La Porte County Public Library System

Each year, millions of tourists come to Australia looking for the quintessential "Aussie experience", but are they getting anything more than koalas, boomerangs and a shrimp on the barbie? This four-part series takes an eye-opening journey behind the scenes of Australia's multi-billion dollar tourism industry.. Selling Australia reveals a world of ruthless marketing where canny entrepreneurs are determined to give visitors exactly what they want,...

In tropical far-north Queensland, Cairns is a tourist mecca. As planeload after planeload of visitors arrive, even the customs officials are getting training in hospitality and cultural sensitivity. For tourists, the town seems pretty close to paradise, but it’s not quite perfect. Cairns has no beach. No problem - Cairns City Council has decided to build one. However, as the heavy machinery moves in, some locals are up in arms. It seems that, for...

Images of the outback and indigenous culture have been used to sell Australia for decades, yet few Australians have had significant contact with either. In this episode, two sets of tourists seek an authentic Aboriginal cultural experience: one a busload of 38 Americans on a whirlwind package tour; the other, a small group of mainly Australians heading for a remote desert community where they will take part in five days of traditional song and dance...

In 1984, the Australian Tourist Commission launched an advertising campaign promoting Australia to the world. The commercials not only made the country a number one holiday destination, they also put forward an image of Australia that, to this day, remains fixed in foreign perceptions. Nearly 20 years later, actor Paul Hogan is back for the latest campaign and it’s proving the most successful ever. But does the image of Crocodile Dundee on a beach...

The men of St Francis move back to the newly renovated monastery, pleasantly surprised by what they find. Don, returning from overseas, decides to continue living at his former home, and Gonzalo, with his rediscovered spirituality, resolves to stay at the meditation centre. A reunion dinner brings everyone back into the fold, but will it tempt Don and Gonzalo to change their minds?. A Film Australian National Interest Program in association with Abracadabra...

Unearthing a variety of contemporary Indigenous Artists and their connection to their art, community, and country.. Hosted by artist, activist and proclaimed show off, Richard Bell.

The Human Race is a compelling adventure documentary set in the Kimberley Region - an ancient, remote and spectacular landscape in North Western Australia. Three men from different continents begin the race on the rim of Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater, the second largest meteorite crater in the world, and finish in the small coastal town of Wyndham.. Australian Aboriginal elder, 72 year old Jack Jugarie, travels with little more than his Dreamtime knowledge...

A religious order in the heart of Melbourne moves from St Francis monastery into a pub during renovations. Father Donald Cave, however, moves to his former home to write a book on the order’s founder, while Brother Bernard, at the age of 100, is too old to stay at the pub and must be cared for elsewhere. Father Ken Boland, in charge of the building works, vents his opposition to the renovations. Brother Gerard Develin parts with his pet budgie for...

The men of St Francis monastery adjust to their new lives at a Melbourne pub. Gerard visits his budgie, now boarding with a friend. Ken struggles with the builders and Bernard, now living in a nursing home, is paid a surprise visit. As the community’s youngest member Boris plans for his ordination, Gonzalo decides to take a break from monastic life after 45 years, accepting a job as live-in caretaker of a meditation centre.. A Film Australian National...

Father Gonzalo settles into his new life at the meditation centre and attends a performance of the Tibetan Gyuto Monks, the personal choir to the Dalai Lama. He invites them home to dinner and develops a growing interest in Buddhism. Back at the pub, the men of St Francis have a heated discussion about the role of the Catholic Church in the world today. Despite their differences, they come together to witness Boris’s spectacular ordination.. A Film...