Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

Canberra Files, The (2006)

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clip Heather Henderson education content clip 1, 2

Original classification rating: not rated. This clip chosen to be PG

Clip description

An excerpt from a 14 minute interview with Heather Henderson, the daughter of Australian Prime Minister RG Menzies, in which she talks about her father’s home movies. Mrs Henderson describes how the home movies of London during the Blitz capture the mood of the country and how the films match his diary. A montage of silent home movie clips is set to music.

Curator’s notes

Part of the additional material featured on the DVD release, this interview provides a context for the Menzies home movie collection and a personal insight into Menzies’ film interest. His daughter’s reflections are particularly valuable, not only because Menzies was a public figure but also because it links the home movie footage with its maker and the context of its production and compilation. It is not uncommon for home movies to become separated from the circumstances in which they were filmed or to lack biographical details of the maker.