All titles sourced from NFSA

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1970s (continued)

Love Letters from Teralba Road short feature – 1977

Based on letters found in a flat in Sydney, Love Letters from Teralba Road examines love among the working classes in the western suburbs.

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 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.

Action Loop sponsored film – 1978

The Melbourne Underground Rail Loop Authority projects a positive vision of the new underground railway loop as an investment in the city’s future.

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.

Conrad Martens documentary – 1978

Conrad Martens, whose watercolours are a valuable record of colonial Sydney, is reputed to be its first successful artist.

Cop Shop – Episode 109 television program – 1978

This episode of Cop Shop is notable for bringing together Mel Gibson, Steve Bisley and Joanne Samuel a short time before they all starred in George Miller’s landmark Mad Max (1979).

In Search of Anna feature film – 1978

This film has a restless energy and is part of a pre-professional maverick tradition that grew out of the experimental cinema of the 1970s.

Letters From Poland short film – 1978

While the plight of migrant women was a pillar issue for 1970s and 1980s Australian feminism, this film’s approach to the issue is very much focused on the individual.

Long Weekend feature film – 1978

On a long weekend camping trip to a lonely beach, Peter and Marcia confront the despair of their marriage, as nature takes revenge on them.

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.

My Survival as an Aboriginal documentary – 1978

The first documentary directed by an Indigenous woman offers a solution by way of continuing cultural practice.

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.

Size 10 documentary – 1978

Size 10 is about how four young women break free of the pressure to conform to beauty and fashion norms.

Third Person Plural feature film – 1978

A look at the emotional entanglements of four Sydney friends who take a weekend boating trip.

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.

Frontline documentary – 1979

Combat cameraman and correspondent, Neil Davis worked at the extreme front-line, capturing memorable images of the Vietnam war, taken under fire.

Just Out of Reach short feature – 1979

Brilliantly acted and shot, Just Out of Reach sits comfortably alongside other films produced during this rich and creative period of the Australian film industry.

The Last of the Knucklemen feature film – 1979

Near the remote town of Andamooka a group of opal miners work for Tarzan, a tough foreman known as ‘the last of the knucklemen’ for his fighting abilities.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Palm Beach feature film – 1979

The underrated Palm Beach, set on Sydney’s northern beaches, is very daring in its use of sound.

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.

Pussy Pumps Up short feature – 1979

This 2D animated film features a tiny cat-girl heroine who metamorphoses into a muscular, powerful figure.

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.

Young Ramsay – Natural Selection television program – 1979

Young Ramsay is perfect family viewing from a time when there was usually only one television in the house and families sat down to watch it together.

1980s

Against the Grain: More Meat than Wheat feature film – 1980

A terrorist visits his family in Western Australia after detonating a bomb in Sydney on Anzac Day.

Age Before Beauty documentary – 1980

Age Before Beauty cleverly identified an issue that has since become familiar territory for most women in the western world.

Australia in World War 1 documentary – c1980

Hubert Wilkins, official Australian war photographer, would have shot most of this footage, some of which is recreated.

The Chain Reaction feature film – 1980

The lives of car mechanic Larry and his wife Carmel are placed in danger following an accident at a nuclear waste facility in central Australia.

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.

Dugong Dugong documentary – 1980

Depending on the individual viewer’s attitude, scenes of dugong hunting can be exhilarating or disturbing.

Flamingo Park documentary – 1980

Fashion designer Jenny Kee had talent but so did the film’s crew, many of whom went on to make outstanding documentaries.

Franklin River Journey documentary – 1980

Amateur botanist Antonius Moscal says that rafting down the wilderness of the Franklin River reminds him of the definition of God.

The Franklin Wild River documentary – 1980

Bob Brown takes a rubber dinghy through spectacular rapids as part of a filmed campaign to halt plans to flood the Franklin River.

Give Trees a Chance: The Story of Terania Creek documentary – 1980

This recording of an anti-logging protest is one of many documentaries made in the 1980s that reflect growing concern about progress at the expense of the environment.