Titles from the 1980s
304 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 next
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I Can Jump Puddles television program – 1981
Based on the autobiographical novel of the same name by Alan Marshall, this story of struggle and courage has become a classic Australian tale.
I’ll Be Home For Christmas documentary – 1984
The film follows the lives of a group of men who have bonded through their addiction to alcohol.
Incident at Raven’s Gate feature film – 1988
Strange things are happening around the remote homestead of Raven’s Gate.
The Inventors television program – 1980
Panellist Diana 'Bubbles’ Fisher is expected to play the 'dizzy dame’, so she can be guaranteed to talk about the colour of the gadget while the guys talk knowingly about its science.
I Should Be So Lucky music – 1987
The second single from Kylie’s debut album, Kylie (1988), penned by English pop writing-producing phenomenon Stock, Aitken and Waterman.
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Jack Thompson Down Under – Episode 25 television program – 1987
Jack Thompson is a great narrator. He’s the iconic Aussie male and his voice has that dinky-di Australian drawl that Americans love to hear.
Jack Thompson Down Under – Episode 3 television program – 1987
Aspects of Australian life connected by the on-camera presence of actor Jack Thompson, the iconic Australian with the dinky-di Aussie drawl that Americans love.
Jailanguru Pakarnu (Out from Jail) music – 1983
'Jailanguru Pakarnu’ ('Out from Jail’) was the first rock song recorded and released in an Aboriginal language (Luritja).
Joe Leahy’s Neighbours documentary – 1988
This was an excellent opportunity to make a contemporary film about the Papua New Guinea highlands and explore the society forming in the wake of Western contact.
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Kaboodle – Series 1 Episode 1 television program – 1987
An anthology of stories for children aged 5-12 years old produced by the Australian Children’s Television Foundation in the late 1980s.
Kemira: Diary of a Strike documentary – 1984
Tom Zubrycki made the documentary on the run, following events as they happened and creating a 'diary’ of each passing day as the story unfolded.
The Killing of Angel Street feature film – 1981
This political thriller is loosely based on the disappearance of Sydney heiress and anti-development campaigner Juanita Nielsen.
Kingswood Country – There’s No Place Like Rome television program – 1980
A sitcom that lampoons suburban Australian culture, while being equally fascinated with it.
Kylie Tennant documentary – 1986
Determined to experience at firsthand the lives of her characters, Tennant travelled alone in her buggy, camping with swagmen and destitute families.
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Land Bilong Islanders documentary – 1989
A significant historic record of proceedings in the Queensland Supreme Court regarding the Murray Islanders’ native title claim over their traditional lands.
Last Breakfast in Paradise short feature – 1982
Even in 1982 Last Breakfast in Paradise was one of a very few dramas of any length which had been directed by a woman.
The Lighthorsemen feature film – 1987
In Palestine in 1917, two regiments of the Australian Light Horse attack Beersheba, in one of the last great mounted charges in history.
Living Room documentary – 1988
This beautiful, unsettling experimental documentary is a meditation on Australian suburbia and notions of home.
Lonely Hearts feature film – 1981
Comedian and satirist John Clarke wrote this film with Paul Cox: no wonder it is full of bright impish humour.
Lousy Little Sixpence documentary – 1983
Lousy Little Sixpence highlights the injustice of withheld wages, and the fight for rightful payment to be made to Indigenous peoples.
Lucinda Brayford television program – 1980
Wendy Hughes, Sam Neill, Carol Burns and Barry Quin feature in the saga of an Australian heiress who marries into British aristocracy.
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Mad Max 2 feature film – 1981
Mad Max 2 is a more self-consciously mythic film than its predecessor, in a much more primal landscape, with a lot more action.
Mail Order Bride television program – 1984
A hard-hitting drama about racism, sexism and xenophobia in a small country town.
The Maitland and Morpeth String Quartet short film – 1989
A whimsical, animated tale of music and romance, narrated by Ruth Cracknell and set amidst the Great Maitland Flood of 1955.
Malcolm feature film – 1986
Malcolm is one of the most charming modern Australian comedies, and probably the closest we’ve come to matching the joyful silliness of Britain’s 1950s Ealing comedies.
