Titles beginning with W
93 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year prev 1 2 next
1890s
Wheat Harvesting with Reaper and Binder historical – 1899
The official photographer of the Queensland Department of Agriculture, Frederick Charles Wills, films a farmer and his wheat harvest on a property in Jimbour.
1910s
With the Dardanelles Expedition historical – c1915
The only known moving images of the 1915 campaign at Gallipoli, shot mostly by English war correspondent Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett.
WWI Troops Embarkation and Charity Bazaars, Sydney historical – c1915
This silent footage shows newly recruited troops embarking for service; life on board the ships for troops heading overseas; and the fundraising activities of the Red Cross to aid in the war effort.
With the Australians in France 1916 documentary – c1917
A silent film of Australian and New Zealand soldiers on the Western Front in France, between June and September 1916, much of it around Pozières.
The Woman Suffers feature film – 1918
This has been called ‘Australia’s first feminist feature’ but many of its female characters are ruined by men, a common theme in melodrama.
1920s
Wirth’s Circus Film historical – c1925
Wirth’s Circus, one of Australia’s most well-known family circuses, toured the country extensively in the 1920s and embarked on world tours to England, South Africa and South-East Asia.
1930s
White, AR: Tin Mining in Malaya home movie – c1930
Australians have engaged with the Asia-Pacific region through travel and enterprise for many decades, but moving image records like this one from the first half of the 20th century are not common.
Welcome to the English Cricket Team newsreel – 1932
At the start of what would become the infamous Bodyline series, there is no hint of hostility as Australian cricket captain Bill Woodfull welcomes the English squad to Australia.
Wrap Me Up With My Stockwhip and Blanket music – 1936
New Zealand-born Tex Morton created an awareness that country and western music could be an Australian form as much as it was an American form.
1940s
While There is Still Time documentary – 1941
The Chauvels aimed to encourage Australians at home to work to help their loved ones fighting overseas. Future Oscar winner Peter Finch has a small but pivotal role.
1950s
White River of Life sponsored film – c1950
A short government film made in the early 1950s to promote the health qualities of milk and milk-based foods.
The Workman’s Nightmare short film – 1951
In the first short film from amateur filmmakers the Straford Brothers, a young man falls asleep on his work break and dreams that his ladder attacks him.
The War Against the Rabbit documentary – 1954
This sponsored documentary made by the CSIRO is about a farmer’s campaign to eradicate a wild rabbit infestation.
Western Wonderland home movie – 1954
This 1954 travelogue of the Grampians National Park in Victoria features a poetically nostalgic voice-over recorded 50 years later.
Walk Into Paradise feature film – 1956
For the third time with director Lee Robinson, Chips Rafferty played his version of an Australian hero – rugged, self-reliant, resourceful, an unpolished rough diamond.
A World to Conquer short film – 1956
In this amateur science-fiction short, an alien surveillance camera lands in a man’s backyard, but his wife does not believe him.
What Makes a Champion documentary – 1959
This Shell Film Unit documentary includes demonstrations by a number of Australian Olympic athletes to analyse championship performance and answer the question ‘What makes a champion?’.
1960s
Wambidgee television program – 1962
An early children’s animated puppet series about the adventures of a young Aboriginal boy living in the bush.
With Gentle Majesty television program – 1962
The high point of the Melbourne Royal Agricultural Show each day is the Grand Parade. The initial languid pace of the filming and editing nicely underscores the images of the huge, slow-moving workhorses.
A World for Children documentary – c1962
Siblings Maret, Juri and Yanni convey the experience of European immigrant children arriving at the Bonegilla Migrant Reception Centre in Victoria.
Wandjina! – Episode 5 television program – 1966
Strange events occur when people search for two boys missing in the bush.
Weapons Research Establishment Project WRESAT sponsored film – 1967
On 29 November 1967, Australia became only the fourth country – after the USA, Soviet Union and France – to launch its own satellite from its own territory.
Warringah Expressway sponsored film – 1969
This public relations film for the NSW Department of Main Roads documents completion of the first stage of the Warringah Expressway from the Sydney Harbour Bridge to Cammeray.
1970s
Walkabout feature film – 1970
A 16-year-old English girl and her 8-year-old brother are stranded in the desert, after their father shoots himself. They are rescued by a young tribal Aborigine.
