeehan, Tasmania.
​Developed in collaboration with Bernard Lloyd for exhibition at West Coast Pioneers Museum.

© No Flicker Films, 2010
Pressing On

One of three short films about industrial history in the Victorian Wimmera, commissioned by Culture Victoria and the Heritage Council of Victoria.
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For more stories from this series see: here and here

© Malcolm McKinnon, Heritage Council of Victoria & Dimboola Historical Society, 2012 
Blandowski’s Specimens (excerpt)

Excerpt from a film about legacies of an 1857 scientific expedition to the junction of the Murray and Darling Rivers, created for an exhibition by Mildura Arts Centre and Museum Victoria, 2007.
 Seriously Singing (teaser)

Seriously Singing is a half-hour documentary about the surprising resonance of history and the capacity of young singers to exceed all expectations, including their own. (2011)

Full film available to view via Ronin Films here

No Longer Made in Australia

A short film commissioned by the South Australian History Trust, documenting the closure of a long-term manufacturing operation in Adelaide.
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© Malcolm McKinnon & History Trust of South Australia, 2007
Dust

A showreel created in the development of a community theatre work about asbestos and asbestos-related disease.
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(Hubcap Productions, 2007 – 2009).
Edith’s Lyrebird

A re-telling of the story of an unlikely relationship between a male lyrebird and a stout widow in the Dandenongs, on the edge of Melbourne, in the 1930s.

​Developed for Yarra Ranges Regional Museum, in collaboration with storyteller Jackie Kerin, 2010.
The Marching Kazoo Band

One of an extensive series of short films and audio works created for Memory Bank, a project to record personal stories of changing places across Geelong and surrounding areas.

© Malcolm McKinnon & City of Greater Geelong, 2008

Mark of Recovery

One of a series of short films from a project called Illuminated by Fire, presenting personal understandings and difficult truths about the role of fire within particular Victorian environments.
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For more films from this collection see: here 
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© Malcolm McKinnon & Regional Arts Victoria, 2010
Balancing the Record

One of nine short films created for a permanent exhibition titled Nukunu – stories of heritage and identity at Melrose Museum in South Australia. Created in collaboration with the Nukunu People’s Council and Melrose & Districts Historical Society, 2003-2006.
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© Nukunu People’s Council, 2005

Ripples of Wartime – Trung Ton

One of a series of first-voice stories from people impacted by the Vietnam War in a range of different ways. Ripples of Wartime was commissioned by Brink Productions theatre company in South Australia as a component of the Long Tan project. 
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For more stories from this collection see: here

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© Malcolm McKinnon & Brink Productions, 2017 
River Medicine

One of a series of river stories from across the Murray Darling Basin, created for the Centenary of Canberra One River project, 2013.
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For more stories from this collection see: here

© Malcolm McKinnon, 2013
Reinventing the Brass Band

From a series of short films and related media telling the story of an old-fashioned community institution reimagined and reinvigorated, 2016.
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See: here
Jim Simpson's Knitted War Trophy

A short film produced as part of the project Stories of the Upper Murray, working with community museums in north-east Victoria.
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© Malcolm McKinnon & Murray Arts Inc, 2006
Champion Produce

One of six films commissioned by Regional Arts Australia for presentation at the national regional arts conference staged in Horsham, Victoria in October 2004. These films were produced in collaboration with the Horsham Agricultural Society.
 
© Malcolm McKinnon, Horsham Agricultural Society & Regional Arts Victoria, 2004​

Sea of Faces

One of an extensive series of short films and audio works created for Memory Bank, a project to record personal stories of changing places across Geelong and surrounding areas.

© Malcolm McKinnon & City of Greater Geelong, 2008
Disappeared racecourses of north-west Victoria

Short film created for Warracknabeal Historical Society as part of an artist-initiated project called Triggered Stories, engaging several community museums in regional Victoria and South Australia.
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© Malcolm McKinnon & Warracknabeal & District Historical Society, 2002
© Reckless Eye Productions 2025
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