Once Upon a Time in Punchbowl

A journey to call Australia home

0.050m20141 season

Documentary

Tells the inside story of the challenges the Lebanese Australian community has faced in Australia and how they have fought to overcome them. This landmark documentary series hears from community leaders, police, families and individuals, as they combine to tell the compelling and dramatic story of a proud and resilient community, under intense pressure and scrutiny. The story begins in the 1970s when large numbers of Lebanese migrants flooded into Australia. Many were Muslim, most were traumatised by civil war, all were desperate to build a better future. Over the coming decades, these new Australians struggled to establish a new life in their adopted country.

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Episodes

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1975-1996

2014-06-19 · 50m

Following the Lebanese Civil War thousands of refugees, more than half of them Muslim, pour into the Sydney suburb of Punchbowl sparking a clash of cultures.

1997-2001

2014-06-26 · 50m

By the late 1990's the Lebanese community is being terrorised by a violent criminal minority for whom drugs and criminal delinquency are the preferred lifestyle.

2001-2005

2014-07-03 · 50m

As 9/11 and the War on Terror puts thousands of Lebanese Australian Muslims in the firing line, their loyalty is questioned like never before and tensions explode.

2005-2012

2014-07-10 · 50m

After the Cronulla Beach riots in December 2005, lots of Lebanese Australians were left outraged at what they perceive as an attack by wider Australia on their Australian identity, their culture and religion. After rumours spread of reprisals against the Lakemba Mosque thousands met up to protect the building.