Mike Donaldson and Nick Southall Against Fascism and War: Pig Iron Bob and the Dalfram Dispute, Port Kembla, 1938 (Wollongong Free University Press, Wollongong, 2014) 19 pages

In these dire times in Australia when welfare is callously slashed in favour of building more privately-owned toll roads and 58 new F-35 Joint Strike Fighters at a cost of a staggering $12.4 billion, it is refreshing to read in this short pamphlet how a committed band of unionists in the lead up to World War 2 were able to challenge conservative governments of the time.

If you are unfamiliar with the story, Australia in the 1930s shipped off hundreds of thousands of tons of crudely manufactured wrought iron, known as 'pig iron' to imperialist Japan who converted the stuff into bombs to flatten China, including in its horrific Rape of Nanking in December 1937 in which 600,000 people were slaughtered. There was a fear within the Australian community that further shipments of iron might be used against Australians and several branches of the Waterside Workers' Union in Australia and New Zealand began to refuse to load ships with potential war materials for aggressor nations, such as Nazi Germany and Japan.

The authors Donaldson & Southall's main focus in this pamphlet is on documenting the South Coast Branch of the Waterside Workers Federation's  (WWF) struggle to dismantle the unjust 'bull system' operating in Australian ports and its confrontation with the nasty and inflexible, political hard-heads in Canberra who sought to stupidly export pig iron to Japan as the war inevitably approached. In 1938, the WWF, led by Ted Roach, and with widespread community support in Wollongong, refused to load the Dalfram, a British-flagged ship bound to Japan with iron. The best & most interesting parts of this book are the incredible & disgraceful lengths to which the authorities, quick to appease the Japanese & make a quick buck, physically intimidated and drew up draconian legal means to restrict the rights and actions of the maritime workers.


The writing in Against Fascism and War is concise and often largely factual in a dry Marxist-Leninist style- although the photos and interviews with activists, especially of Ted Roach, add considerable interest and variety. This story has all the hallmarks of an epic tale- of the underdog facing a goliath brute- and is perhaps worthy of a full-length feature film.

Copies of this book are available from Other Words Bookshop, 17/157 Crown Street, Wollongong, 02 4226 2010 , or info@otherwords.com.au

Find more about Nick Southall on Revolts Now: A multiple of possibilities. His blog includes his PhD thesis on Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt and his socialistic take on many issues: http://revoltsnow.wordpress.com/

A film about community direct action in Wollongong over the years, including the Dalfram Dispute will shortly premiere in Wollongong at the Gala Cinema at Warrawong on Sunday on May 18 at 4 pm. Find more information here: https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/56253 and here:http://www.radicalwollongong.com/

New Jazz Documentary Film Release: 'Keep On Keepin' On' (2014)

It's great news to hear that young Wollongong director Al Hicks has won the Best New Documentary Director award at the Tribeca Film Festival jury awards last week in New York. His film, 'Keep On Keepin' On' about the jazz trumpeter Clark Terry and his mentoring of Justin Kauflin, a blind piano player, also received an audience award for best documentary. This week the world rights to the film were incredibly snapped up by RADiUS- TWC for a reported low 7-figure fee.

Best current link. It includes a short segment from the film: http://m.deadline.com/2014/04/hot-tribeca-deal-radius-twc-acquires-touching-jazz-docu-keep-on-keepin-on/

Hicks is a former student of Clark Terry and took about five years to develop his film. Initially, the film was crowd-funded through Kickstarter 
(I was an early sponsor) and Hicks drew on the support of his friends Adam Hart, a local surfer, and Rory Anderson of LAWW Media. In the film's later stages, industry heavyweights Quincy Jones and Paula DuPre Pesman & others became involved ensuring the documentary's financial and artistic success.

Keep on Keepin' On (2014) on IMBd

Plot Summary

• First-time director/drummer from Australia, Alan Hicks, convinced his surfing mate and cinematographer, Adam Hart, to travel to the U.S. to follow and film 89-year-old jazz legend, Clark Terry (Quincy Jones's first teacher) over four years - to document an unlikely mentorship between Terry and a driven, blind piano prodigy, Justin Kauflin, 23. Clark, now 93, mentored Miles Davis as a young musician and is among the few performers ever to have played in both Count Basie's and Duke Ellington's bands. In Keep On Keepin' On, as Justin is invited to compete in an elite, international competition while battling terrible stage fright, Clark's health takes a critical turn for the worse. Over the course of filming, Clark loses his sight, which deepens his bond with Justin. As clocks tick, we are suddenly witness to two great friends tackling the toughest challenges of their interwoven lives. The film, from the producer of The Cove and Chasing Ice, captures the passing of the torch from a cultural icon to potentially his last student, inspiring viewers in climactic, cinematic fashion.

Find out more about the soon to be released film on 
IMBd: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2674040/

Here are some further links to news items:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2674040/news?ref_=tt_pv_nw_sm

UPDATE 6 May 2014:
'Keep on Keepin' On' will premier in Australia at the Sydney Film Festival on Sunday 8th June at 8:45pm. There is a second viewing on Tuesday, 10 June at 2:15 pm.

Find more ticket information here:  http://tix.sff.org.au/session_sff.asp?sn=Keep+on+Keepin%27+On

The doco will probably be released for a general audience in about four months time.

Here’s a link to the Keep On Keepin’ official site: http://keeponkeepinon.com/filmmakers/

Update: 9 June 2014

Attended the Australian premier of Keeping On Keepin’ On at the Events Cinema on George Street in Sydney last night.  It was a packed venue and the documentary film was followed by an interesting question & answer session. Real proud of the boys. 

Find more photos here from the red carpet : http://www.demotix.com/news/4957544/australian-premiere-red-carpet-documentary-keep-keepin/all-media

Update 29 September 2014

Keep on Keepin’ On opened in LA theatres on 19 September 2014 with Justin Kauklin playing piano after the screenings.

Pete Hammond of Movieline wrote of the film, “Magnificent!...Not just one of the year’s best documentaries, it’s one of the year’s best pictures period”.

Stay tuned for more here: keeponkeepinon.com