All home movies

87 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year prev 1 2 next

1900s

Higgins, Bryce: Family and Holiday Scenes: 1909-1924 c1909

This beautifully filmed home movie contains some of the earliest examples of home movie footage held by the National Film and Sound Archive.

1910s

Society Wedding c1914

This silent footage of a society wedding, beautifully framed and shot on 35mm nitrate film, is a rare example of a home movie from the 1910s.

1920s

Albion, Douglas: Children’s Party c1921

This beautiful example of early movie making in 1920s Australia was rediscovered by Douglas Albion decades after it was filmed.

Albion, Douglas: Wally’s Fifth Birthday Party c1921

Douglas Albion was about to throw this footage out when he heard of a search for source material to be used in the production of Our Century (1998).

Albion, Douglas: Children’s Birthday Party c1925

This short segment is one of three reels of nitrate film chronicling significant events and celebrations in the Albion family during the early 1920s.

Children’s Party, Boys Wrestling and Outdoor Performances c1925

Cameras were relatively expensive in the 1920s and mostly confined to families who could afford the new technology.

Snapshots around ‘Madras’ c1926

This is a good example of how, in the early days of moving images, people would often pose for the camera as if they were posing for a still photograph.

These American Tourists Leave Melbourne After Breakfast c1926

This home movie footage consists mostly of aerial shots taken during the flight that survey suburban areas around Melbourne.

Archibald Family: Noorong Gazette: Parts I - IV c1927

The Noorong Gazette is a series of seven film gazettes compiled between 1927 and 1932 by the Archibald family of Strathfield, Sydney.

Dame Nellie in the Mitchell Estate Garden, Lilydale c1927

This is home movie footage of opera star Dame Nellie Melba at her home, the Mitchell Estate Garden in Lilydale, Victoria.

Vivien Straford 1927–1937 1927

The father of amateur filmmakers the Straford Brothers was an avid maker of home movies himself, despite losing an arm during the First World War.

Archibald Family: Noorong Gazette: Parts IX - XII c1928

These gazettes made by members of the Archibald family are some of the earliest examples of home movie making.

Browne, George: Our movie memories 1928–1934 1928

These amateur role-plays are a real treat to watch and were clearly a source of great amusement for all involved.

Buckley, Anthony: Buckley Family Collection: Tarn Shan Tin Mine, Thailand c1928

This footage is rare because Australians travelled infrequently to South-East Asia in the 1920s.

1930s

Archibald Family: Noorong Gazette: Parts XXI - XXIV c1930

The Archibalds were a successful business family who had interests in the milling industry in Queensland and New South Wales.

Browne, George: Blue Mountains c1930

This family holiday footage shows landmarks such as Katoomba Falls, the Sublime Point Lookout, Orphan Rock and the Three Sisters rock formation.

The Cremation of a Balinese Chief at the Hotel Bali c1930

This Balinese cremation was apparently the first such ceremony to be witnessed and filmed by a white man.

Farrow, H: Victorian and South Australian Holiday Scenes c1930

This 16mm home movie captures a number of holiday scenes and places including ice and snow in Mount Buffalo, Victoria.

Henshall, Mr: Australian Cricketers Visit Ceylon, Naples, Switzerland and Practise at Lords 1930

This rare home movie captures informal scenes of Don Bradman and Australia’s 1930 touring cricket team, as filmed by the manager.

White, AR: Tin Mining in Malaya c1930

Australians have engaged with the Asia-Pacific region through travel and enterprise for many decades, but moving image records like this one from the first half of the 20th century are not common.

Archibald Family: Family Scenes and Outings in Sydney c1932

Much like a family album, this home movie collection records events over a period of time. From baby shots in the backyard, to outings at the beach.

Farey: Opening of Sydney Harbour Bridge 1932

Lesley Francis Farey captured what it would have been like to be in the crowd at the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Holidays in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Canton, Java c1932

These scenes of colonial-era South-East Asia are an early example of actuality footage which captures Australian perspectives of the region.

