MIGUELITOFILM.COM

Filmed, directed and edited by Sam Zubrycki

Winner of best Australian Documentary Antenna Film Festival 2019

Winner of best Documentary Oaxaca Film Festival 2019

In 1973 by pure chance, the eleven year old Miguelito was discovered singing in the San Juan airport by the legendary New York record producer Harvey Averne. Within the year he went from the slums of Manuel A Perez, to recording an album with some of the finest salsa musicians of the time to finally performing with Eddie Palmieri at Madison Square Garden in front of 20,000 people. And then he simply disappeared.

Throughout Latin America his songs ‘Payaso’ and ‘Canto a Borinquen’ had become cult hits. His rise to fame was ephemeral, but no less unforgettable and to his fans his disappearance remains a myth.

Miguelito takes on the form of an upbeat road movie travelling through Latin America, uncovering the memories of those who were effected by his music and short-lived career. Featuring performances from Papo Lucca’s La Sonora Poncena, Nelson Feliciano, Maximo Torres, Malo Malo and many others, this is a film that celebrates the musical and cultural depth of the Caribbean as well as revealing a story of a once forgotten ‘Salsero’ whose album became a cult classic in a country far from his own.

A short film about Sicilian tailor Antonio Intili

A short film about bass player Junichi Shiomi

AFTRS 2014 Short

Drama

Selected for the 65th Berlinale Film Festival

As notions of civil rights transformed across the world, so was the screen landscape reformed by the ascension of grassroots film movements seeking to challenge the mainstream. Some aspired to push form to its limit; others worked to destabilise what they saw as a homogenous industry, or to provoke questions around gender, sexuality, migration and race. Among those in Australia were the Sydney Filmmakers Co-op and Ubu Films, the Melbourne Co-op, the Sydney Women’s Film Group and the LGBT-focused One in Seven Collective.

Supported by the MIFF Premiere Fund, Senses of Cinema is a robust, granular genealogy from co-directors John Hughes and Tom Zubrycki . To the heartbeat of a thrumming jazz score, it showcases excerpts of rare experimental works and vivid clippings from press, programs and posters, and interviews the likes of Phillip Noyce, Albie Thoms, Jan Chapman, Gillian Armstrong, Digby Duncan, Madeline McGrady and Ivan Gaal. In its impressive breadth, the documentary also highlights the influence of events such as the Vietnam War in interrogating film’s relationship with ideology and explores the inherent complexity of change-making – including the schism that formed between those who championed art for art’s sake and art as a vehicle for polemic.

Entrepreneur, impresario, entertainer, activist. Opera singer Tiriki Onus thought he knew his charismatic grandfather Bill, until an unearthed 70-year old silent film reel suggests he might have been the first ever Aboriginal filmmaker.

As Tiriki journeys across the continent and chases down myriad leads about his grandfather, a compelling untold story of activism, resistance and politically driven art-making unfolds. A dark tale with all the intrigue of the best detective fiction. During the films making, Bill was shadowed by security agents and on the eve of its release, it vanished.

When Walt Disney invited him to perform in America, covert government operatives conspired to prevent him from leaving Australia. Allowing Bill into the world stage was considered too dangerous. But nothing could stop his passionate, singular vision of winning equality for his people.

This is the eleventh episode of the ‘Monday Jam’ series.
It features Salvatore Santoro
The ‘Monday Jam’ is a weekly event that features a vast array of Sydney musicians that perform a combination of original compositions as well as rhythm and blues.

2014 AFTRS Short.

Documentary reenactment. 

ACON’s latest campaign, It’s Time to Think Positive About HIV, showcases the kind of allyship that can end stigma, through the reflections and connections between people living with HIV and their HIV negative allies.

Director - Hugh Stewart

Producer - Rachel Knepfer

Editor - Sam Zubrycki

Music video for Sydney Hip Hop group The FatKonreollerz.

A short film about bass player Dauno Martinez.

This is the first episode of a series of proposed short documentaries that explore the artists of the ‘Monday Jam’. The ‘Monday Jam’ is a weekly event that features a vast array of Sydney musicians that perform a combination of original compositions as well as rhythm and blues covers.

R.M. Williams boot repair and care campaign featuring Adam Della Grotta, Matilda Brown, Gareth McCray, Rhys Ripper, Hayden Cox, Margaret Mason, The Clews and Christine Rickets. Directed by Hugh Stewart