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Boots and Shoes (c1924)
A promotional film presented by the Made in Australia Council that shows the manufacture and assembly of Australian-made footwear in a factory. It ends with the slogan ‘wherever you trade, buy Australian Made’. The silent film uses intertitles to describe ... [read more]
The Gunston Tapes (1975)
From the unbelieving Sally Struthers to Sir John Gorton and Warren Beatty, Norman Gunston (Garry McDonald) became Australia’s star interviewer whose rich and famous subjects had no idea what this parody of a journalist was all about. He was present ... [read more]
Bridewealth for a Goddess (1999)
Bridewealth for a Goddess follows the preparation and performance of a sacred ritual by the Kawelka people, who live on their tribal land near Mount Hagen in the Wahgi Valley in Papua New Guinea. Ru Kundil, a ‘Big Man’, is ... [read more]
Il Contratto (1953)
Financed by loans from a travel agency, four young single Italian men (Giuseppe Michelini, Luigi Borsi, Giuseppe Cusato, Giorgio Mangiamele) arrive by ship in Melbourne, attracted by an Australian government scheme that promises them two years’ guaranteed employment. After settling ... [read more]
Antarctic Vigil (1952)
Beyond the Roaring Forties, an Australian ship lumbers south through heavy seas towards Antarctica. The ship passes beautiful icebergs sculpted by the sea into graceful arches. At the forbidding Balleny Islands, claimed by New Zealand, the terrain is impressive and ... [read more]
Mad Dog Morgan (1976)
Daniel Morgan (Dennis Hopper) becomes a bushranger after hard times in prison and the Victorian goldfields. Saved by Billy, an Aboriginal outcast (David Gulpilil), the two men terrorise southern NSW, killing policemen and raiding farms, until the price on ... [read more]
A Fortunate Life (1985)
A dramatisation of Albert Barnett Facey’s award-winning, widely read autobiography of the same name, this mini-series covers about three-quarters of the book. It begins with Facey’s arrival as a toddler in Western Australia in 1899, traces the various physical and ... [read more]
Fighting in Flanders (1917)
Australian soldiers prepare for a ‘stunt’ with physical exercises and rifle drill. Well-rested troops display their prowess at marching, as artillery units prepare for a major offensive against German positions east of the Belgian city of Ypres. Field Marshal Sir ... [read more]
The Birth of White Australia (1928)
After introductory scenes at the opening of Parliament House in Canberra in 1927, the history of Australia is shown as a series of flashbacks – from Captain Cook’s landing at Botany Bay to the first settlement at Sydney Cove, deadly ... [read more]
The Sharkcallers of Kontu (1982)
The Sharkcallers of Kontu depicts the ancient tradition of 'sharkcalling’ in the village of Kontu, on the remote west coast of New Ireland in Papua New Guinea. There are only a few men remaining who use magic to call, trap ... [read more]
Thirst (1979)
Advertising executive Kate Davis (Chantal Contouri) is kidnapped by the Hyma Brotherhood, a secret society of blood drinkers led by Dr Fraser (David Hemmings). Held at the group’s country headquarters where blood is extracted from zombie-like ‘donors’, Kate is told ... [read more]
Harlequin (1980)
Mysterious drifter Gregory Wolfe (Robert Powell) appears dressed as a clown at the birthday party of Timothy (Mark Spain), the terminally ill son of Senator Nick Rast (David Hemmings) and his distant wife, Sandra (Carmen Duncan). Wolfe cures the boy ... [read more]
Boxing Day (2007)
Chris (Richard Green), a convict serving out the remainder of his sentence in home detention, is determined to stay both on the wagon and out of trouble. He’s carefully preparing a Boxing Day lunch for his estranged family when an ... [read more]
Son of a Lion (2007)
In a town in Pakistan’s mountainous North-West Frontier Province, an 11-year-old Pashtun boy, Niaz Afridi (Niaz Khan Shinwari), makes illegal copies of guns in his father’s arms manufacturing workshop. His widower father, Sher (Sher Alam Miskeen Ustad), also gives him ... [read more]
Kokoda Front Line! (1942)
This Academy award-winning Cinesound Review newsreel special shows Australian troops on the Kokoda track in the jungles of New Guinea during the Second World War. It features footage shot by war correspondent Damien Parer for the Commonwealth Department of Information. ... [read more]
Painting the Town: A Film About Yosl Bergner (1987)
Painting the Town is a portrait of artist Yosl Bergner in the context of the Melbourne artistic milieu of the 1930s and 1940s. It tells the story of his short but significant period in Australia, his life in Israel, and ... [read more]
The Bones of Building (1956)
This is an instructional documentary made by the Waterside Workers’ Federation Film Unit on safety in the construction industry. It dramatises the case of Bill Smith (Dick Hackett) to illustrate how dangerous accidents can occur on building sites if workers ... [read more]
Serious Undertakings (1983)
Serious Undertakings is a fascinating film about the construction of history, culture and politics. Divided into five segments headed by quotes, the film explores how dominant ideas of Australian history, national character and sexual difference are determined by who ... [read more]
The Bank (2001)
Jim Doyle (David Wenham) is hired by a major bank to perfect his mathematical discovery. He believes he can predict the stock market using chaos theory. His new boss, Simon O’Reilly (Anthony LaPaglia), gives him the biggest computer in the ... [read more]
Balibo (2009)
Darwin, December 1975. Roger East (Anthony LaPaglia), a veteran Australian journalist, is approached by José Ramos-Horta (Oscar Isaac), the charismatic Secretary of Foreign Affairs for the government of East Timor. Ramos-Horta tells East that his fledgling republic, which has declared ... [read more]
