All documentaries
513 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 next
S (continued)
Sydney on Show c1940
This documentary from about 1940 shows Sydney’s progress as a modern city. It is from the large private film collection of Roger McKenzie and Bernard Kent.
T
Take Notice 1939
Take Notice uses innovative and sophisticated filmmaking techniques to describe the need for a solution to rising rents and substandard living conditions in Sydney.
Taking Pictures 1996
Taking Pictures examines ethnographic filmmaking in Papua New Guinea and explores filming across cultural boundaries.
Tall Tales but True: David Williamson – playwright 1994
David Williamson began writing plays in 1968 at La Mama Theatre Company in Melbourne. He fell in love with Kristen Green on the set of The Removalists.
Teddy Briscoe 2000
Indigenous stockman Teddy Briscoe, now an old man, tells his story, sharing the historical importance of men like him to the Australian cattle industry.
Temple of Dreams 2007
Made at the time of the Cronulla riots, articulate young Australian Muslim leaders take action to recognise and address the needs of their community.
Temple on the Hill 1997
Social and cultural changes in an Indian community in NSW, where traditional arranged marriages are challenged by contemporary Australian influences.
Tennant Creek – Sacred Dances 1999
The spirit Moonga Moonga 'is cheeky’ to people from other countries and cultures. The land is considered a living entity around which cultural practices originate.
Terrible Lizards of Oz 2004
A whimsical review of Australia’s palaeontology, Terrible Lizards of Oz superimposes prehistoric animals on contemporary settings to humorous effect.
Thanks Girls and Goodbye 1988
Thanks Girls and Goodbye is not just a 'feel good’ nostalgia film. It explores how the Women’s Land Army was exploited during the Second World War.
Thar She Blows c1931
A short documentary about a whale hunt, including the dissection of the carcass and the conversion of blubber to oil.
That’s Cricket c1931
A featurette directed by Ken G Hall promoting cricket as the game that 'helps unite the Empire’ and is important to Australian identity.
They Chose Peace 1952
The Realist Film Unit covered the Youth Carnival for Peace and Friendship in Sydney, which took place in the highly political climate of 1952.
Thrill of the Surf 1949
This short Cinesound documentary from Ken G Hall boasts beautifully filmed visuals, with surfers seen in silhouette and sunlight bouncing off the water.
A Thriving and Prosperous Suburb: Bird’s Eye View of Footscray c1911
This informal snapshot of daily life in 1910 is a rare record of working people in early 20th-century Melbourne.
Tim Storrier, ‘Lighting Fires’ 1993
Painter Tim Storrier journeys to the outback accompanied by his father and his son, and talks about his love of the desert and bush upbringing.
Timber Getting in New South Wales c1925
Wood choppers balance on thin planks while rigorously swinging their axes. A silent film looking at the timber industry in New South Wales in the 1920s.
Time Bomb 2003
A time bomb’ is how Frank Djara, a diabetic and the first male health worker in Areyonga, refers to living with diabetes.
Tombstone Unveiling 2000
In Torres Strait Islander culture, unveiling the tombstone of the deceased a year after death marks the end of the mourning period.
Track Record: The Story of Australia’s Railways - Tethered to the World 1991
This episode from a four-part series outlines the surviving tourist railways of Australia and looks at the problems presented by the legacies of the past.
The Trail of the Roo c1932
The Trail of the Roo is one of a handful of documentary featurettes made by the McDonagh sisters, pioneers of Australia’s early motion picture industry.
Travelling Library c1946
This remarkable colour footage captures the excitement that the mobile library brought to school children in the 1940s.
Trespass 2002
Trespass revisits the Mirarr people’s fight against the uranium mines in Jabiluka. Yvonne Margarula is arrested for walking on her own land.
A Trip Along the River Murray 1925
This silent black-and-white film from 1925 emphasises the ‘Mighty Murray’ river’s significance in Australia’s agricultural and natural history.
