Titles from the 1970s
176 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year prev 1 2 3 4 next
M (continued)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
My Survival as an Aboriginal documentary – 1978
The first documentary directed by an Indigenous woman offers a solution by way of continuing cultural practice.
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The Naked Vicar Show – Series 2 Episode 2 television program – 1978
The Naked Vicar Show is a sketch comedy series that lampoons suburban Australian society.
Newsfront feature film – 1978
Some believe that Newsfront, set in the late 1940s and incorporating extensive newsreel footage, is Australia’s best film.
The Night the Prowler feature film – 1978
This savage satire on the neuroses of the privileged of Sydney’s eastern suburbs was written by the great novelist Patrick White.
Ningla A-Na documentary – 1972
Ningla A-Na documents the activism of the Black movement in south-east Australia in the 1970s and shows how the activists changed the direction of the movement both nationally and internationally.
No Fences, No Boundaries – Walter Burley Griffin documentary – c1976
Walter Burley Griffin believed that 'buildings convey the most truth of the mental and spiritual states of various people and times’.
North to Niugini documentary – 1979
Malcolm Douglas travels in a five-metre boat north along the coast of Australia, through the Torres Strait to New Guinea.
Nott, D: A Trip With the RAAF home movie – c1970
The footage of this May, 1969 trip includes aerial shots of the landscape, airfields, and members of the Works Committee visiting villages.
Number 96 – Episode 35 television program – 1972
One of the only surviving early black-and-white episodes of Number 96 is a rollicking ride through an apartment building and its class values and sex-obsessed situations.
Number 96 – Episode 910 television program – 1975
The 1975 finale of Number 96 has multiple cliffhangers and is the last episode ever aired in a half-hour format.
Number 96 – Episodes 1003 and 1004 television program – 1976
Melodrama thrives in the lives of the residents of a Sydney apartment block in the swinging seventies.
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The Odd Angry Shot feature film – 1979
Australia’s role in Vietnam was still a raw issue when this film emerged and some criticised it for not condemning that involvement.
The Office Picnic feature film – 1972
Bored employees in a mindless bureaucracy are barely more than automatons until released by alcohol at the office picnic, during which sexual and generational differences explode.
Or Forever Hold Your Peace documentary – 1970
This compilation was made by 132 filmmakers, including some of the best known directors and producers of the time.
Oz – A Rock ‘n’ Roll Road Movie feature film – 1976
Director Chris Löfvén was heavily involved in the rock music scene. Oz was his attempt to rework The Wizard of Oz for a mid-1970s youth audience.
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The Painters and Dockers Strike documentary – 1976
In the 1950s the Waterside Workers’ Federation of Australia had its own film unit to counter government policies of the day.
Palm Beach feature film – 1979
The underrated Palm Beach, set on Sydney’s northern beaches, is very daring in its use of sound.
Patrick feature film – 1978
Patrick proved that Australia had the capacity to produce exportable exploitation movies and is better regarded now than it was in 1978.
Patrol Boat – Never Under the White Ensign television program – 1979
Patrol Boat is a television drama about the crew of a navy patrol boat, whose job it is to guard Australia’s coastal waters.
Peach’s Australia – Darling River television program – 1976
Bill Peach was a household name in Australia at the time he gave up being the presenter of This Day Tonight to return to his first love, travel journalism.
Peach’s Australia – Flinders Ranges television program – 1976
Peach’s meanders around the country he’s describing, offering tantalising snippets of history, spiced with art history and Aboriginal Dreaming stories.
Peter Nicholson Animations – Fraser’s Leadership Challenge short film – 1974
An animated political cartoon by Peter Nicholson featuring Billy Snedden and Malcolm Fraser.
Peter Nicholson Animations – Gough’s World Tour short film – 1974
An animated political cartoon by Peter Nicholson featuring Gough Whitlam, Joh Bjelke-Petersen and Bob Hawke.
Petersen feature film – 1974
Though promoted as a lusty yarn, the frequent and fairly explicit sex scenes between the film’s unhappy characters are hardly titillating.
Picnic at Hanging Rock feature film – 1975
On St Valentine’s Day 1900, three schoolgirls from an exclusive English-style boarding school go missing, along with a teacher, at Hanging Rock, in central Victoria.
The Picture Show Man feature film – 1977
The comic performances from John Meillon and John Ewart as the last of the itinerant vaudevillians are superb.
The Plumber television program – 1979
Jill’s discomfort increases as the uninvited plumber destroys the bathroom, but neither her husband nor her friend Meg will take her seriously.
Port Botany: A Planning Dilemma documentary – 1979
Tom Zubrycki developed a filmmaking style he calls ‘verite narratives’. This work represents a transition in his development as a filmmaker.
Profiles of Power, HC Coombs television program – 1970
When Dr Coombs saw the unnecessary cruelty of the Great Depression and its terrible impact on ordinary people, he decided to dedicate his life to economics.
Pure S feature film – 1975
Pure S was originally banned from release and remains one of the most unusual and frank films about drug use ever made in Australia.
Pussy Pumps Up short feature – 1979
This 2D animated film features a tiny cat-girl heroine who metamorphoses into a muscular, powerful figure.
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Raccolta D’Inverno, Winter’s Harvest documentary – 1979
The government has now outlawed this traditional Italian community event of slaughtering and butchering a pig and feasting on it.
The Removalists feature film – 1975
The story is a savage microcosm of Australia, rather than just a look at the then-topical issue of police hypocrisy and brutality.
Ride On Stranger television program – 1979
Bookworm Shannon Jones heads for the Harbour City to learn about life, love and politics in the 1930s.
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Seven Little Australians television program – 1973
This is a delightful and faithful adaptation of Ethel Turner’s iconic Australian story, Seven Little Australians, into a charming television series.
Shirley Thompson versus the Aliens feature film – 1972
Maverick filmmaker Jim Sharman’s first film is unique – an engaging potpourri of sci-fi, rock’n'roll, anarchic comedy and psychological drama.
Singapore Synopsis home movie – 1971
As a competent and creative amateur filmmaker, Alan Bresnahan’s shots are well chosen, mixing architectural and colonial history with tourist attractions.
The Singer and the Dancer short feature – 1977
Ambitious and confidently made, The Singer and the Dancer was Gillian Armstrong’s first attempt at a longer form drama after making a couple of shorts.
