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The Family

75 %|Jul 30, 2016|Documentary

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.

Featured Crew

Rosie Jones
Director
Jaems Grant
Director of Photography
Mark Tarpey
Sound Recordist
Jane Usher
Editor
Barbara Ghammashi
Executive Producer
Keith Thomas
Sound Designer
Livia Ruzic
Sound Designer
Aida Innocente
Production Manager

Cast

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Jordan Fraser-Trumble
Detective Lex De Man (young)
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Anne Hamilton-Byrne
Herself (archive footage)
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Bill Hamilton-Byrne
Himself (archive footage)
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Lex De Man
Himself (interview)