Tom Zubrycki - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Tom Zubrycki has been making documentaries for over 45 years. He has won many awards for his work and his mentorship on behalf of the industry. As director Tom’s documentaries have a distinctive observational story-telling style, and have focused around a personal response to the issues of the day. Films like THE DIPLOMAT (2000), MOLLY & MOBARAK (2003), THE HUNGRY TIDE (2011) and HOPE ROAD (2017). As producer and executive producer Tom has worked both with experienced and also new and emerging directors. Recent films include FAIR GAME (2017), UNDERMINED – TALES OF THE KIMBERLEY (2018), THE WEATHER DIARIES (2020), MY REMBETIKA BLUES (2021) and ABLAZE (2021).
Tom is a recipient of the prestigious Stanley Hawes Award, and has actively championed the cause of the documentary sector over a number of years. His monograph The Changing Landscape of Australian Documentary published in 2019 by Currency House was a Platform Paper about the state of documentary in Australia from a historical perspective.
His latest film as producer/director SENSES OF CINEMA (2022) is a collaboration with Melbourne filmmaker John Hughes.
More information on his website. www.tomzubrycki.com
Phone: 0414 683231
Address: Leichhardt, New South Wales, Australia
less
Related Authors
University of the Basque Country, Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
Uploads
Papers by Tom Zubrycki
Platform Papers - Quarterly Essays on the Performing Arts, Currency House Inc, 2019
Documentaries matter more than ever. Documentary storytelling is a vital way to explore our world... more Documentaries matter more than ever. Documentary storytelling is a vital way to explore our world and who we are as a nation. In this they are as much an art form as about real life - and that's sufficient reason for them to have a strong cultural imperative. But in this evolving digital era a new landscape has emerged. Much has changed: new storytelling tools, a new global base - but with reduced government funding and increased fragmentation of the distribution sector. The once self-reliant TV broadcast industry has re-structured around ratings and perceived audience taste.
So it is outside the broadcast sector that we must look for ambition and innovation. We are now at that historical moment of transition from an outdated broadcast model to a digital future of many platforms. The systems created by the internet will be the future. But they cannot survive without government regulation. Currently they have no local content obligations. These global companies must engage with Australian-originated projects right from the start. Zubrycki calls for similar intent regulation to that of the commercial broadcasters. 'It's not going to happen any other way' he insists. 'Quotas are not just necessary, they are essential.'
LUMINA - Australian Journal of Screen Arts and Business, 2011
'Privileged access' is becoming an overused term in documentary. It’s a buzzword that’s often u... more 'Privileged access' is becoming an overused term in documentary. It’s a buzzword that’s often used to hype up a promotional synopsis, trailer or a funding submission. It feels like all meaning has been robbed from a term that is intrinsic to the very essence of the documentary process. Privileged access can make a great film, but it’s not a one-way process. It’s not a ‘given’. Access might produce a wonderfully dramatic scene for the person behind the camera, but it could make life hell for people in front of the camera. Privileged access and ethics go hand in hand.
In his book "Age of Extremes" Eric Hobsbawm refers to the difficulty of writing history on the tw... more In his book "Age of Extremes" Eric Hobsbawm refers to the difficulty of writing history on the twentieth century because it is not ‘a period known only from outside’. ‘If the historian can make sense of this century’, he says, ‘it is in large part because of watching and listening.’ Reading Hobsbawm’s words made me think that the work of a documentary filmmaker and that of a contemporary historian are related in important ways. ‘Watching and listening’ is at the very heart of documentary filmmaking, but so is the process of discovery, of finding drama in everyday life and then telling a story with a point of view.
"SECOND TAKE – Australian Filmmakers Talk” by Burton & Caputo, Allen & Unwin, 1999
The nexus between technological changes and film aesthetics has always been a close one: witness ... more The nexus between technological changes and film aesthetics has always been a close one: witness the French new wave of the 1960's when filmmakers like Jean-luc Goddard took to the streets with light hand-held cameras, and the grass roots film movement that sprang-up around Super-8. Documentary is no exception. The lightweight 16mm cameras in the early 1960's produced the 'direct cinema' and cinema-verite' movements which resulted in filmmakers engaging in intimate ways with their subjects. The cost of camera and sound equipment, however, combined with 16 mm film stock and processing, limited filmmaking to a professional elite able to secure the necessary finance.
