Titles curated by Paul Byrnes
260 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 next
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The 1930 Australian XI: Winners of the Ashes spoken word – 1930
Members of the victorious 1930 Australian cricket team talk about the Ashes winning tour.
2000 Weeks feature film – 1969
2000 Weeks (1969) was one of the first features of the modern era in Australian cinema. Autobiographical and intensely personal, it’s still highly watchable.
27A feature film – 1974
Robert McDarra won the 1974 AFI Award for his portrait of an alcoholic imprisoned in a Queensland psychiatric hospital. He died in 1975.
A
The Adventures of Barry McKenzie feature film – 1972
The Adventures of Barry McKenzie was a hugely popular satire with Australian and British audiences, partly because it conformed so well with each country’s view of the other.
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert feature film – 1994
The most unforgettable scenes in Priscilla feature excessive costumes on incongruous characters in vast, humbling spaces.
All Quiet on the Surfie-Rocker Front newsreel – 1963
A short newsreel item from 1963, outlining police efforts to curb gang violence between outer suburban ‘rockers’ and surfers at Manly beach.
Alvin Purple feature film – 1973
Alvin Purple was hugely popular, partly because it makes fun of powerful institutions like the courts, the press, marriage and psychiatry.
Amy feature film – 1998
Amy has an amazing voice, once she discovers it, making this an unusual combination of sentiment, social commentary and singing.
Angel Baby feature film – 1995
These lovers are mentally ill and, for the sake of their coming baby, go off their medication, adding a touch of heroism to the film.
Antarctica 1948 documentary – 1949
A record of the operations of the Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition, November 1947–April 1948.
Antarctic Vigil documentary – 1952
One of the first colour films about Australian bases in the sub-Antarctic islands.
Antarctic Voyage documentary – 1956
In 1955, the Danish ship Kista Dan takes a team of Australian scientists south for a year at Mawson, Australia’s new Antarctic research station.
Australia in France, Part One documentary – c1918
One of the Australian War Memorial’s most important films – the most accurate filmed record of the Battle of Pozières in 1916.
The Australian Flying Corps in France, England and Palestine historical – 1919
A silent film depicting pilots and crew of the Australian Flying Corps, precursor to the RAAF, in training and at war in 1918 in France and the Middle East.
Australian Rules feature film – 2002
This drama, with its racism theme, in turn sparked very heated debate about white filmmakers telling stories with Indigenous content.
The Australians at Messines historical – 1917
Silent footage by Herbert Baldwin, Australia’s first official war photographer, of the Battle of Messines in Belgium, June 1917.
The Australians’ Final Campaign in 1918 historical – c1919
A compilation film covering Australian forces on the Western Front in the final year of the First World War.
Australia Today – Antarctic Pioneers documentary – 1963
Photographer Frank Hurley discusses his Antarctic exploits in his last appearance on film.
B
Babe feature film – 1995
A worldwide hit film based on a children’s book about a farm pig who wants to be a sheepdog.
Backlash feature film – 1986
Much of the dialogue in Bill Bennett’s film, about two police officers and a young indigenous woman, was improvised on location.
Backroads short feature – 1977
Backroads (1977) is the first feature (albeit, a short one) by Phillip Noyce, who would go on to make Newsfront (1978) and Rabbit-Proof Fence.
Bad Boy Bubby feature film – 1993
Bad Boy Bubby was conceived as an experiment on virtually every level. It had 32 different cinematographers, for example.
The Bank feature film – 2001
A story of the greed and corruption of one banker, The Bank is about the collapse of a sense of compassion in contemporary Australia.
Bapaume to Bullecourt historical – 1917
Silent footage of Australian soldiers entering Bapaume, in March 1917, pursuing German troops as they withdraw to the Hindenburg Line.
The Bet feature film – 2006
This tale of corruption and high finance is the first feature directed by Mark Lee, who starred in the iconic film Gallipoli.
The Big Steal feature film – 1990
The Big Steal is generally known as a romance and an exuberant comedy but is also about teenagers outwitting corrupt adults.
The Birth of White Australia feature film – 1928
This early feature depicts racial tension in NSW in 1861. Despite its offensive representation of Aboriginality, the film has cultural and historic value.
Bitter Springs feature film – 1950
A family of white farmers fight to take possession of land and water that is home to a well-established Aboriginal clan.
Black and White feature film – 2002
The film presents both the defence’s and the prosecution’s version of what might have happened in the controversial Max Stuart case, so that there is no easy path to the truth.
The Black Balloon feature film – 2007
The Black Balloon is partly a coming-of-age movie, but the presence in the family of an autistic brother like Charlie prevents it from becoming conventional or predictable.
Bliss feature film – 1985
To say Bliss was ahead of its time is an understatement: the bold metaphors and sharp satire weren’t appreciated by everyone in 1985.
Blue Ice documentary – 1954
The story of the 1954 Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition to set up the first Australian base on the Antarctic continent.
Bonjour Balwyn feature film – 1971
Kevin leaves a job in insurance to start his own magazine. As his debts mount, Kevin’s prospects begin to look brighter in the criminal world.
The Book of Revelation feature film – 2006
The Book of Revelation is based on a simple, powerful idea: most films about rape are about women as victims of men, so reversing that idea allows men to experience the trauma of violation.
The Boys feature film – 1998
David Wenham’s performance as the absolutely terrifying Brett Sprague, launched his career as an actor of serious power and presence.
Breaker Morant feature film – 1979
Much of the film is about youth versus experience, honesty versus cynicism and political expediency – an interesting ethical domain given that it’s a film about war crimes.
The Breaking of the Drought feature film – 1920
An outback family faces ruin through drought and a son corrupted by life in the big city.
The Broken Melody feature film – 1938
A film with music rather than a musical, The Broken Melody is one of the few films of the 1930s that tries to depict the Depression’s effect on real people.
Buddies feature film – 1983
Buddies is a comedy, dressed up as a frontier romance, and it is relatively unknown and underrated.
Burke & Wills feature film – 1985
The epic and tragic story of the first expedition to cross Australia from south to north, in 1860–61.
Bush Christmas feature film – 1947
In a rare villainous role, Chips Rafferty plays a horse thief, Long Bill. He is tracked by five kids spending Christmas in the Blue Mountains.
C
Cactus feature film – 1986
Cactus explores both the horror of not being able to see and the notion that blindness can sharpen the senses and lift the spirits.
Caddie feature film – 1976
Caddie is a powerfully emotional statement of the ways in which women outside marriage were socially and economically disadvantaged in the period between the wars.
Candy feature film – 2006
Candy is a beautifully controlled film with an intense sensuality preceding an equally intense descent into grief and regret.
Careful He Might Hear You feature film – 1983
In Sydney in the 1930s, two sisters fight for custody of a six-year-old boy.
The Cars That Ate Paris feature film – 1974
Mild-mannered Arthur is trapped in a quiet country town where feral youth drive souped-up cars and the hospital is full of brain-damaged accident victims.
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith feature film – 1978
This is one of the key Australian films of the 1970s, because it speaks about the unspeakable with a depth of rage that was absolutely unprecedented and has never been repeated.
Chopper feature film – 2000
The killer who feels no remorse is a movie cliché, but Chopper is about a killer whose remorse is as strong as his desire to wound.
Clubland feature film – 2007
Clubland explores that time when a young man discovers sex and has to sever the relationship he has with his mother.
The Club feature film – 1980
The Club, adapted from David Williamson’s play, is set at a time when professionalism was taking over the game.