Balinese Holiday c1933

This rare example of amateur footage of Bali and Java in the 1930s represents a particular Westerner’s view of the Asian region at that time.

Activities of the Royal Aero Club of South Australia c1935

Amateur filmmaker and professional photographer John Mack manages to convey the experience of flight in a light aircraft.

Double-decker Bus and Rail Motor c1936

The bus-rail hybrid was designed to service minor rail lines in Sydney that did not have enough passengers to justify the larger rail motor.

Monte Carlo Russian Ballet. Original Ballet Russe c1936

This footage shows staged sequences of the Ballets Russes’ repertoire on their 1930s tours to Australia. It includes excerpts from ballets Les Presages and Thamar.

Murray-Will, Ewan: Ballet Russes c1936

Dermatologist and amateur filmmaker Dr Ewan Murray-Will’s film captures solo dancers from the Ballets Russes du Monte Carlo performing on a Sydney beach.

Murray-Will, Ewan: Ballets Russes: Petrouchka: Carnaval: Aurora’s Wedding c1936

Diaghilev’s Ballet Russe – shown here on tour in Australia during 1936-37 – revolutionised ballet by giving equal emphasis to dance, music, drama and design.

Australia’s 150th Anniversary Celebrations, Sydney 1938

Interestingly, the 26 January 1938 parade celebrating 150 years since the arrival of the First Fleet does not reflect Australia’s convict history.

Murray-Will, Ewan: Ballets Russes, Hélène Kirsova’s Wedding 1938

Dr Murray-Will befriended dancers from the touring Ballets Russes in the 1930s and filmed the wedding of ballerina Hélène Kirsova to the Danish Vice-Consul.

Colleano on Tightwire, Rehearses in Arena c1939

Con Colleano was the first performance artist to perfect the toe-to-toe forward somersault on a wire.

Colleano on Tightwire Rehearsing at Home c1939

This footage offers a unique behind-the-scenes look at one of Australia’s most accomplished circus performers from the early twentieth century.

Murray-Will, Ewan: Ballet Russes in Australia c1939

This unique and candid home movie footage of members of the Ballets Russes company was taken at Sydney’s Bungan Beach in the late 1930s.

Murray-Will, Ewan: Ballets Russes c1939

Amateur filmmaker Murray-Will’s acquaintance with Ballets Russes members allowed him to capture unique images of one of the world’s greatest dance companies.

1940s

Dyer, Frederick Simpson: Milkshakes and Bomb Shelter c1940

This footage offers a beautiful glimpse of suburban Australia during the Second World War through the everyday recreational activities of the Dyer family.

Holmes, Mr WGA: Locals Cool Off at the Weir, Theodore c1940

Many of the segments in this home movie compilation concern various farming or agricultural activities, including cotton harvesting and beekeeping.

Homes for Crippled Children c1940

This film is an important document of how children affected by polio and other crippling diseases were treated in the 1940s.

Australia to England via Tobruk and Benghazi: Menzies Wartime Tour 1941

Most footage of the Second World War is in black-and-white, making this 16mm colour home movie by former Prime Minister Robert Menzies even more extraordinary.

Dyer, Frederick Simpson: Children’s Party and Beach 1941

Amateur home movie maker Frederick Simpson Dyer made a number of movies covering family events such as outings, holidays and birthdays.

Dyer, Frederick Simpson: Cinema and its Workings 1941

This footage reveals the excitement of going to the cinema at a time when the moving image was not all pervasive, as it is today.

From England to the USA: Menzies Wartime Tour c1941

Part travelogue and part historical record, this home movie captures official visits as well as the prime minister’s own travel.

Menzies’ Wartime Tour – England 1941

Sir Robert Menzies captures the atmosphere of London during The Blitz in 1941, recording the raid as it happened and then filming its immediate aftermath.