Trobriand Cricket: An Ingenious Response to Colonialism 1976
This anthropological documentary covers the unique innovations made by the Trobriand Islanders of Papua New Guinea to the game of cricket.
Tuckson 1988
Examines the life and work of little-known but important artist Tony Tuckson, a 'decisive, ethical, hard-painting, hard-drinking, Craven A smoking artist’.
Two Laws 1981
The concept of two laws – colonial and Indigenous law – can also be spoken about as two ways of storytelling or filmmaking.
Two Men of Fiji 1959
Issues of representation, colonialism and portrayals of culture all bubble under the surface in this story of two young men who leave their village for Suva.
U
Us Deadly Mob 2005
A 'surf family story’ featuring Amber Mercy, who describes Indigenous surfing competitions as ‘sharing waves and laughing’.
V
Vanish 1998
Ivan Sen’s Vanish explores the history of the Gamilaroi people being moved onto Toomelah Reserve.
A Voice for the Wilderness 1983
Jobs versus rainforest preservation – this 1983 documentary was part of a successful popular campaign to save the rainforest inland from Port Macquarie.
W
Walking Through a Minefield 1999
Jabiluka 2, the world’s richest uranium deposit, has been dogged by conflict between mining interests and environmental and Indigenous groups.
Wamsley’s War 2000
Wamsley’s controversial hat made of feral cat skins was instrumental in his campaign to make it legal for operators of wildlife sanctuaries to destroy cats.
The War Against the Rabbit 1954
This sponsored documentary made by the CSIRO is about a farmer’s campaign to eradicate a wild rabbit infestation.
Warren H Williams, the stories, the songs 2004
Inspired by his musical family, Arrernte musician Warren H Williams became a singer-songwriter himself.
Was That Really Me? 1997
Tracey’s response to her baby’s crying led her to realise that there was something wrong. An insight into postnatal depression.
Waterloo 1981
Tom Zubrycki’s skills as a documentary filmmaker are clearly evident in this history of the redevelopment of Waterloo in Sydney.
We Have To Live With It 1974
Tom Zubrycki’s first foray into filmmaking – a 1970s community video – reflects an interest in social issues that continues throughout his career.
We’re All Independent Now 1995
Filmmaker Don Parham draws on his personal experience to question the effectiveness of the Family Law Act 1975 with respect to children.
Webs of Intrigue 1992
For this close-up look at the world of Australian spiders, cinematographer Jim Frazier patented a revolutionary lens now used throughout the world.
What Makes a Champion 1959
This Shell Film Unit documentary includes demonstrations by a number of Australian Olympic athletes to analyse championship performance and answer the question ‘What makes a champion?’.
When the Lights Go Out: Cockroaches, a Domestic History 1994
A tour of domestic life from a cockroach’s point of view. Humankind are a passing evolutionary novelty compared to their 300 million years on earth.
Where Angels Fear To Tread 1997
Explores the political situation relating to voluntary euthanasia in the Northern Territory through the point of view of controversial figure Dr Philip Nitschke.
Where Death Wears a Smile 1985
The little-known story of two Australian soldiers interned in a Nazi concentration camp in Czechoslovakia during the Second World War.
While There is Still Time 1941
The Chauvels aimed to encourage Australians at home to work to help their loved ones fighting overseas. Future Oscar winner Peter Finch has a small but pivotal role.
Whispering in Our Hearts 2001
Remembering those who were murdered in the 1918 massacre of Aboriginal people at Mowla Bluff is very much to do with healing.
The White Monkey 1987
Father Brian Gore, a Columban missionary on Negros Island in the Philippines, was imprisoned on trumped-up charges by the Marcos Government.
Whiteys Like Us 1999
Reconciliation Learning Circles were introduced across Australia in 1991 with the aim of improving relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
Willigan’s Fitzroy 2000
In the film’s introduction we hear the director talking with Willigan as they drive through the country in a four-wheel drive vehicle, setting up a style Thornton uses throughout the film.
