Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

All titles produced by Pathé Freres

11 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year

1900s

La Poule aux Oeufs d’Or short film – 1905

A fable of wealth and greed leads to disaster for a farmer and his wife. The Corrick family entertainers incorporated this early French film into their touring show.

Pathe Animated Gazette: Fire Breaks Out at Hornsby, Sydney newsreel – c1908

Topics in this Pathe Animated Gazette newsreel from 1908 range from a fire at Hornsby, in Sydney, to women modelling harem pants in Melbourne.

1910s

Pathe Animated Gazette (Australasian Edition): The First Instalment of Australian Notes newsreel – c1910

Australasian editions of the Pathe Animated Gazette combined local and international news items and screened to cinema audiences from around 1908 until the First World War.

At Footscray a Church is Pulled Down newsreel – 1911

This footage shows the preparations for demolition of a small church in Paisley Street, Footscray. It was screened at the opening of the Grand Picture Theatre in November 1911.

Ballarat Beauty Competition newsreel – 1911

This Pathé newsreel captures the 36 entrants in a local beauty competition held in the Ballarat Botanical Gardens on 9 June 1911.

Footscray 1911 historical – c1911

One of the earliest moving image recordings of Footscray, this footage was screened to locals a week later at the Federal Hall in Nicholson Street.

A Thriving and Prosperous Suburb: Bird’s Eye View of Footscray documentary – c1911

This informal snapshot of daily life in 1910 is a rare record of working people in early 20th-century Melbourne.

Chez les Sauvages Australiens historical – 1917

An engaging and respectful insight into Aboriginal people’s culture and their interaction with the filmmaking process, made in 1917.

Pathe Animated Gazette: 141st Australasian Edition newsreel – c1918

This edition of the Pathe Animated Gazette covers news items from different parts of Australia including Sydney, Melbourne, Warrnambool and Tasmania.

1920s

Picturesque Portsea Provides Perfect Pageant newsreel – c1926

This clip of the popular beach and pier at Portsea in Victoria vividly captures the beach fashions and social customs of the 1920s.

Traffic Chaos Caused by Fusing of Electric Tram Wires newsreel – c1926

This newsreel covers a traffic jam caused by the fusing of electric tram wires in Melbourne in the 1920s. We also see the chaos that follows the event.