Brisbane Screen Activism of the '80s and Now
Why this event now?
Magandjin / Brisbane has a powerful history of activist filmmaking, documenting struggles for land, human rights, environment, heritage and culture.
This event brings together activists, concerned citizens, academics, 1980s filmmakers and today’s social-media content creators to ask:
🤔 What should the world see is happening here during, and prior to, The Olympics?
🤔 How can we get more people to take a stand, either side of the camera?
🤔 How can we help to stop bad history repeating?
🤔 How can we keep it real, but also peaceful, inspiring and entertaining?
Since colonisation, Brisbane 'mega events’ have been a trojan horse that politicians have used to fast track change that many people wouldn’t agree to if they knew what was going to happen, how, and for what price.
Many politicians choose to reduce rights to information, avoid answering questions and use flashy artist impressions to distract the public from what is really going on, and what it will cost them and their electorates. Authorities also often like to invoke a public defeat or amnesia and make things sound like they're an irreversible fait accompli, when they often aren't.
1982 COMMONWEALTH GAMES → 1988 WORLD EXPO 88 → 2032 OLYMPIC & PARALYMPIC GAMES
Right now Queensland is repeating history under the banner of Brisbane2032 Olympics and the Trumpian 'dig baby dig'. There’s an escalation of governments: breaking election promises; resuming and rezoning critical public and private land; bypassing laws and regulations; removing civil liberties; increasing surveillance; police and security intimidation; rewarding political donors and developers; and having abject disregard for First Nations people, their rights and heritage. And there are 6 years to go.
Many people have short memory and attention spans; reduced engagement with ‘old’ media and complex ideas; journalists and cartoonists have less job security; while a few billionaires and surging AI control so much of what we see.
At this time of rapid urban transformation and conservative government, now more than ever, Brisbane needs more community activist content creators and independent media to get creative with holding power to account.
Through short films, clips and conversation, this event will celebrate the activism of those who stood up, and those who documented. We’ll see parallels and contrasts in the organisation of First Nations protests around the 1982 Commonwealth Games, the transformation of South Brisbane for Expo 88, and the contemporary bulldozing of environment, heritage and democratic principles for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, 'development' and private interests. These are the tips of icebergs.
16mm → Super 8 → video → digital → phone → social media → drone
From 16mm and Super 8, to smartphones and drones, the tools have changed, but the camera remains a witness. Activist filmmaking can document change as it unfolds, preserve evidence, challenge official narratives, inspire action and let the world know.
Activism is not a dirty word. Activists won the 5 day working week, and the right for women and First Nations people to vote. And so much more.
🎤Speakers include Kamilaroi and Ngemba Elder and activist Uncle Bob Weatherall, filmmakers Dr Deb Beattie, Prof Stephen Stockwell, Wendy Rogers, Jy of Tight Knit, and visiting academics Dr Jenni Minner (Cornell University NY, USA) and Dr Martin Abbott (ANU, Canberra) who have written about Brisbane films and 'The Art of Resisting Mega-Event Amnesia'.
Join this free, face to face, all-volunteer celebration of Brisbane’s activist screen culture, and night of short films, talks + networking.
Bring young and old, students, artists, writers, journalists, trade unionists, photographers, environmentalists, historians, creatives and anyone interested to get involved. + wet weather gear!
Kindly supported by 4ZZZ-FM, Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Brisbane Labour History Association, Frontyard Films, Radio Reversal, Paradigm Shift, Brisbane Radical Events Diary (BREAD) and all the speakers and filmmakers who have all generously donated their time and creativity.
📷 🎞️ The above still images from some of the films that will be shown in full or part: Deb Beattie's Expo Schmexpo, 1984; Stephen Stockwell's This City Is Dead, 1985; Wendy Rogers and Sue Ward's City For Sale, 1987; and the Games Video Production / Mandy King and Peter Gray film, The Whole World Is Watching, 1982.
To check out the prizes and buy tickets in the event raffles go here. Prizes include Gordon Hookey Kangaroo Point artworks and event speaker books. Raffle tickets are available for purchase online until Sunday 1 Nov 11.55pm.
