Displaying items by tag: Serge Ou

UNDER A BAMBOO SKY

Australia, 2025, 77 minutes, Colour.

Directed  by Serge Ou.

A documentary to be recommended, moving, informative, challenging.

From the distributors’ site:

The story of one group of Australian POWs, whose three-year journey across four countries is told through the actual voices of 63 men of various ranks, who were aged between 18 and 32 at the time of their capture in early 1942 and who lived to tell their stories.

The interviews were recorded more than 50 years after their liberation, found among an archive of some 2000 interviews, some recorded in 1999-2000 for the ABC TV Australians at War series, with many more conducted for the UNSW Australians at War film archive and by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

While some had shared their stories many times, for others it was the first telling. For all, it was the opportunity to ensure their stories became a matter of public record, never to be forgotten.

A tale of human connection, hope and resilience in the face of great tragedy, Under a Bamboo Sky uses new technology to bring to life the unbelievable story of Australian soldiers held prisoner by the Japanese in WWII.

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Using their own words, their own voices, Under a Bamboo Sky weaves the recollections (oral testimony) of more than 60 former POWs together with newly colourised archival material and new location footage to deliver a moving, intimate and revelatory first-hand account of their experience.

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Captured during the Japanese offensive and imprisoned in Singapore’s Changi Barracks, the film follows the years long journey of these soldiers through four countries: forced into slave labour building the Thai Burma Railway, shipwrecked at sea, and sent into factories and down coal mines in Japan. After bearing witness to some of WWII’s most history-defining events, they tell of returning home to families, wives and sweethearts after years away, and of the price they paid for the trauma they endured.

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Shining through the horrors of war is the spirit of these men who, remarkably, demonstrate an inspiring human capacity to find beauty in their surroundings and hold onto hope in the worst of circumstances. Under A Bamboo Sky is their story.

16 Mar, 2026

RSL Australia is proud to be a key sponsor of the new feature documentary: Under a Bamboo Sky - a previously untold story of Australian POWs, brought to life 80 years after the end of WWII and produced by ABCG Film Distribution in collaboration with WildBear Entertainment.

The film will have its World Premiere on March 25 in Canberra before rolling out special in-cinema events across the country in the lead up to ANZAC Day, offering a chance to experience the film at its most immersive, and providing an opportunity for collective remembrance and learning for a future generation.

Synopsis

A tale of human connection, hope and resilience in the face of great tragedy, Under a Bamboo Sky uses new technology to bring to life the unbelievable story of Australian soldiers held prisoner by the Japanese in WWII.

Using their own words, their own voices, Under a Bamboo Sky weaves the recollections (oral testimony) of more than 60 former POWs together with newly colourised archival material and new location footage to deliver a moving, intimate and revelatory first-hand account of their experience.

Captured during the Japanese offensive and imprisoned in Singapore’s Changi Barracks, the film follows the years long journey of these soldiers through four countries: forced into slave labour building the Thai Burma Railway, shipwrecked at sea, and sent into factories and down coal mines in Japan. After bearing witness to some of WWII’s most history-defining events, they tell of returning home to families, wives and sweethearts after years away, and of the price they paid for the trauma they endured.

Shining through the horrors of war is the spirit of these men who, remarkably, demonstrate an inspiring human capacity to find beauty in their surroundings and hold onto hope in the worst of circumstances. Under A Bamboo Sky is their story.

FORD v HOLDEN

Australia, 2023, 99 minutes, Colour.

Narrated by Shane Jacobson.

Directed by Serge Ou, Martin Baker.

If there can be a title, headline, Ford versus Ferrari, why not a story of Australian car rivalries? And here it is.

Older Australians have vivid memories of what the rivalry was like. But, since the 2010s, and manufacturing coming to an end in Australia, the younger generation needs this kind of documentary to inform them about this automobile past.

The narrator of the film is Shane Jacobson, popular from his film Kenny, a strong presence on stage and screen. And, there are many talking heads, writers, journalists, observers, academics… And they offer quite a range of reflections. (Shane Jacobson is not seen until a final glimpse before the final credits.)

The opening of the film offers a historical survey, going back to the early days of cars, the American influence, the 1920s, but very much a focus on the end of World War II, the developments of the late 1940s and the rivalries in the ensuing decades, a great deal of attention given to the 1960s and 1970s.

For those interested in manufacture, there is a great deal of information and visuals of developments of design, the elements of production, the factories, assembly lines, but also advertising and promotion, and emerging of the use of sexual imagery and gimmicks for enticing the potential buyers.

The voice-overs just provide the descriptions, reminding us of popular names, FJ Holden, FX Holden, Kingswood, Monaro… as well as Ford and its Valiant’s.

Which means then that a great deal of attention is given to look and styles of the cars of the two companies, what they meant for their owners, especially families, and, from the 1970s, women driving these cars. Emphasis on the motivations for buying the cars, detailed picture of some of the tests, some of the drives – in difficult terrain, to prove that the Holdens were better for Australian situations, roads, range of countries than the Ford cars.

There is a great deal on Bathurst Panorama, excerpts from the races over the several decades, the careers of such drivers as Colin Jones, Peter Brock, Alan Moffat and their rivalries. Many scenes of the crowds and their excitement.

Then, towards end of the century, the production of cars in Japan and their importation, changing perspectives, changing buying habits. Always issues of popularity, price, and marketing.

Finally, there is decline in production, crisis for the Americans and Fords, Australian government factors, and the decline of General Motors in Australia.

There is some pathos at the end of the film, the closure of the factories, moving into a different 21^st-century and Australians and their use and selection of their automobiles.