It’s taken thirty years for this situation to change. In 1996 digital video cameras appeared on the domestic market which returned broadcast quality images but were also at an affordable price. The time is now fast approaching when everyone will be able to afford desktop non-linear editing. The question is how’s this going to change the documentary? Will it survive in its present form or will it re-surface in different shapes and styles?
Platform Papers - Quarterly Essays on the Performing Arts, Currency House Inc, 2019
Documentaries matter more than ever. Documentary storytelling is a vital way to explore our world... more Documentaries matter more than ever. Documentary storytelling is a vital way to explore our world and who we are as a nation. In this they are as much an art form as about real life - and that's sufficient reason for them to have a strong cultural imperative. But in this evolving digital era a new landscape has emerged. Much has changed: new storytelling tools, a new global base - but with reduced government funding and increased fragmentation of the distribution sector. The once self-reliant TV broadcast industry has re-structured around ratings and perceived audience taste.
So it is outside the broadcast sector that we must look for ambition and innovation. We are now at that historical moment of transition from an outdated broadcast model to a digital future of many platforms. The systems created by the internet will be the future. But they cannot survive without government regulation. Currently they have no local content obligations. These global companies must engage with Australian-originated projects right from the start. Zubrycki calls for similar intent regulation to that of the commercial broadcasters. 'It's not going to happen any other way' he insists. 'Quotas are not just necessary, they are essential.'
LUMINA - Australian Journal of Screen Arts and Business, 2011
'Privileged access' is becoming an overused term in documentary. It’s a buzzword that’s often u... more 'Privileged access' is becoming an overused term in documentary. It’s a buzzword that’s often used to hype up a promotional synopsis, trailer or a funding submission. It feels like all meaning has been robbed from a term that is intrinsic to the very essence of the documentary process. Privileged access can make a great film, but it’s not a one-way process. It’s not a ‘given’. Access might produce a wonderfully dramatic scene for the person behind the camera, but it could make life hell for people in front of the camera. Privileged access and ethics go hand in hand.
In his book "Age of Extremes" Eric Hobsbawm refers to the difficulty of writing history on the tw... more In his book "Age of Extremes" Eric Hobsbawm refers to the difficulty of writing history on the twentieth century because it is not ‘a period known only from outside’. ‘If the historian can make sense of this century’, he says, ‘it is in large part because of watching and listening.’ Reading Hobsbawm’s words made me think that the work of a documentary filmmaker and that of a contemporary historian are related in important ways. ‘Watching and listening’ is at the very heart of documentary filmmaking, but so is the process of discovery, of finding drama in everyday life and then telling a story with a point of view.
"SECOND TAKE – Australian Filmmakers Talk” by Burton & Caputo, Allen & Unwin, 1999
The nexus between technological changes and film aesthetics has always been a close one: witness ... more The nexus between technological changes and film aesthetics has always been a close one: witness the French new wave of the 1960's when filmmakers like Jean-luc Goddard took to the streets with light hand-held cameras, and the grass roots film movement that sprang-up around Super-8. Documentary is no exception. The lightweight 16mm cameras in the early 1960's produced the 'direct cinema' and cinema-verite' movements which resulted in filmmakers engaging in intimate ways with their subjects. The cost of camera and sound equipment, however, combined with 16 mm film stock and processing, limited filmmaking to a professional elite able to secure the necessary finance.
It’s taken thirty years for this situation to change. In 1996 digital video cameras appeared on the domestic market which returned broadcast quality images but were also at an affordable price. The time is now fast approaching when everyone will be able to afford desktop non-linear editing. The question is how’s this going to change the documentary? Will it survive in its present form or will it re-surface in different shapes and styles?