Customs
The following clips have teachers’ notes related to this topic:
Children’s birthday party
This clip includes five-year-old Wally being picked up and hugged by his parents; an older man dressed as Santa Claus; children on a seesaw and playing ring-a-rosie; Wally being pushed on a swing by his …
Maoris give their war cry
This Australasian Gazette newsreel from approximately 1922 shows the New Zealand Maori rugby league team on the field of a stadium performing the haka ceremonial war dance before a match. The clip then ends with …
The last innings of Victor Trumper
This newsreel footage shows part of the funeral procession of Australian cricketer Victor Trumper. A large group of men march in front of a horse-drawn vehicle carrying the casket of Victor Trumper as it approaches …
Backyard betting
This newsreel segment begins with a title card which sums it up nicely: ‘slums, illegal gambling and SP bookmaking is a real and vital problem confronting the governments of Australia today’. Following newspaper headlines, the …
May Day
This clip begins with a survey of some of the workers who contribute to a broader labour movement, such as miners, boilermakers, tram drivers and conductors and wharfies. It then features a montage of colourful …
The circus arrives
Once the circus train has arrived, the task of unloading begins. The elephants and ponies are guided out of the carriages. The elephants are then shown pulling the poles for the big top from the …
Inside the sawdust arena
The procession of performers and circus acts passes by the camera to enter the big top arena including horses, clowns and elephants. Some of the acts are filmed including a female lion tamer, a cycling …
Trading buai
Buai or betelnut is a stimulant used widely in New Guinea. Lucas wants to trade in it to acquire some cash. He meets Jane in the market and she introduces Lucas to her aunt who …
Death at first sight
Workers in the funeral industry describe their reactions the first time they saw a dead body.
Hindu cremation ceremony
This clip shows part of an elaborate Hindu ceremony for the cremation of an important member of a Balinese village in the 1930s. Crowds of villagers gather around to observe and participate in the ritual.
The coming of the light
Each year in the Torres Strait Islands, the Coming of the Light Festival is remembered with religious services and with feasting. And the food for the feasts is always island food from island produce.
Between Japan and Australia
This clip begins with Chiaki Foster speaking to camera about her love of bingo and poker machines. She is filmed playing bingo and heard in voice-over speaking about the friends she has made. Her daughter …
1930s Java
This clip shows the planting, harvesting and cultivation of rice in Java. It features a group of Javanese children dancing and playing musical instruments, with a European woman also joining in the fun. The paddy …
Missionary Hawaii
Stephen Eisenman, author and Professor of Art History in Illinois, explains the negative impacts of colonialism and imperialism on traditional Tahitian life. English missionaries reformed the ‘sinful natives’ of Hawaii and French missionaries converted many …
No kissing allowed
Yuri (Ewan Leslie) helps his grandmother Minnie (Naomi Wilson) as she clears up in the kitchen. Her forearm has the tattoo given to those who were sent to concentration camps during the Second World War …
Soot-blackened arrows
At a village gathering, the father of a wounded Ganiga man, shot by a Gaimelka man, has a stand-off with a Lutheran pastor who had been trying to calm things down. Taking no notice of …
‘Bride-price’
At a village meeting, two highlanders are bartering a 'bride-price’. On offer are pigs rather than money. The young girl and her family are given a choice to accept the boy and the bride-price or …
Debate
At a community meeting, a young man debates with Joe Leahy about the profit split of their Kaugum coffee plantation. Leahy explains how he is the one taking the risk with the bank loan.
Japan’s taste for whale
At the Tokyo Fish Market, whale meat sells for US$330 per kilo. If the whale meat is unavailable will they buy more tuna and shark? Japanese people feel that the world’s media is …
The Brisbane Exhibition
This home movie clip shows various scenes filmed by Peter McIlwraith at the Brisbane Exhibition (or 'Ekka’) in the 1950s. It includes: scenes of a merry-go-round with children and adults riding on the horse-shaped seats …
Midwives turned into witches
Natural birth pioneer Dr Michel Odent says that midwives always attended at births until the Catholic church stopped this practice in the 17th century.
Young Bill’s first public appearance
A young boy prepares a Shetland pony for an appearance at the agricultural show. He brushes its tail and mane, cleaning its hooves and fitting it with a saddle. The boy sits atop the pony …
‘There’s more to life than this’
Sybylla Melvyn (Judy Davis) tells younger sister Gertie (Marion Shad) of her desire to escape a life of rural drudgery. Her frustrations increase when she’s sent to drag her father out of the pub.
Visits from a promise
Granny telling her story to Ngyamia (Ali Torres) in the kitchen is intercut with the story played out in flashback. We see the young Gilladi (Sabrina Sabaan) led by her Aunty (Annie Watson) to meet …
Reception and photographs
The camera films the wedding party compose themselves for still photographs at the reception. Some of the guests are also shown. The clip ends with the bride and groom standing in front of a staircase …
The words of the prophet
Niaz (Niaz Khan Shinwari) visits a refugee community and asks an artist, Agha Jaan (Agha Jaan), to read him a letter from his cousin Anousha in Peshawar. Agha Jaan comments on Niaz’s inability to …
The sound of music
Niaz (Niaz Khan Shinwari) hears music and follows the sound to its source – a youth playing a traditional stringed instrument with great intensity. Niaz is transfixed. His uncle (Baktiyar Ahmed Afridi) rings his father (Sher …
My father’s country
Arrernte Mat-utjarra Elder Rupert Max Stuart’s voice runs over the image of the unfolding night in a riverbed outside of Alice Springs. Max tells us he’s come home. He’s 77 years old …
‘Your turn to shout’
Nino Culotta (Walter Chiari) gets a lesson in the language of drinking from a friendly Australian (Jack Allen) at the Marble Bar, a legendary Sydney watering hole. The barmaid (Anne Haddy) looks bemused.
‘Why don’t you go back to your own bloody country’
A drunken Anglo-Australian (Keith Petersen) abuses an Italian migrant family on a Sydney ferry. Nino Culotta (Walter Chiari) watches in discomfort.
‘A dago just the same’
Nino Culotta (Walter Chiari) comes to meet Harry Kelly (Chips Rafferty), father of Kay (Clare Dunne), the woman he wants to marry. Harry is a successful building contractor, who thinks his daughter can do better.
Ceremony day
Over images of food preparation, the narrator (Helen Anu) tells us that people also come from the other islands for the tombstone opening, as the people of the Torres Strait have many family connections. The …
‘Little baby one’
A family are looking for bush potato, a much-loved favourite. Women using tools to dig up the potato show us that it takes great effort to gather it – but, we are told, the expenditure of …
Three friends reunited
Lorrpu (John Sebastian Pilakui) dreams of when he and his friends were initiated, as Botj (Sean Mununggur) arrives back from three months in jail. Their friend Milika (Nathan Daniels) is a young football star, but …
