Titles from the 1980s
304 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 next
1985 (continued)
Four Corners – French Connections television program – 1985
An extraordinary docudrama about the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and the death of a Portuguese cameraman.
Fran feature film – 1985
A vivacious young mother is married to a violent man. Her desperate need for love leads her to some tragically inappropriate choices.
Half Life: A Parable for the Nuclear Age documentary – 1985
O’Rourke presents the case that the US government used the Marshall Islands as a testing ground for atomic weapons to document the long-term effects of radiation.
The Harold Holt Mystery documentary – 1985
On 17 December 1967 Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt disappeared while swimming at Cheviot Beach, Victoria. This docudrama reconstructs Holt’s last days and examines controversial theories surrounding his death.
Hellfire Jack: The John Curtin Story documentary – 1985
A portrait of John Curtin, Prime Minister of Australia from 1941 to 1945.
The Henderson Kids – Series 1 Episode 2 television program – 1985
Teenage actors Nadine Garner, Kylie Minogue and Ben Mendelsohn feature in this classic 1980s children’s drama from Crawford Productions.
Palace of Dreams television program – 1985
In this acclaimed drama series, an aspiring writer arrives in Sydney from the country during the turbulent and desperate times of the Great Depression.
Playing Beatie Bow feature film – 1985
Playing Beatie Bow has the sumptuous look and feel of a period film, thanks to its award-winning cinematography and production design.
Red Matildas documentary – 1985
Told through the lives of three women, Red Matildas explores the social and political conditions in Australia during the Great Depression.
Robbery Under Arms television program – 1985
Before this 1985 version there had been five attempts to tell this story, the best known being the Australian–British feature film of 1957 starring Peter Finch as Captain Starlight.
Rocking the Foundations documentary – 1985
Rocking The Foundations is more than a film about a union: it’s a film about social change and how ordinary people can make that happen.
Short Changed feature film – 1985
The script is beautifully weighted so that the political context of the film does not inhibit the personal journey of the characters.
A Street to Die feature film – 1985
A Vietnam veteran and his wife fight for legal recognition of the damage done to him by the defoliant Agent Orange.
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.
Winners – The Paper Boy television program – 1985
The Paper Boy is a beautifully shot period film that captures the era and gives a realistic insight into the lives of struggling people in the Depression.
Winners – Top Kid television program – 1985
A compelling moral drama, made more powerful by its refusal to deal in absolutes, Top Kid draws on the real-life rigging of top American quiz shows in the 1950s.
1986
Around the World in 80 Ways feature film – 1986
Eddie and Wally Davis fake a round-the-world holiday for their senile old father.
Australia Post – Letter Writing Venice advertisement – 1986
This ad was part of Australia Post’s ‘We Deliver’ campaign and produced to encourage international and intergenerational correspondence.
Babakiueria short film – 1986
A mockumentary surveying the culture and customs of the white native people of the land of ‘Babakiueria’, from the perspective of the country’s black colonisers.
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.
Beautiful Lies: A Film About Peter Carey documentary – 1986
This documentary explores the relationship between Australian novelist Peter Carey and his country.
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.
Camera Natura short film – 1986
This montage film is about the spirit of the land: charting the contours of myth, geography and landscape.
Chile: Hasta Cuando? documentary – 1986
Filmed in secret, this is a significant record of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and his murderous regime.
China, the Long March documentary – 1986
There is much to learn from this work about China’s Communist Party leader Mao Zedong, who died in 1976.
Cyclone Tracy television program – 1986
A fictional account of one of Australia’s worst natural disasters – a major turning point in the history of Darwin.
Dead-end Drive-in feature film – 1986
In the 1990s authorities convert a drive-in into a jail for unemployed youths. Falsely imprisoned with his girlfriend, Jimmy ‘Crabs’ Rossini attempts to escape.
Divine Service – The House of Freedom Church, Brisbane television program – 1986
An informal Christian service is held in a suburban home in Brisbane. This group is involved in a wide range of peace activities in the ‘International Year of Peace’.
Dogs in Space feature film – 1986
Inner-city Melbourne, 1978. Aspiring rock singer Sam and his girlfriend Anna live in a crowded share house. The party atmosphere is shattered by tragedy.
The Fast Lane - Episode 7: The Sound of One Hand Counting television program – 1986
A private detective agency run by a couple of incompetents feature in a social satire on life 'in the fast lane’ written by John Clarke and Andrew Knight.
The Flying Doctors – Public Property television program – 1986
The Flying Doctors is a drama series set in the fictional town of Coopers Crossing and based on the work and lives of the men and women of the outback medical service.
The Fringe Dwellers feature film – 1986
This film has an Aboriginal ensemble cast, but a narrative based on a Western woman’s experience of an Aboriginal community.
Harp in the South television program – 1986
The ‘harp in the south’ refers to Irish immigrants in Australia. A mini-series, based on Ruth Park’s book, follows the Darcys in the aftermath of the Second World War.
Kylie Tennant documentary – 1986
Determined to experience at firsthand the lives of her characters, Tennant travelled alone in her buggy, camping with swagmen and destitute families.
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.
Rebetika: Songs of Greece music – 1986
Rebetika music evolved in the 1920s, combining jail songs and hashish-smoking songs of the Greek underworld with music brought to Greece by refugees from the Greek-Turkish War.
The Surfer feature film – 1986
Vietnam veteran Sam Barlow uncovers a conspiracy in Surfers Paradise involving police, politicians and a Vietnamese gang.
Women in the Surf documentary – 1986
Documentary on the battle for women to take to the waves, from Isabel Letham in 1914 to Pam Burridge in the 1980s.
1987
Australia Post – Intelpost advertisement – 1987
This humorous TVC shows a series of instruction diagrams being delivered by Australia Post to a group of ancient would-be soccer players.
Australia Post – Post Office Spruce Up sponsored film – 1987
This program introduced a competition between post offices to mark the launch of the first incarnation of commercial, sales-oriented post office shopfronts.
Cannibal Tours documentary – 1987
Dennis O’Rourke highlights the absurdity of the interactions between 'civilised’ tourists and 'primitives’ in a PNG village.
Cricket in Australia documentary – 1987
Some say Ian Chappell betrayed the tradition of cricket for financial gain when he joined Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket.
Crust short film – 1987
Surreal antics over dinner are the subject of this animated short film by John 'Hobart’ Hughes.