The Man from Snowy River feature film – 1982
The Man From Snowy River is an iconic Australian western. It’s a naive film of epic proportions, but the naiveté is calculated to appeal to a sense of American nostalgia, and Australian chauvinism.
Manganinnie feature film – 1980
Tasmania, 1830. Joanna, a little white girl, is adopted by Manganinnie, an Aborigine who has survived a slaughter.
Man of Flowers feature film – 1983
An elderly aesthete who regularly hires a young woman to strip for him finds his life becoming entwined with hers.
Mimi: An Evening with the Aboriginal Dance Theatre documentary – 1988
NAISDA led to the emergence of the Bangarra Dance Theatre and produced artists such as Christine Anu and Stephen Page.
The Money or the Gun – Heroin television program – 1989
Denton defends comedy as a means of being serious as he tackles the topic of heroin.
Moodeitj Yorgas documentary – 1988
Moffatt’s work, influenced by cinema and pop culture, probes misconceptions about Aboriginality and explores gender, sexuality and identity.
Morning Star Painter documentary – 1980
A portrait of Djiwul (Jack) Wunuwun, the Morning Star Painter, set in his homeland community of Gamedi in Arnhem Land.
Mother and Son – The Funeral television program – 1984
This sitcom shows the fraught relationship between 40-year-old Arthur and his mother Maggie, who is at turns forgetful, quick-witted and manipulative.
Mother and Son – The Money television program – 1984
The problems of ageing would seem like an unlikely subject for television comedy but Mother and Son became an instant success when it was first shown in 1984, continuing for nine years to become one of Australia’s best-loved television shows.
My First Wife feature film – 1984
Director Paul Cox made this film about a disintegrating marriage after going through a painful break-up himself.
My Life Without Steve short feature – 1986
Set over a year, in a Sydney inner-west harbourside flat, My Life Without Steve is a challenging examination of the first phase of one woman’s long road to recovery from having loved and lost.
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Nature of Australia – A Separate Creation television program – 1989
This first episode of the most expensive wildlife program ever made in Australia boasts magnificent photography and a great script.
Nature of Australia – Land of Flood and Fire television program – 1988
The animals and plants must cope with the stresses of life in a place that swings savagely between the wet season and the dust and heat of the dry season.
Nature of Australia – The Sunburnt Country television program – 1989
At the time this series was made, the program makers felt they were showing Australian flora and fauna to many Australians for the first time.
The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey feature film – 1988
Medieval Britons journeying through time and space find a contemporary city, where they attempt to fulfil a prophecy that will save them from the plague.
Ned Wethered short film – 1983
Lee Whitmore’s first animated film is a memoir of a frequent visitor to her home when she was growing up in the 1950s.
Neptune’s Nippers documentary – 1984
At the age of 12, Jason Duplator won a scholarship from the Wildlife Research Institute to participate in a marine training program.
New Faces television program – 1982
A 1980s episode from the classic talent show hosted by Bert Newton.
Next of Kin feature film – 1982
On her mother’s death, Linda Stevens inherits an isolated retirement home. Strange events occur, leading Linda to believe an evil force dwells in the house.
Nicaragua: No Pasaran documentary – 1984
David Bradbury spent six months in Nicaragua telling the story of the revolutionary Sandinistas coming to power after 43 years of organised resistance.
Nice Coloured Girls short film – 1987
The tongue-in-cheek title of Tracey Moffatt’s first film positions Aboriginal women as naïve and 'nice’ but these are merely roles played by the women.
Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy short film – 1989
Tracey Moffatt continues to challenge the social construction of Aboriginality and how it is viewed nationally and internationally. Night Cries is a possible sequel to Jedda.
Nobby’s Nuts advertisement – 1988
This 1988 television and cinema advertisement for Nobby’s Nuts combines animation and live action with great flair.
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One Man’s Instrument short film – 1989
In this animated short film, a man finds his paradise is literally lost.
One People Sing Freedom television program – 1988
One People Sing Freedom documents the largest gathering of Indigenous people since 1788, a protest march against the Bicentennial celebrations of 26 January 1988.
