A work in constant progress (and occasional regress).
Release Date:
July 30, 2016
Original Title:
The Family
Alternate Titles:
Barnhemssekten
The Cult That Stole Children: Inside the Family
The family : une secte australienne
Genres:
Documentary
Production Companies:
BBC
Big Stories
Dogwoof
Film Victoria
Screen Australia
Production Countries:
Australia | United Kingdom | United States of America
Ratings / Certifications:
AU: M
Runtime: 98
Anne Hamilton-Byrne was beautiful, charismatic and delusional. She was also incredibly dangerous. Convinced she was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, Hamilton-Byrne headed an apocalyptic sect called The Family, which was prominent in Melbourne from the 1960s through to the 1990s. With her husband Bill, she acquired numerous children – some through adoption scams, some born to cult members – and raised them as her own. Isolated from the outside world, the children were dressed in matching outfits, had identical dyed blonde hair, and were allegedly beaten, starved and injected with LSD. Taught that Hamilton-Byrne was both their mother and the messiah, the children were eventually rescued during a police raid in 1987, but their trauma had only just begun.
Co-Producer:
Rosie Jones
Consulting Editor:
Lex De Man
Director:
Rosie Jones
Director of Photography:
Jaems Grant
Editor:
Jane Usher
Executive Producer:
Barbara Ghammashi
Producer:
Anna Grieve
Production Manager:
Anna Grieve
Aida Innocente
Sound Designer:
Livia Ruzic
Keith Thomas
Sound Recordist:
Mark Tarpey
Writer:
Rosie Jones
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