About The Series: The Film Makers

Luigi Acquisto
Luigi Acquisto has worked as a documentary and drama film maker since 1986, when he topped the graduating class at the Swinburne school of Film and Television.

His final year film, Spaventapasseri which dealt with the experience of migration won awards at the Melbourne and the St. Kilda Festivals. It was also shown at international festivals including London, Edinburgh, Clemond Ferrand and Tyneside. It was nominated for four AFI awards.

His drama credits include the feature film , Hungry Heart (1987) and the television drama, The Chase (1993), an episode of the critically acclaimed anthology series, Under The Skin. In 1987, he made his first documentary, You Jump, You Fly, an episode of the Australian Mosaic series for SBS Television.

In the following year he co-directed, A Change Of Face, a three part documentary series challanging representations of Australian identity on the screen.

Since then Acquisto has directed many documentaries including, Postcards From Italy(1990) about expatriot Australians in Italy such as Jeffery Smart and David Malouf. In 1997 he completed the documentaries Terra Incognita for RAI International and Big Bag's Japanese Adventure for ABC Television.

In 2000, Acquisto wrote, directed and produced the critically acclaimed five part documentary series, Once Were Monks for SBS Television . East Timor Birth of a Nation is Acquisto's most recent production. He also wrote and produced this two part series.

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Andrew Sully
Andrew Sully graduated from the VCA School of Film and Television in 1992. His short film, Black Dogs garnered much critical acclaim on the festival circuit, winning the Grand Prix at the Festival Henri Langois and Best Film at the St. Kilda Film Festival.

Sully quickly followed this success with another short drama, A Dancing Foot And A Praying Knee. It was shown at festivals locally and internationally, received a national theatrical release and was nominated for two AFI Awards.

In 1995, Sully turned his hand to directing documentaries and, with co-director Anna Broinowski made the extraordinary, Hell Bento, an exploration of youth subcultures in urban Japan. The documentary was screened on SBS Television, given a national theatrical release and sold to seven overseas territories. It was voted Best Australian Documentary at the 1996 Sydney International Film Festival.

Sully joined Abracadabra Films in 1997 as an In house director. Since that time, he has worked on a variety of projects including music videos and educational programs.

In 2000, Sully co-directed the critically acclaimed fine part documentary series, Once Were Monks with Luigi Acquisto. This was part of Film Australia's National Interest Program. Sully co-directed Episode Two of East Timor Birth of a Nation with Luigi Acquisto and he continues to work with Abracadabra Films developing documentaries. He is currently writing a feature film.

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Stella Zammataro
Zammataro is company director of Abracadabra Films and co-produced the five part series, Once Were Monks for Film Australia's National Interest Program and SBS Television.

She co-produced Terra Incognita for RAI International, Italy; a half hour documentary looking at stories of Italians living in Australia, and she was associate producer of Big Bags Japanese Adventure for ABC Television.

Her credits include many educational films for government clients including the Victoria Police, the Department of Human Services and The Quit campaign. She has produced over one thousand live to air programs as part of the Pals and Sals series for the Department of Education and Cinemedia.

East Timor Birth of a Nation is Zammataro's most recent production. She is currently researching a number of documentary ideas and co writing a feature film with Luigi Acquisto.

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