https://events.humanitix.com/donations-and-raffle-for-brisbane-screen-activism-of-the-80s-and-now
Speakers include
Uncle Bob Weatherall
Uncle Bob Weatherall is a Kamilaroi and Ngemba Elder who has spent over forty years fighting for First Nations sovereignty and the repatriation of ancestral remains. As founding CEO of FAIRA (Foundation for Aboriginal and Islander Research Action) he was a lead organiser of the 1982 Commonwealth Games protests, establishing Tent City in Musgrave Park and rallying international support at a time when Queensland’s Aboriginal communities were living under even more restrictive conditions than they still are today. Uncle Bob was also the chair of the Centre for Indigenous Cultural Policy in Brisbane. Uncle Bob speaks in Musgrave Park in a short documentary film being screened: This City Is Dead, 1985 written and produced by Stephen Stockwell. Uncle Bob is also a musician. He played jazz and was a drummer until health issues limited him to guitar and vocals. He was a member of Dick Desert & The Shotgun Country Club and in 2021 his Restless Dream collaboration with Halfway and William Barton was released. In February 1982 at Brisbane's Cloudland, UK band The Clash had Uncle Bob guest vocal rap, rallying audience support in the campaign for the rights of Aboriginal people around the 1982 Games, in their song Justice Tonight. This portrait of Uncle Bob, The Fabric of Resistance by Dane Beesley won the Brisbane Portrait Prize 2026 Performing Arts and Music Prize "Produced at large scale, the final work captures the grand stature of a legendary activist, and the tactile threads speak to the decades of grassroots struggle." It can be seen at the State Library until 8 November.
Dr Jenni Minner
Visiting from Ithaca, New York, USA, Jenni Minner, Ph.D., has written extensively about Brisbane screen activism and "The Art of Resisting Mega-Event Amnesia" with Dr Martin Abbott (ANU) including a paper by that name. Dr Minner is an Associate Professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning at Cornell University, where she directs the Just Places Lab — a collaborative platform for research on community memory, public imagination, and the just care of cities and places. Minner’s research explores the intersections of urban change, memory, and cultural heritage across diverse spatial and social contexts. For example, her scholarship examines the lasting spatial and social impacts of mega-events — such as World Expos and the Olympic Games — on cities and regions. She also engages in scholarship and creative practices focused on reflections of cities through art and film. "In the Just Places Lab, we have produced a few short films" (link below). "I incorporate creative practices in my teaching and research, including film-making and drone photography." Some recent published papers on mega-events: Holleran, Max, Minner, Jennifer, and Abbott, Martin. (2025) Behind the Golden Glow: The Soft Power, Potemkinism, and Protest of Australian Mega-events. Chapter for Wolf, Sven Daniel. (Ed.) The Hard Edge of Soft Power: Mega-Events, Geopolitics, and Making Nations Great Again. Palgrave Macmillan. The entire book is freely available here: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-96-3515-3 Abbott, Martin and Minner, Jennifer. (2024) The Art of Resisting Mega-Event Amnesia. City: Analysis of Urban Change, Theory, Action. Pages 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1080/13604813.2024.2366119 This is an open access article. This includes discussion of City for Sale. Minner, Jennifer and Abbott, Martin. (2023) Building Social Legacies at Former and Future Expo Sites: the Case for Equity. Bureau International des Expositions Bulletin 2023. Paris, France: Bureau International des Expositions, pages 146-159. Available here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/373843107_Building_Social_Legacies_at_Former_and_Future_Expo_Sites_the_Case_for_Equity Minner, Jennifer and Abbott, Martin. (2019). Conservation logics that reshape mega-event spaces: San Antonio and Brisbane post expo. Planning Perspectives. Published on-line first. Pages 1-25. DOI: 10.1080/02665433.2019.1585281 Not open access, but I can share it. Request it from my Researchgate page. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/410243670_Conservation_logics_that_reshape_mega-event_spaces_San_Antonio_and_Brisbane_post_expo And more mega event papers are in development. Other work on expos, but not the focus: Minner, Jennifer, Zhou, Grace Yixian,* and Toy, Brian.* (2022). Global city patterns in the wake of world expos: A typology and framework for equitable urban development post mega-event. Land Use Policy 119, 106163 DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2022.106163. People can request this article by messaging me here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360481630_Global_city_patterns_in_the_wake_of_World_Expos_A_typology_and_framework_for_equitable_urban_development_post_mega-event This is about expos, rather than Olympics. Minner, Jennifer. (2019). Assembly and Care of Memory: Placing Objects and Hybrid Media to Revisit International Expositions. Curator: The Museum Journal 62(2): 151-176. DOI: 10.1111/cura.12291 Request it through my Researchgate page. - This one includes discussion of Expo 88 site. Hard copy publications include Behind the Golden Glow: The Soft Power, Potemkinism, and Protest of Australian Mega-events. Chapter for Wolf, Sven Daniel. (Ed.) The Hard Edge of Soft Power: Mega-Events, Geopolitics, and Making Nations Great Again. Palgrave Macmillan. Some of Dr Minner's works related to embodying justice in the built environment are held on Cornell eCommons.
