Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

Titles beginning with M

159 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year prev 1 2 3 4 next

1970s

Matlock Police – Episode 1, Twenty-six Hours television program – 1971

From an opening sequence strongly reminiscent of Easy Rider (1969) to a rollicking country car chase at its climax, this is a bumper first episode.

Monday Conference – PNG television program – 1971

In one of the earliest Monday Conference programs, Robert Moore moderates an interview with the impressive New Guinea politician John Guise.

Morning of the Earth feature film – 1972

This successful surfing picture was a visual manifesto for its fans, promoting such counter-culture ideals as living simply and sustainably.

Most People I Know (Think That I’m Crazy) music – 1972

The song ‘Most People I Know (Think That I’m Crazy)’ saw the coming of age of Australian rock music.

Monday Conference – Rhodesia or Zimbabwe television program – 1973

Out of the studio and into the community, Robert Moore interviews Senator Glen Sheil, just returned from Rhodesia, and Bishop Donal Lamont.

Monster or Miracle? Sydney Opera House documentary – 1973

Made just prior to the official opening in 1973, this is a celebratory film about the construction and opening of the Sydney Opera House.

Metric Motoring advertisement – 1974

This is one of the two television advertisements produced to facilitate the change to metric on Australian roads in July 1974.

The Man from Hong Kong feature film – 1975

The film has great energy and a series of superb action sequences, including quite possibly the best car chase in Australian cinema before Mad Max.

Mad Dog Morgan feature film – 1976

Mad Dog Morgan updates the bushranging movie conventions, by seeing Morgan as a modern media phenomenon.

Maidens documentary – 1978

Almost four years in the making, Maidens sparked impassioned debate and became compulsory viewing in women and film courses around the country.

My Survival as an Aboriginal documentary – 1978

The first documentary directed by an Indigenous woman offers a solution by way of continuing cultural practice.

Mad Max feature film – 1979

Mad Max was a piece of impolite, independent cinema that had a profound effect on audiences and filmmakers across the world.

Money Movers feature film – 1979

Money Movers was ahead of its time, and may have suffered because of that. It’s a 'crime procedural’, a genre that is now much more popular.

My Brilliant Career feature film – 1979

This feminist warrior and role model came to life on film in the same year as the road warrior in the masculine fantasy Mad Max.

1980s

Manganinnie feature film – 1980

Tasmania, 1830. Joanna, a little white girl, is adopted by Manganinnie, an Aborigine who has survived a slaughter.

Morning Star Painter documentary – 1980

A portrait of Djiwul (Jack) Wunuwun, the Morning Star Painter, set in his homeland community of Gamedi in Arnhem Land.

Mad Max 2 feature film – 1981

Mad Max 2 is a more self-consciously mythic film than its predecessor, in a much more primal landscape, with a lot more action.

The Man from Snowy River feature film – 1982

The Man From Snowy River is an iconic Australian western. It’s a naive film of epic proportions, but the naiveté is calculated to appeal to a sense of American nostalgia, and Australian chauvinism.

Man of Flowers feature film – 1983

An elderly aesthete who regularly hires a young woman to strip for him finds his life becoming entwined with hers.

Mail Order Bride television program – 1984

A hard-hitting drama about racism, sexism and xenophobia in a small country town.

Mother and Son – The Funeral television program – 1984

This sitcom shows the fraught relationship between 40-year-old Arthur and his mother Maggie, who is at turns forgetful, quick-witted and manipulative.

Mother and Son – The Money television program – 1984

The problems of ageing would seem like an unlikely subject for television comedy but Mother and Son became an instant success when it was first shown in 1984, continuing for nine years to become one of Australia’s best-loved television shows.

My First Wife feature film – 1984

Director Paul Cox made this film about a disintegrating marriage after going through a painful break-up himself.

Malcolm feature film – 1986

Malcolm is one of the most charming modern Australian comedies, and probably the closest we’ve come to matching the joyful silliness of Britain’s 1950s Ealing comedies.

My Life Without Steve short feature – 1986

Set over a year, in a Sydney inner-west harbourside flat, My Life Without Steve is a challenging examination of the first phase of one woman’s long road to recovery from having loved and lost.

Mimi: An Evening with the Aboriginal Dance Theatre documentary – 1988

NAISDA led to the emergence of the Bangarra Dance Theatre and produced artists such as Christine Anu and Stephen Page.

