All titles sourced from NFSA
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1980s (continued)
Around the World in 80 Ways feature film – 1986
Eddie and Wally Davis fake a round-the-world holiday for their senile old father.
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.
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 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.
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.
Dreamtime, Machinetime documentary – 1987
There are strict rules about who can and can’t tell certain stories in indigenous culture, these distinguished artists reveal.
Friends and Enemies documentary – 1987
The story of a machiavellian plan to destroy union power, Friends and Enemies follows the bitter fight between Joh Bjelke-Petersen’s Queensland government and the ACTU.
Gillies documentary – 1987
Max Gillies, probably best know for his portrayal of Bob Hawke, feels more confident and secure when he creates a character to hide behind.
High Tide feature film – 1987
Judy Davis makes her deeply flawed character compelling and, without her in the role, audiences may have rejected the character.
How the West was Lost documentary – 1987
The strike of 1 May 1946 was the first major strike by Indigenous peoples. It took a significant organisational effort to bring unified opposition against the powerful pastoral industry.
I Should Be So Lucky music – 1987
The second single from Kylie’s debut album, Kylie (1988), penned by English pop writing-producing phenomenon Stock, Aitken and Waterman.
Kaboodle – Series 1 Episode 1 television program – 1987
An anthology of stories for children aged 5-12 years old produced by the Australian Children’s Television Foundation in the late 1980s.
The Lighthorsemen feature film – 1987
In Palestine in 1917, two regiments of the Australian Light Horse attack Beersheba, in one of the last great mounted charges in history.
Nice Coloured Girls short film – 1987
The tongue-in-cheek title of Tracey Moffatt’s first film positions Aboriginal women as naïve and 'nice’ but these are merely roles played by the women.
Painting the Town: A Film About Yosl Bergner documentary – 1987
Bergner was one of the first contemporary artists to depict the plight of urban Aboriginal people and parallel their dispossession with that of European Jews.
Pleasure Domes short film – 1987
The first Australian animation to compete at Cannes, Pleasure Domes is a reflection on the inevitability of attaching associations to perceptions of landscape.
Poor Man’s Orange television program – 1987
Harp in the South was so admired by Network Ten’s then head of drama, Valerie Hardy, that she immediately commissioned this second series.
Shame feature film – 1987
Perth lawyer Asta Cadell uncovers a series of sex crimes and dark secrets in a small town in Western Australia.
The Shiralee television program – 1987
This miniseries was made during the golden decade of television drama. Its magic lies in the chemistry of Bryan Brown and Rebecca Smart.
Snakes and Ladders documentary – 1987
An account of the achievements and setbacks of a ‘shifting landscape’ as Australian women attempt to gain equality in education in the 20th century.
South of the Border documentary – 1987
This documentary explores the role of music in the grass roots political protest movement in Central America and also raises ethical dilemmas.
Suzi’s Story documentary – 1987
A mother who has contracted AIDS bravely decides to make a film of the experience.
The Tale of Ruby Rose feature film – 1987
In 1933 Ruby Rose leaves her isolated home in the Tasmanian highlands to rediscover her past.
Travelling North feature film – 1987
Casting Leo McKern was a coup because he almost never accepted roles in his place of birth once he’d become successful in England.
Voss music – 1987
Voss is an opera about the fateful outback expeditions of Ludwig Leichhardt, as recreated by Patrick White in his iconic novel.
The White Monkey documentary – 1987
Father Brian Gore, a Columban missionary on Negros Island in the Philippines, was imprisoned on trumped-up charges by the Marcos Government.
The Year My Voice Broke feature film – 1987
This comedy-drama is both a nostalgic memoir of growing up in the countryside and a shocking denunciation of its values.
The 1930s Golden Era of Australian Movies: A Tribute to Ken G Hall AO OBE documentary – 1988
Two of Ken G Hall’s basic rules were that films had to have a memorable title and a strong story climax.
Australia Daze documentary – 1988
An observational documentary shot by 29 different camera crews on the bicentennial anniversary of Australia’s European settlement on 26 January 1988.
Behind the Sun documentary – 1988
Robert Klippel, who sculpts from discarded materials, is one of the artists featured in this documentary compilation.
Betty Pounder documentary – 1988
Being successful in theatre, says dancer Betty Pounder, requires passion, and that may have to come at the expense of family.
Body Work documentary – 1988
Death is a taboo subject but not in this stylised documentary about those who 'make a living out of dead bodies’.
Clifton Pugh documentary – 1988
This landscape painter says painting an amalgam of his surroundings is more authentic than taking a 'myopic view’.
The Comedy Company – Series 1 Episode 11 television program – 1988
The Comedy Company, with its array of familiar, daggy suburban characters, was a popular sensation.
