The documentaries `Welcome to Australia' written and produced by John Pilger and `Cunnamulla' directed by Dennis O'Rourke are very different documentaries that provide two very different but equally negative and depressing examples of the lives of different groups of Australian people. The purpose of this essay is to analyse and compare the styles, target audiences and the effectiveness of the two different documentaries.

Cunnamulla is a controversial documentary which depicts life "at the end of the line" in a small outback Queensland town. The film is presented in a cinema verité documentary style without voice over or a presenter to narrate the story line. All of the subjects in this film speak for themselves and the scenes are put together in a way which allows viewers to make their own interpretations of the subject's characters and situations. The absence of a narrative is typical of the cinema verit...