Moodeitj Yorgas documentary – 1988

Moffatt’s work, influenced by cinema and pop culture, probes misconceptions about Aboriginality and explores gender, sexuality and identity.

The Maitland and Morpeth String Quartet short film – 1989

A whimsical, animated tale of music and romance, narrated by Ruth Cracknell and set amidst the Great Maitland Flood of 1955.

The Money or the Gun – Heroin television program – 1989

Denton defends comedy as a means of being serious as he tackles the topic of heroin.

1990s

Man Without Pigs documentary – 1990

The first Papua New Guinea man to become a professor returns to his small village to celebrate, but inadvertently creates antagonism when rituals aren’t adhered to.

More Winners – Boy Soldiers television program – 1990

1910 legislation required boys between 14 and 17 to register for compulsory military training . Will Barnes, a brave 14-year-old conscientious objector, refused.

More Winners – His Master’s Ghost television program – 1990

The setting of Montsalvat – a gothic mansion and former artists’ colony– is perfect for this mystery-comedy about a group of kids on a music camp in a spooky old mansion.

More Winners – Mr Edmund television program – 1990

A roller-coaster ride of raised hopes, dashed dreams and happy endings: a charming modern fairytale from the More Winners series.

More Winners – The Big Wish television program – 1990

The faeries in the Enchanted Realm are in trouble. Today is the last day to grant seven wishes to humans or they will lose their magic power – forever!

More Winners – The Journey television program – 1990

On an isolated Tasmanian mountain, 12-year-old Ada lives with her wealthy father Justus. Housekeeper Martha is plotting to secure the family fortune for herself.

Mr Squiggle and Friends – Cheer Up television program – 1990

A 1990s episode of iconic children’s series Mr Squiggle and Friends created and performed by Norman Hetherington, written by Margaret Hetherington and co-presented by their daughter Rebecca Hetherington.

Mother and Son – The Clock television program – 1991

Writer Geoffrey Atherden offers a deft spin on the eccentric character of Maggie Beare, who assumes that something that’s misplaced must be stolen.

Mabo: An Address to the Nation television program – 1993

In a televised address to the nation, Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating outlines the government’s response to the High Court Mabo decision on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land rights.

Midwives … Lullabies … and Mother Earth documentary – 1993

In Europe from the late 14th to the 17th centuries, many midwives were accused of being witches and burnt at the stake.

Mother and Son – The Ride television program – 1993

Maggie’s favourite son Robert proposes to take her for a drive. This generous offer is so out of character that Arthur is immediately astonished and suspicious.

My Life as I Live It documentary – 1993

In this follow-up to My Survival as an Aboriginal (1978), also set in the Brewarrina Aboriginal community, 'Bush Queen’ Essie Coffey has nominated for the local council elections.

Metal Skin feature film – 1994

Social misfit Joe is befriended by the cool and confident Dazey. Their shared passion for drag racing leads to conflict and tragedy.

Muriel’s Wedding feature film – 1994

Muriel’s Wedding took Australia by storm when it opened in 1994, satirising an Australian family in a way that audiences found extremely moving, as well as hilarious.

My Country documentary – 1994

My Country is about the impact of the Native Title Act on relationships between Indigenous peoples and pastoralists.

Marn Grook documentary – 1996

'Marn Grook’ is the Indigenous name of a game very similar to AFL. This revealing documentary contends that AFL is in fact derived from Marn Grook.

Masterpiece Special – Judy Davis television program – 1996

My Brilliant Career may have been a successful start to a career, but for Judy Davis it is an unhappy memory of an early experience working in film.

Masterpiece Special – Melvyn Bragg television program – 1996

Melvyn Bragg’s South Bank Show is the longest-running arts TV show in the English-speaking world.

Masterpiece Special – Robyn Davidson television program – 1996

Masterpiece specials rely on the strength of the interviews, which can hold an audience especially if the interviewer is someone of the calibre of Andrea Stretton.

Masterpiece Special – Salman Rushdie television program – 1996

Andrea Stretton interviews Salman Rushdie, whose latest book has been written under the threat of a death sentence.

McLeod’s Daughters television program – 1996

The McLeod’s Daughters telemovie about independent women running a rural Australian property inspired the later successful TV series.

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