All titles in the ‘Historical’ genre
180 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year prev 1 2 3 4
2000s (continued)
National Treasures – Endeavour Journal documentary – 2004
A look at Lieutenant James Cook’s journal, written on board the Endeavour during his trip down under in 1770.
National Treasures – First Surfboard documentary – 2004
Duke Kahanamoku shows Australians how to ride a wave in 1914, using a board he built himself.
National Treasures – Gallipoli Boat documentary – 2004
A small lifeboat, retrieved from the shores of Gallipoli, is a direct link to the first Anzacs and the day that helped forge Australia’s identity.
National Treasures – HMAS Sydney’s Carley Float documentary – 2004
A tiny, war-ravaged liferaft’s link to the worst naval disaster in Australia’s history.
National Treasures – Phar Lap’s Hide documentary – 2004
How did a New Zealand-born horse become one of Australia’s most loved and enduring icons?
National Treasures – ‘The Magic Pudding’ Illustrations documentary – 2004
A look at the illustrations for one of Australia’s best-loved children’s books, The Magic Pudding.
National Treasures – Tom Roberts’s ‘Bailed Up’ documentary – 2004
Why Tom Roberts’s painting Bailed Up is one of the most treasured in Australia.
National Treasures – ‘Waltzing Matilda’ Song Sheet documentary – 2004
How did the music and lyrics come together to make our most iconic of national songs?
Abortion, Corruption and Cops: The Bertram Wainer Story documentary – 2005
The powerful story of Bertram Wainer’s crusade to overturn the laws against abortion in 1960s Victoria and the web of corruption he uncovered as a result.
Hula Girls, Imagining Paradise documentary – 2005
Western imagination has transformed the spiritual hula dance of traditional Polynesian society into a (male) fantasy presenting the Polynesian woman as beautiful and exotic.
The Old Man and the Inland Sea documentary – 2005
Warwick Thornton’s documentary about a 'noodler’ on the mining fields of Coober Pedy and the sense of community he shared with Indigenous people whilst doing this work.
The Proposition feature film – 2005
Many Australian films present the outback as a dangerous place but probably only Wake in Fright can offer an outback with predatory instincts to match The Proposition.
Riot or Revolution documentary – 2005
Three things struck filmmaker Don Parham about the Eureka story – it was a 'ripper yarn’, with a great cast of characters and fascinating politics.
Who Killed Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler? documentary – 2006
A landmark documentary that not only reveals the criminal investigation into the mysterious deaths of Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler in 1963 but solves it as well.
Children of the Silk Road feature film – 2007
A love story set against the backdrop of the Japanese occupation of China prior to the Second World War.
Curtin television program – 2007
The Curtin telemovie is like a skilfully painted miniature: small in size and scope but, on closer examination, high on well-researched detail.
Death Defying Acts feature film – 2007
Filmmakers often tell imagined stories to explore a famous figure or incident and this love story involving Harry Houdini in 1926 is a good example.
Dr Plonk feature film – 2007
One of a tiny number of silent movies made since ‘the talkies’ arrived in the late 1920s, Rolf de Heer’s Dr Plonk is a high-spirited throwback to the days of pure visual slapstick.
Willaberta Jack documentary – 2007
Willaberta Jack and Harry Henty on the record, recalling an incident that occurred almost a century ago.
Broken Sun feature film – 2008
Imagination and resourcefulness helped this small filmmaking team, lead by Brad Haynes, overcome the constraints of having only $50,000.
First Australians – Episode 1, They Have Come to Stay documentary – 2008
The opening episode of this landmark television series explores the first contact, meetings and relationships between the British and the first Australians.
First Australians – Episode 2, Her Will to Survive documentary – 2008
This episode covers the period from 1825–60 and European settlement in Tasmania, told through the stories of Truganini and George Augustus Robinson.
First Australians – Episode 3, Freedom For Our Lifetime documentary – 2008
Episode 3 focuses on the first Australians of Victoria and the lives of Simon Wonga and William Barack.
First Australians – Episode 4, No Other Law documentary – 2008
This episode examines the coming of the telegraph pole and white settlement to Central Australia.
First Australians – Episode 5, Unhealthy Government Experiment documentary – 2008
This episode explores the lives of Jandamarra, an Aboriginal stockman, and Gladys Gillian, an institutionalised half-caste.
First Australians – Episode 6, A Fair Deal for a Dark Race documentary – 2008
Episode 6 of First Australians explores Indigenous history from 1930–67, primarily in the south-eastern regions of Australia.
First Australians – Episode 7, We Are No Longer Shadows documentary – 2008
The final episode of First Australians covers the period 1967–93 and Eddie Mabo’s fight for land rights.
Underbelly – Series 1 television program – 2008
This 13-part crime drama is based on real events in Melbourne from 1994–2004. Dealing with gang warfare-related murders, it was controversial even before it was completed.
Bright Star feature film – 2009
A chronicle of the platonic love affair between poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne in early nineteenth century England.
2010s
Beneath Hill 60 feature film – 2010
During the First World War, a Queensland miner learns the true cost of war when he leads Australians in a project to tunnel beneath enemy lines to plant explosives.
