Titles beginning with P
87 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year prev 1 2 next
1890s
Patineur Grotesque historical – 1896
This footage of a man performing on rollerskates for a crowd in a park is thought to be Australia’s earliest surviving film.
1900s
Pathe Animated Gazette: Fire Breaks Out at Hornsby, Sydney newsreel – c1908
Topics in this Pathe Animated Gazette newsreel from 1908 range from a fire at Hornsby, in Sydney, to women modelling harem pants in Melbourne.
1910s
Pathe Animated Gazette (Australasian Edition): The First Instalment of Australian Notes newsreel – c1910
Australasian editions of the Pathe Animated Gazette combined local and international news items and screened to cinema audiences from around 1908 until the First World War.
Pathe Animated Gazette: 141st Australasian Edition newsreel – c1918
This edition of the Pathe Animated Gazette covers news items from different parts of Australia including Sydney, Melbourne, Warrnambool and Tasmania.
Prime Minister Rt Hon. WM Hughes visits Western Front historical – 1918
At a time of great controversy, Australian Prime Minister WM (Billy) Hughes consults with his generals on the Western Front.
1920s
Pearls and Savages documentary – 1921
This 1979 reconstruction of Frank Hurley’s 1921 adventure film Pearls and Savages showcases the peoples and cultures of the Torres Strait Islands and Papua New Guinea.
Piano Making documentary – c1924
This early film offers insights into the workmanship involved in piano manufacture and boasts the slogan, ‘Wherever you trade, buy Australian Made’.
The Popular Sport of Surfboarding newsreel – 1925
An early newsreel of pioneering surfboard riders at Bondi Beach in Sydney in 1925.
Peach Growing and Canning in Australia sponsored film – c1926
At the time the film was made, the Leeton State Canning Factory employed approximately 250 people and processed 120 tonnes of fruit a day.
Picturesque Portsea Provides Perfect Pageant newsreel – c1926
This clip of the popular beach and pier at Portsea in Victoria vividly captures the beach fashions and social customs of the 1920s.
1930s
Provincial Cities of Australia: Ballarat, Victoria documentary – c1932
Frank Thring was an enthusiastic supporter of talking pictures and a great believer in their potential to bolster the Australian film industry.
1940s
Poisoned Daggers sponsored film – c1941
The evocative title lends a sense of drama to the message being conveyed: that the mosquito’s bite is a threat not just to the health of the community, but also the war effort.
Power to Win documentary – 1942
Having been determined medically unfit for the army, Charles Chauvel saw his film work as a contribution to the war effort.
Persil Washing Powder: Their Day advertisement – 1946
This washing powder’s particular magic is its ‘oxygen dazzle’ which allows the powder to lather easily without the need for rubbing and scrubbing.
Prices and the People documentary – 1948
Prices and the People provides a working-class view of price increases, wages and mounting profits and the effects on everyday people in 1948.
1950s
A Place to Live sponsored film – 1950
This Realist Film Unit documentary illustrates that the builders of homes belonging to the wealthy themselves live across the river in poor conditions.
Pensions for Veterans documentary – 1953
A first glimpse of the Waterside Workers’ Federation Film Unit’s agenda – to depict labour history from the point of view of the workers.
The Phantom Stockman feature film – 1953
A bushman known as ‘the Sundowner’ helps cattle station heiress Kim Marsden investigate the death of her father.
A Pub With No Beer music – 1957
Slim Dusty’s original recording from 1957 of one of his most famous songs.
1960s
The Piano Tuner short film – 1960
Amateur filmmakers the Straford Brothers started making this comedy short to test their newly purchased 16mm Bolex camera.
The Pearl Fishers television program – 1963
This black-and-white television production of the opera was one of the earliest performances ever broadcast on the ABC and one of the most elaborate.
Pick a Box – Episode 170 television program – 1963
An episode of the classic quiz show featuring celebrity contestant Barry Jones, who later became a state and federal member of parliament.
Poetry In Australia – Judith Wright television program – 1963
This simple, talking heads interview is most informative and a delight to watch. It is a must-see for students of Judith Wright’s work and fellow poets.
Play School – Trains Thursday television program – 1969
An early episode of iconic pre-school program Play School featuring presenters Don Spencer, Anne Haddy and Ruth Cracknell.
