All documentaries
544 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 next
1950s (continued)
Four’s a Crowd 1957
Four’s a Crowd comically portrays four types of workers in the waterfront industry – Glass-arm Harry, Tiddly Pete, Nick-away Ned and Ron the Roaster.
Sanitation and the City c1957
This documentary outlines the management of water supply and sanitation by the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works.
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.
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?’.
1960s
Dangerous Immigrant 1960
This CSIRO documentary alerts the general public to the dangers of the European house borer.
The Big Boomerang 1962
This promotional film about Qantas has information about the company’s only foray into aircraft construction, which was in 1926.
A World for Children c1962
Siblings Maret, Juri and Yanni convey the experience of European immigrant children arriving at the Bonegilla Migrant Reception Centre in Victoria.
Australia Today – Antarctic Pioneers 1963
Photographer Frank Hurley discusses his Antarctic exploits in his last appearance on film.
Research on Survival in Bushfires 1963
This specialist documentary gives a behind-the-scenes look at the Bushfire Research section of the CSIRO.
A Changing Race 1964
An insightful portrait of Aboriginal people in Central Australia in the 1960s, highlighting their experience of racial discrimination and their integration in non-Aboriginal society.
Menzies in Profile 1964
A tribute celebrating the life of Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia and founder of the Australian Liberal Party.
Birth of the Red Kangaroo 1965
This CSIRO documentary details the reproductive cycle of the red kangaroo, its mating habits and growth in the pouch.
Life on a Sheep Farm 1965
Life on a sheep farm over one year in 1965, a time when rabbits were sometimes referred to as 'public enemy number one’.
High on a Cool Wave 1968
A classic Australian surf movie featuring Nat Young, Bob McTavish and Peter Drouyn, from just before the short board revolution in 1968.
1970s
Championship Chase 1970
Norm Beechey retired soon after winning the1970 Australian Touring Car Championship.
The Changing Face of Australia 1970
The sheer beauty and grandeur of Uluru before and after a rainstorm is a highlight of this geological study.
Or Forever Hold Your Peace 1970
This compilation was made by 132 filmmakers, including some of the best known directors and producers of the time.
Ningla A-Na 1972
Ningla A-Na documents the activism of the Black movement in south-east Australia in the 1970s and shows how the activists changed the direction of the movement both nationally and internationally.
The Breaker 1973
The Breaker reveals the details of Henry 'Breaker’ Morant’s life before he went to the Boer War and was executed for murder.
Crystal Voyager 1973
George Greenough, who helped revolutionise surfboard design in the 1960s, is inspired by the shape of marlin and other fish.
Daddy Cool 1973
A film about successful 1970s rock band Daddy Cool could not be anything but charmingly laid-back.
A Film for Discussion 1973
This black-and-white experimental film was made collectively by members of one of Australia’s first Women’s Liberation groups. It sought to promote Women’s Liberation by engaging viewers in active discussion, hence its name.
Monster or Miracle? Sydney Opera House 1973
Made just prior to the official opening in 1973, this is a celebratory film about the construction and opening of the Sydney Opera House.
The Wreck of the Batavia 1973
An early film by Bruce Beresford traces the story of the Dutch ship Batavia, wrecked on a coral reef off the coast of Western Australia in 1629.
Across Bass Strait 1974
The action on board the boats dominates this record of the 1974 Bass Strait Yacht Race.
Antonio Gaudi: to a Dancing God 1974
Gaudi’s belief that his artistic work was a form of spirituality has led some Spaniards to ask that he be canonized.
Art 1974
This short, amusing and thoughtful animated documentary is full of debate about art and is a good starter for students.
Fig Street Fiasco 1974
Residents take on the bulldozers and the police in Tom Zubrycki’s look at urban redevelopment in Sydney in the 1970s.
The Inner City Tape 1974
‘This is our story. The story of our city, our people, our communities.’ This is an example of the work of the community video movement of the 1970s.
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.
Al Daff 1975
This straightforward interview with a powerful Hollywood executive contains wisdom about filmmaking that is timeless.
Collingwood Community School 1975
These students would probably no longer be at school if an alternative education environment like the one they’re in didn’t exist.
Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement 1976
This sponsored film demonstrates the successful application of continuously reinforced concrete pavement in a major infrastructure project.
No Fences, No Boundaries – Walter Burley Griffin c1976
Walter Burley Griffin believed that 'buildings convey the most truth of the mental and spiritual states of various people and times’.
The Painters and Dockers Strike 1976
In the 1950s the Waterside Workers’ Federation of Australia had its own film unit to counter government policies of the day.
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.
Addison Road Drop-In 1977
The Sydney suburb of Marrickville has Australia’s ‘first, largest and longest-surviving community centre’; it is shown here in the 1970s.
Jubilee and Beyond 1977
Eighteen thousand schoolchildren greet Her Majesty the Queen in 1977, giving a sense of the relationship between Australia and the UK at this time.
Life at the Top: A Week with Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser 1977
Tracks Malcolm Fraser for one week in 1977 as he goes about his prime ministerial duties in Canberra and takes trips to Kalgoorlie and Wollongong.
Conrad Martens 1978
Conrad Martens, whose watercolours are a valuable record of colonial Sydney, is reputed to be its first successful artist.
Maidens 1978
Almost four years in the making, Maidens sparked impassioned debate and became compulsory viewing in women and film courses around the country.
My Survival as an Aboriginal 1978
The first documentary directed by an Indigenous woman offers a solution by way of continuing cultural practice.
Size 10 1978
Size 10 is about how four young women break free of the pressure to conform to beauty and fashion norms.
Frontline 1979
Combat cameraman and correspondent, Neil Davis worked at the extreme front-line, capturing memorable images of the Vietnam war, taken under fire.
North to Niugini 1979
Malcolm Douglas travels in a five-metre boat north along the coast of Australia, through the Torres Strait to New Guinea.
Port Botany: A Planning Dilemma 1979
Tom Zubrycki developed a filmmaking style he calls ‘verite narratives’. This work represents a transition in his development as a filmmaker.
Raccolta D’Inverno, Winter’s Harvest 1979
The government has now outlawed this traditional Italian community event of slaughtering and butchering a pig and feasting on it.
1980s
Age Before Beauty 1980
Age Before Beauty cleverly identified an issue that has since become familiar territory for most women in the western world.
Australia in World War 1 c1980
Hubert Wilkins, official Australian war photographer, would have shot most of this footage, some of which is recreated.
