John Swindells

Films

Three decades of documentary filmmaking.

Selected Works

The Stories That Could Not
Go Untold

Each film began with a single conviction: that this person's story, this moment in human experience, deserved to be witnessed and experienced. Hover to explore. Click to enter each world.

Documentary · 60 min · IMDb 8.9

A Human Search

One of the greatest mystics and thinkers of the 20th century — Oxford Benedictine monk who spent 37 years in Southern India developing a spiritual and scientific understanding that transcended all dogma.

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2009 · Documentary · Amsterdam FF & Honolulu FF Winner

A Family Divided

Olivia Mensah-Kamara — mother of seven, former broadcast journalist, and political prisoner in Sierra Leone — navigates resettlement in Tasmania while two brothers remain stranded as refugees in Ghana.

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1997 · Documentary · 53 min

Henry: One Man's Way

Widely considered the most effective animal rights activist of the 20th century, Henry Spira used direct action and ethical campaigning to end cruel animal testing — co-presented with philosopher Peter Singer.

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Documentary · Feature Length

Seeing From Within

Writer, muse, and philanthropist Barbara Blackman AO reflects on a fascinating life of extreme highs and lows, determined to find meaning, authentic spirituality, and wholeness — completely uncompromised by blindness.

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Mid-1990s · Documentary

One in Five

An intimate, unflinching portrait of a young Melbourne university student navigating the daily realities of schizophrenia — a pioneering work of mental health advocacy designed to pierce through stigma.

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