Australian Screen

Australia’s audiovisual heritage online

Titles tagged with ‘colonial Australia’

12 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year

C

The Colony television program – 2005

In this 'living history’ series, participants chosen to match the social fabric of the time as convicts, free settlers and Indigenous Australians relive the birth of the Australian colony.

Confessions of a Headhunter short film – 2000

Based on a short story by Archie Weller, this short drama speaks about the conflict between the Indigenous people of the Perth area and colonial culture.

Conrad Martens documentary – 1978

Conrad Martens, whose watercolours are a valuable record of colonial Sydney, is reputed to be its first successful artist.

L

The Land That Waited television program – 1963

This remarkable documentary tells the early history of colonial Australia through etchings, paintings and drawings produced by the first colonists.

M

Mad Dog Morgan feature film – 1976

Dennis Hopper’s performance in Mad Dog Morgan was both praised and ridiculed at the time of release.

P

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 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.

Peach’s Explorers – The Secret of the Rivers: Captain Charles Sturt television program – 1984

This Bill Peach series uses recreations, diary entries and letters, among other devices, to tell the story of Australia’s colonial exploration in visually interesting ways.

The Proposition feature film – 2005

Many Australian films present the outback as a dangerous place but probably only Wake in Fright can offer an outback with predatory instincts to match The Proposition.

R

Riot or Revolution documentary – 2005

Three things struck filmmaker Don Parham about the Eureka story – it was a 'ripper yarn’, with a great cast of characters and fascinating politics.

Robbery Under Arms television program – 1985

Before this 1985 version there had been five attempts to tell this story, the best known being the Australian–British feature film of 1957 starring Peter Finch as Captain Starlight.

The Rocks: Sydney, Australia documentary – 1983

The Rocks was considered a slum until it was restored in the 1970s. This sponsored documentary traces its redevelopment as a tourist precinct.