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City in the Sun (1946)
This documentary directed by Alasdair Loch, possibly used to promote Australia as a destination for migration, intends to reflect the ‘mood of metropolitan life’ by showing the bustle and vibrancy of the modern city of Sydney. [read more]

Australasian Gazette – Highlights of the Cricket Series England vs Australia (1933)
This Australasian Gazette newsreel shows highlights of the 1932–1933 England versus Australia cricket series. It starts with footage of the packed stadium and shows clips of the first Test in Sydney. It is black-and-white and silent. [read more]

The Hungry Miles (1955)
The Hungry Miles is a documentary made by the Waterside Workers’ Federation Film Unit. It documents industrial relations on the waterfront since the 1930s and includes dramatised scenes of working conditions during the Depression. It also recounts the background to ... [read more]

The Argentine Ant (1956)
A documentary made by the CSIRO Film Unit which details the features of the Argentine ant – a domestic and agricultural pest – including how to identify them, their social structure and behavioural characteristics, ... [read more]

Gallipoli (1981)
In Western Australia in 1915 two young men join up to fight in the First World War. Archy Hamilton (Mark Lee) is the patriotic son of a grazier. Frank Dunne (Mel Gibson) is a drifter with no great desire to ... [read more]

Prices and the People (1948)
This dramatised documentary made by the Realist Film Unit supports a ‘yes’ vote in the 1948 federal referendum on the continuation of price control. [read more]

The Alice (2004)
'Action and adventure meet magic and romance in Alice Springs’, say the publicity notes for this telemovie, and it’s not a lie. A disparate group of people are heading for the outback to watch a solar eclipse. Strange things begin ... [read more]

Brides of Christ (1991)
A miniseries for television about the lives of a group of women, some of whom are part of a teaching order of nuns and some of whom are the students being taught by those nuns. It’s the late 1960s, a ... [read more]

The Combination (2009)
Young Lebanese Australian John (George Basha) comes home from jail to live with his widowed mother (Doris Younane) and wild younger brother Charlie (Firass Dirani), who is still at school. Having learned his lesson the hard way, he struggles ... [read more]

Dyer, Frederick Simpson: Milkshakes and Bomb Shelter (c1940)
This 16mm black-and-white home movie shot by Frederick Simpson Dyer features three children riding their bikes in Balwyn, Victoria, enjoying milkshakes at an old-fashioned milk bar, and playing in a bomb shelter in their backyard. [read more]

Message Stick – The Convincing Ground (2007)
This two-part documentary looks at the traditional, historic and contemporary stories associated with the massacre of up to 60 Aboriginal people by whalers at the Convincing Ground, near the coastal town of Portland, Victoria in the 1830s. [read more]

Beyond the Furthest Fences (1947)
A silent documentary that shows scenes from a journey made by Australian Inland Mission patrolling minister, the Reverend KF ‘Skipper’ Partridge, through central Australia in 1947. He travels from Broken Hill to Alice Springs via Tibooburra, Eromanga, Birdsville, Leigh Creek, ... [read more]

Australia Today – Australia’s 5th Column (1941)
The opening title card to this Australia Today newsreel declares that Australia is at war and threatened by a ruthless enemy whose objective is the ‘downfall of the British Empire’. That enemy is the ‘5th Column’. [read more]

Australia in France, Part One (c1918)
This documentary film was shot in the middle of 1916 on the Western Front in France by British cinematographers. The earliest scenes, from May 1916, include the Australian prime minister, Mr WM Hughes meeting General Sir William Birdwood, commander-in-chief of ... [read more]

The Tale of Ruby Rose (1987)
Henry Rose (Chris Haywood) traps wallabies and possum for their skins in the Central Highlands of Tasmania in 1933. He and his wife Ruby (Melita Jurisic) have lived here for seven years, in a primitive slab hut. The isolation takes ... [read more]

The Time Guardian (1987)
In the year 4039 a city of survivors from the Neutron Wars travels through time and space seeking safe haven from the Jen-Diki, a race of cyborgs intent on wiping out humanity. Soldiers Ballard (Tom Burlinson) and Petra (Carrie Fisher) ... [read more]

Some of Many: Germans in Australia (1983)
A documentary that traces the changing fortunes of German immigrants to Australia from the first fleet to the late 1980s. Australian-based German filmmaker Juergen Corleis interviews migrants in South Australia and New South Wales as well as recalling some well-known ... [read more]

Jack Luscombe (1953)
In the 1950s, folk enthusiast John Meredith travelled around New South Wales recording songs for posterity. Jack Luscombe, 81 at the time, was the first singer Meredith recorded, providing a fascinating glimpse back in time. Meredith captured him singing songs ... [read more]

Not Only the Need (1957)
This sponsored film made for the Australian Council of Trade Unions proposes a Commonwealth solution to the housing problems facing families living in inner-city slums. It contrasts crowded and dilapidated city tenements with better homes in the suburbs, illustrates the ... [read more]

The Big House (2000)
When a young man, Sonny (Kick Gurry), enters prison for the first time, ‘lifer’ Williams (Tony Martin) takes him under his wing. Williams offers protection from predators like Jacko (Gary Sweet) but, as Sonny finds out, expects something in return. ... [read more]