Tight Knit members Ruby & Jy
Young contemporary content creators, Tight Knit is a community development and independent media group that has been spotlighting local issues, artists & events on unceded Yuggera & Turrbal country since 2025. Tight Knit record video in 9:16 1080p. Jy is a Film Maker / Content creator.
Prof Stephen Stockwell
Professor Emeritus Journalism and Communication, Griffith University, Gold Coast. Prof Stockwell worked as a journalist at 4ZZZ, JJJ and Four Corners, a press secretary for State and Federal politicians and an academic at Griffith University 1996-2016. Since retiring he produces poetry and art on Kombumerri land. He is also a musician. Writer and producer of the film This City is Dead, 1985, which spawned the film clip for The Parameters' song Pig City written by Tony Kneipp.
Dr Deb Beattie
Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Griffith Uni Film School, Dr Beattie supervises PhDs and did practice-led and policy-informed creative research and supervision, Research in Performing Arts, Visual Arts and Industrial Design. Skills and Expertise include Film Studies, Film Theory, Film History, Film Criticism, Cinematography, Visual Culture, Arts and Humanities, Movie Making, Screenwriting and Video Editing at the Centre for Creative Arts Research, Griffith University. We will screen Deb's 1984 film Expo Schmexpo at this event. From her site: I am an Australian filmmaker, writer and academic. As a filmmaker, I have been producing and directing documentaries for many years. As a writer I have authored scripts and articles in international journals. In 2001 I wrote and directed a pioneering web-based history documentary – The Wrong Crowd – for ABC online. In 2004 I worked as Chief Investigator on an Australian Research Council project designing online counselling environments for adolescents. Since 2006 I have worked on documentary projects like Birds of a Feather and Fairweather Man for ABC TV (2008). Recently I have been researching The Daphne Mayo Project, working through the extensive Mayo archives under the mentorship of GCCAR Director Professor Ross Woodrow. As with Fairweather Man, The Daphne Mayo Project will be a time-based creative arts research project delivered across a range of platforms, in both virtual and physical public places, and involve a network of stakeholders. In my work I attempt to advance the understanding of documentary studies and continue to engage in increasingly diverse delivery platforms for the documentary form. In my current role at University, I am engaged in curriculum development for teaching documentary modules in theory, history and practice.
Wendy Rogers
Of Pipic Media, Wendy is a Brisbane-based producer, director and cinematographer of documentaries on social, environmental and film history topics. She has had three documentaries on ABCTV, the most recent being “Your Water, My Water”, 2019, which was selected for the Berlin Movie Festival and the Toronto International Women Film Festival, winning an Environment Award. She has conducted extensive research and scriptwriting involving archival footage and historic equipment, health issues, environment and law issues. Her background in documentary includes productions for the World Health Organization, NGO community groups and government. Television Credits: “Kinetone”, Producer/Director, screened ABC Qld, 1996 “The Diviners”, Producer/Camera, ABC Documentaries, 1999 Facebook videos “Your Water, My Water”, Producer/Director/Camera, screened ABC Compass, 2019 Director/Co-Editor, City For Sale, 1987
Dr Martin Abbott
Visiting from ANU Canberra, Dr Abbott has written extensively about Brisbane screen activism and "The Art of Resisting Mega-Event Amnesia" with Dr Jenni Minner (Cornell Uni, USA) including a paper by that name. Dr Abbott is a Research Fellow in the School of Sociology at the Australian National University. Martin’s research explores how technology mediates human-environmental relations in cities. His current work examines the confluence of mega-events, film and media, community memory, and resistance to urban development in the lead-up to the Brisbane 2032 Olympics. Martin holds a PhD in Science and Technology Studies from Cornell University, where his studies were supported by the John Crampton Fellowship. He also holds an MA in Politics from Sciences Po Paris and a Master of Architecture from the University of Technology Sydney. Some recent published papers on mega-events: Holleran, Max, Minner, Jennifer, and Abbott, Martin. (2025) Behind the Golden Glow: The Soft Power, Potemkinism, and Protest of Australian Mega-events. Chapter for Wolf, Sven Daniel. (Ed.) The Hard Edge of Soft Power: Mega-Events, Geopolitics, and Making Nations Great Again. Palgrave Macmillan. The entire book is freely available here: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-96-3515-3 Abbott, Martin and Minner, Jennifer. (2024) The Art of Resisting Mega-Event Amnesia. City: Analysis of Urban Change, Theory, Action. Pages 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1080/13604813.2024.2366119 This is an open access article. This includes discussion of City for Sale. Minner, Jennifer and Abbott, Martin. (2023) Building Social Legacies at Former and Future Expo Sites: the Case for Equity. Bureau International des Expositions Bulletin 2023. Paris, France: Bureau International des Expositions, pages 146-159. Available here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/373843107_Building_Social_Legacies_at_Former_and_Future_Expo_Sites_the_Case_for_Equity Minner, Jennifer and Abbott, Martin. (2019). Conservation logics that reshape mega-event spaces: San Antonio and Brisbane post expo. Planning Perspectives. Published on-line first. Pages 1-25. DOI: 10.1080/02665433.2019.1585281 Not open access, but I can share it. Request it from my Researchgate page. