Ikara the Weapon Thrower (1963)
This film details the Australian military trials of the Ikara missile, a ship-launched anti submarine missile. [read more]
Robbery Under Arms (1985)
The Marston brothers, Dick (Steve Vidler) and Jim (Chris Cummins), are wild young men from the bush during the reign of Queen Victoria, who turn to a life of bushranging at the toss of a coin. Captain Starlight (Sam Neill), ... [read more]
Satellite Dreaming (1991)
A documentary about the history of Indigenous media, including television production, in Australia, and the start of Indigenous media in the centre of Australia. [read more]
Magical Powers (1936)
A young man (Doug Rosenthal) who falls asleep in his front garden finds magical powers that allow him to conjure a new car, move furniture and create a feast. However, as he finds out, all is not what it seems. [read more]
Jack Thompson Down Under – Episode 25 (1987)
A magazine-style program representing aspects of Australian life, culled from footage shot over the years primarily by the ABC and Film Australia and presented by Aussie icon Jack Thompson. In this program there’s an item about the ... [read more]
Treasures of Katoomba (1936)
A treasure hunt awarding £500 at Katoomba provides the narrative bookend for this short dramatised film promoting tourism in the Blue Mountains region. Made by Frank Hurley for Cinesound and sponsored by the Blue Mountains City Council, the film begins ... [read more]
Letters to Ali (2004)
A documentary feature by Clara Law that follows an Australian family on their journey of friendship with fifteen-year-old ‘Ali’, an Afghan asylum seeker detained at the Port Hedland detention centre. The film also tells the parallel story of Law’s own ... [read more]
The Inlanders (1949)
A documentary by John Kingsford Smith made for the Australian Inland Mission. The Inlanders follows patrolling minister Reverend KF ‘Skipper’ Partridge on his 8,690 kilometre journey into Australia’s remote communities to tend to the physical, spiritual and intellectual needs of ... [read more]
Black and White (2002)
Max Stuart (David Ngoombujarra), a 27-year-old mixed-race Aborigine from Alice Springs, is arrested in December 1958 in Ceduna, on the South Australian border. He is charged with the rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl, Mary Hattam, whose body was ... [read more]
Alexandra’s Project (2003)
After Steve (Gary Sweet) has enjoyed birthday greetings and gifts from his two children, Sam (Jack Christie) and Emma (Samantha Knigge), he cheerfully leaves for work. Clearly anxious, his wife Alexandra (Helen Buday) tells the children they’re not going to ... [read more]
Holy Smoke (1999)
While visiting India, young Australian woman Ruth Barron (Kate Winslet) falls under the spell of a guru. Ruth’s alarmed mother, Miriam (Julie Hamilton), travels to Delhi and lures Ruth home with a lie that her father (Tim Robertson) is terminally ... [read more]
One Night the Moon (2001)
One Night the Moon is a film based on events that took place in 1932, about a young girl who goes missing on the night of a full moon. Her family, though desperate to find her, fail to employ the ... [read more]
Half Life: A Parable for the Nuclear Age (1985)
From 1946 to 1958 the US used the Marshall Islands south of Hawaii to test nuclear weapons above ground. Early atom bomb tests were conducted with some caution, but later the US exploded hydrogen bombs that were much more powerful, ... [read more]
Commonwealth Bank – The School Bank (1951)
Produced for the Commonwealth Savings Bank by the Australian National Film Board, the film, aimed at primary school children, explains the place of the School Banking program in relation to the broader national banking system. In the film, four children ... [read more]
Elephant Tales (2006)
Life on the wild plains of Africa is wonderful for Zef (voiced by Jono Wood) and his younger elephant brother Tutu (voiced by Emily Hunt) until they find themselves orphaned by hunters (named ‘The Badness’). Zef comforts Tutu by saying ... [read more]
Message Stick – Macumba: Outside Looking In (2003)
Macumba: Outside Looking In pays homage to the highly respected Aboriginal media legend John Macumba and to his legacy in Aboriginal radio broadcasting. It documents events in Macumba’s life that led to his career in Aboriginal media. It focuses on ... [read more]
Here I Am (2011)
During her first week of life after release from a women’s prison, Karen Burden (Shai Pittman) attempts to reorientate herself back into society. She plans to reunite with her three-year-old daughter and to rebuild a relationship with her estranged mother ... [read more]
The Back of Beyond (1954)
Battling heat, dust, flood and sand, Royal Mail driver and everyman Tom Kruse completes the fortnightly run in his battered Leyland Badger, delivering mail, stores and supplies to the people along the 517 kilometre Birdsville Track in central Australia’s isolated ... [read more]
Lucky Miles (2007)
An Indonesian fishing boat dumps six Cambodians and six Iraqis on the remote coast of northwest Australia, in 1990. Muluk (Sawung Jabo), the captain, tells them to climb a dune to a bus stop, then sails away, knowing there is ... [read more]
Modern Love (2006)
City businessman John (Mark Constable) inherits a remote farm from his uncle Tom (Don Barker), a recluse said to have committed suicide. With wife Emily (Victoria Hill) and young son Edward (William Traegar), John travels to the farmhouse for what’s ... [read more]