1970s
Profiles of Power, HC Coombs television program – 1970
When Dr Coombs saw the unnecessary cruelty of the Great Depression and its terrible impact on ordinary people, he decided to dedicate his life to economics.
Peter Nicholson Animations – Fraser’s Leadership Challenge short film – 1974
An animated political cartoon by Peter Nicholson featuring Billy Snedden and Malcolm Fraser.
Peter Nicholson Animations – Gough’s World Tour short film – 1974
An animated political cartoon by Peter Nicholson featuring Gough Whitlam, Joh Bjelke-Petersen and Bob Hawke.
Petersen feature film – 1974
Though promoted as a lusty yarn, the frequent and fairly explicit sex scenes between the film’s unhappy characters are hardly titillating.
Picnic at Hanging Rock feature film – 1975
On St Valentine’s Day 1900, three schoolgirls from an exclusive English-style boarding school go missing, along with a teacher, at Hanging Rock, in central Victoria.
Pure S feature film – 1975
Pure S was originally banned from release and remains one of the most unusual and frank films about drug use ever made in Australia.
The Painters and Dockers Strike documentary – 1976
In the 1950s the Waterside Workers’ Federation of Australia had its own film unit to counter government policies of the day.
Peach’s Australia – Darling River television program – 1976
Bill Peach was a household name in Australia at the time he gave up being the presenter of This Day Tonight to return to his first love, travel journalism.
Peach’s Australia – Flinders Ranges television program – 1976
Peach’s meanders around the country he’s describing, offering tantalising snippets of history, spiced with art history and Aboriginal Dreaming stories.
The Picture Show Man feature film – 1977
The comic performances from John Meillon and John Ewart as the last of the itinerant vaudevillians are superb.
Patrick feature film – 1978
Patrick proved that Australia had the capacity to produce exportable exploitation movies and is better regarded now than it was in 1978.
Palm Beach feature film – 1979
The underrated Palm Beach, set on Sydney’s northern beaches, is very daring in its use of sound.
Patrol Boat – Never Under the White Ensign television program – 1979
Patrol Boat is a television drama about the crew of a navy patrol boat, whose job it is to guard Australia’s coastal waters.
The Plumber television program – 1979
Jill’s discomfort increases as the uninvited plumber destroys the bathroom, but neither her husband nor her friend Meg will take her seriously.
Port Botany: A Planning Dilemma documentary – 1979
Tom Zubrycki developed a filmmaking style he calls ‘verite narratives’. This work represents a transition in his development as a filmmaker.
Pussy Pumps Up short feature – 1979
This 2D animated film features a tiny cat-girl heroine who metamorphoses into a muscular, powerful figure.
1980s
A Personal History of the Australian Surf: Being the Confessions of a Straight Poofter documentary – 1981
His father told young Sydney-born theatre director Michael Blakemore that the world was divided into three groups, 'fools, crooks and gentlemen’.
Puberty Blues feature film – 1981
When the two teenage girls at the heart of this film buy a surfboard and teach themselves to surf, they become their own role models.
Public Enemy Number One documentary – 1981
Public Enemy Number One gives insight into journalist Wilfred Burchett’s motives in covering wars from the enemy’s point of view.
Passionless Moments short film – 1983
Jane Campion’s student short film delivers funny, fragmentary tales with an unsentimental whimsy.
Peach’s Gold – Eureka television program – 1983
This series exploits a range of first-hand sources for its vibrant retelling of the history, while Bill Peach appears from time to time to explain and analyse.
Peach’s Gold – Finders Keepers television program – 1983
This series is a lively way to learn about history, skilfully blending actors, re-creations, paintings, songs and newspaper headlines to bring the era alive.
Peach’s Gold – Land of Gold television program – 1983
This Bill Peach documentary is full of events, larger-than-life characters and all the madness and colour of this most extraordinary chapter in Australia’s history.
Phar Lap feature film – 1983
The film is well constructed, both as a folkloric tale of a young man’s bond with a special horse and as an exciting spectacle with a couple of magically charged moments.
Peach’s Explorers – East to West television program – 1984
Bill Peach loves Australian history and tells us explorers’ stories by using their words, cleverly recreated from diaries and notebooks, and journeying through the same arid interior.
Peach’s Explorers – South to North television program – 1984
There’s a strong sense that each of these men is very much of his time, imbued with a duty to expand knowledge and a ruthless craving for fame and fortune.