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/410243670_Conservation_logics_that_reshape_mega-event_spaces_San_Antonio_and_Brisbane_post_expo And more mega event papers are in development. Hard copy publications include Behind the Golden Glow: The Soft Power, Potemkinism, and Protest of Australian Mega-events. Chapter for Wolf, Sven Daniel. (Ed.) The Hard Edge of Soft Power: Mega-Events, Geopolitics, and Making Nations Great Again. Palgrave Macmillan. From his bio: "He is currently working with Bronwyn Parry on the Cultures of the Cryosphere project. Broadly his work contributes to sociological inquiry across the fields of science and technology studies, urban studies, and the environmental humanities. Martin uses ethnographic methods to explore how technology mediates human-environmental relations. He studies these hybrid relationships at the intersection of contemporary cities and futures shaped by climate uncertainty and social inequity. This research spans: 1) the politics and practices of artificial cooling, particularly in relation to air conditioning and food; 2) flood risk management in New Orleans and the digital transformation of the United States National Flood Insurance Program; 3) the confluence of mega-events, film and media, community memory, and resistance to urban development in the build up to the Brisbane 2032 Olympics; and 4) critical engagement with the life sciences to examine plant-people and animal-human relations. Across these domains, his overarching goal is to build just futures that can be places of possibility for both people and the more-than-human world."
Evening schedule
- 5:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Doors open
⚡️⚡️ Wear and bring wet weather gear for tonight's event! Films will be screened in chronological order from around 6.15pm with an interval around halfway through the evening. Arrive from 5.30pm and start meeting past, present and future colleagues before official proceedings commence - and to avoid what may be worse weather: possibly hail, damaging winds and heavy rain which could lead to flash flooding as the evening progresses. The venue and immediate surrounds are solid and undercover. https://events.humanitix.com/donations-and-raffle-for-brisbane-screen-activism-of-the-80s-and-now
Getting there
Weather
There has been a lot of rain and more is forecast, maybe even a thunderstorm! Be prepared!
Getting there and around
Queensland College of Art and Design Auditorium,
Griffith University, South Bank
226 Grey St, South Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Modified from Griffith Uni Art Museum website:
https://www.griffith.edu.au/art-museum/visit-us
Located at Griffith University's Brisbane City (South Bank) campus, home of the Queensland College of Art and Design (QCAD), Griffith University Art Museum [which shares its entrance with The Auditorium] is a short walk from Brisbane CBD via the Goodwill Bridge or the Victoria Bridge (head south through South Bank’s arbour to the eastern end of the cultural precinct.
You can walk or ride to the building from the riverside South Bank parkland or Grey St
Bike racks
Grey Street Studios (S03).
Film School (S08).
Queensland Conservatorium (S01).
End of trip shower at QCAD
https://student.griffith.edu.au/uni-life/travel/bike-racks-and-end-of-trip-facilities
Rail and bus
The South Bank railway station and South Bank busway station are across Grey Street, and the Cultural Centre busway is an easy 15 minute walk. All stations are fully accessible, with both lifts and ramps.
Parking
Don't rely on street parking. There is metered parking available on Grey St, or the South Bank car park is nearby at Little Stanley Street, South Bank. Carpark entry is via Tribune or Glenelg Street. Accessible parking is available at the South Bank car park, or on campus through appointment. Please email artmuseum@griffith.edu.au to arrange on campus accessible parking.
Accessible Parking Spaces
A very limited number of accessible parking spaces can be made available directly in front of the venue upon request — please contact us when booking your ticket to reserve a space.
Building access
The Auditorium shares an entrance with Griffith University Art Museum in the Queensland College of Art and Design.
It is located on the ground floor, next to the security office. It has one entrance located at the front of the building. It is flat, with automatic glass doors and is wheelchair accessible. The entrance also doubles as the exit.
Accessible toilets
Accessible toilets are located on the ground floor behind the security office.
Food and drinks
Food is not allowed in the Auditorium.
We hope to have some refreshments available. Details TBC.
Tickets for good, not greed Humanitix dedicates 100% of profits from booking fees to charity