The Hillmen

The Hillmen A documentary about teenage boys, sport, winning and losing and more than a bit about multiculturalism.

This documentary follows the fortunes of an Under-16s soccer team in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. "The Hillman - a soccer fable" is the story of a declining Greek-Australian soccer club that has opened its doors to all corners in an attempt to revive the glory of its heyday. The influx of Vietnamese and Turkish Players puts a spin on the ball.

A wry portrait of the generation gap, the documentary follows the team through the 1995 season as the coach and manager try to knit together a team from diverse cultural backgrounds. It is a story about teenage boys. It is about what it takes to win (and lose). And it also offers a few insights into multiculturalism.

Duration: 55 minutes

The Hillmen Director & Narrator: Steve Thomas
Producer: Tony Wright
Co-Producer: Steve Thomas
Cinematographer: Peter Zakharov
Editor: Ken Sallows
Music: Al Mullins & Janine Delorenzo

Produced with the assistance of the SBS and Film Victoria
Financed by the Australian Film Finance Corporation

Reviews

"The Hillmen is so much more than a documentary about social engineering or a video journal of a soccer team's season. It has all the elements of contemporary drama or, perhaps more appropriately, tragicomedy."

The Australian, 1996

"Filmmaker Steve Thomas knows all about humiliation in sport. Or, rather, it is his son who has to wear the shame the Vietnamese boys provide the spark for the team's first win and all seems right in the cosmos. It's an illusion, of course but, my, how I envied The Hillmen their little victory."

The Age [Melbourne], 1996