Wake in Fright feature film – 1971
A young schoolteacher loses all his money in an outback two-up game, while en route to Sydney. In the next two days he loses a lot more – self-respect, inhibitions, almost his life.
The Western Distributor sponsored film – 1973
This sponsored film documents the construction of the first stage of the Western Distributor, providing a route from the Sydney Harbour Bridge through to Ultimo and the city’s west.
Whitlam – Visit to Bendigo and Eaglehawk historical – 1973
Gough Whitlam, the first Labor Prime Minister in 23 years, visits Bendigo and Eaglehaw in Victoria to lend support to the party’s campaign for the May 1973 state elections.
Why It Is So television program – 1973
Professor Julius Sumner Miller amazes and astounds his viewers with ‘light, optics and a brief adventure into modern physics’.
The Wreck of the Batavia documentary – 1973
An early film by Bruce Beresford traces the story of the Dutch ship Batavia, wrecked on a coral reef off the coast of Western Australia in 1629.
We Have To Live With It documentary – 1974
Tom Zubrycki’s first foray into filmmaking – a 1970s community video – reflects an interest in social issues that continues throughout his career.
Whitlam – Visit to the Philippines historical – 1974
In 1974, prime minister Gough Whitlam visited Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Burma, Singapore and the Philippines with the aim of strengthening cooperation in aid, trade, investment and culture.
We Aim to Please short film – 1976
We Aim to Please incorporated experimental and feminist ideas and was a bold break away from the narrative films and factual documentaries of the time.
1980s
Waterloo documentary – 1981
Tom Zubrycki’s skills as a documentary filmmaker are clearly evident in this history of the redevelopment of Waterloo in Sydney.
We Have Survived music – 1981
The No Fixed Address version of Bart Willoughby’s ‘We Have Survived’ has became an unofficial anthem for Australia’s Aboriginal community.
Winter of Our Dreams feature film – 1981
It was surprising that this uncompromising film about a junkie prostitute’s failure to find love, would work so well with audiences.
Wrong Side of the Road feature film – 1981
Most black bands before this were playing country and western – Us Mob, Coloured Stone and No Fixed Address were among the first to play rock or reggae.
Weekend Magazine – Carnarvon Gorge and the Fighting Highlanders television program – 1982
Weekend Magazine was one of the first programs on television to teach people about the environment and how it should be cherished and protected.
We of the Never Never feature film – 1982
Race relations is the theme that is constantly lurking in this story about one woman’s life on an outback station.
Winner Take All – Downside Risk television program – 1982
An ABC TV series about the fast-paced world of big business, Winner Take All is an early ‘80s time capsule.
Women of the Sun television program – 1982
The colonisation of Aboriginal peoples, and their lands and resources, as seen through the eyes of four generations of Aboriginal women.
Waterfront – Episode 1 television program – 1984
Wharfies involved in a worker’s dispute and Italian refugees desperate to work during the Depression clash with tragic consequences.
Waterfront – Episode 2 television program – 1984
The series tells of the determination to stand up for what is right in a world that is rapidly slipping into a showdown between the extremes of fascism and communism.
Wings to Victory documentary – 1984
Celebrating the win by 12-metre yacht Australia II, this was the first time that America had lost the America’s Cup in 132 years.
Where Death Wears a Smile documentary – 1985
The little-known story of two Australian soldiers interned in a Nazi concentration camp in Czechoslovakia during the Second World War.
Winners – Just Friends television program – 1985
Just Friends reveals the hard asks of a young teenager – trying to fit in, standing up for yourself and resisting peer pressure to do things you’re not comfortable with.
Winners – On Loan television program – 1985
This is a strong and very painful story as Lindy is forced to make a difficult choice between her natural father and her adoptive parents.
Winners – Quest Beyond Time television program – 1985
Simply told, and not too frightening, Quest Beyond Time shows the changes that could occur in the world if a nuclear war takes place.
Winners – Room to Move television program – 1985
The script of this telemovie (starring a young Nicole Kidman) was criticised at the time for undermining parental authority but that seems hard to understand now.
Winners – The Other Facts of Life television program – 1985
Ben’s over-the-top campaign to right the wrongs of the world is funny to watch but at the same time confronts viewers with some serious global and local issues.
