All titles sourced from NFSA
1416 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year prev 1 2 ... 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 next
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The Spirit of Gallipoli short feature – 1928
A high-spirited young man discovers the benefits of army discipline in this amateur film from 1928.
Spirit of Progress: Australia’s Wonder Train documentary – 1937
As the only new passenger train to be constructed in Australia during the 1930s, the Spirit of Progress was a symbol of technological achievement.
Splendid Fellows feature film – 1934
Famous Australian aviator, Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, and his famous plane, have cameo roles in this comedy adventure.
Spotswood feature film – 1992
The film is charming, funny, eccentric and affectionate towards its characters, most of whom work in a run-down moccasin factory.
Sprod, John: Pioneer Tours Bus Trip to Flinder’s Ranges, Building Brick Houses home movie – c1946
John Sprod was influenced by his father, an amateur photographer who taught him how to develop film.
The Squatter’s Daughter feature film – 1933
Flammable nitrate film fed the fires in the spectacular bushfire finale to Ken G Hall’s The Squatter’s Daughter. The fires rapidly got out of control during filming but no one was hurt.
SS Katoomba Unloading historical – 1899
This actuality footage from 1899 shows the unloading of timber spars from the SS Katoomba at a busy wharf in Brisbane.
Stan Ray and George Moon Jnr: Specialty Dancers historical – 1931
Entertainers Stan Ray and George Moon Jnr perform a tap dancing routine on one of the stages inside His Majesty’s Theatre in Melbourne.
Starstruck feature film – 1982
Gillian Armstrong’s Starstruck is an energetic rock musical comedy, with a kitsch aesthetic very much influenced by the style of early ’80s video clips.
State of Shock documentary – 1991
Alcoholic Alwyn Peter traces the events in his life – dysfunction experienced by an Indigenous family within a frame of dispossession and loss of cultural practice.
The Stawell Gift: Staging the Golden Jubilee Carnival documentary – 1927
The Stawell Gift, one of the oldest foot races in the world, began as a competition between miners in the Victorian goldfields.
Steamboat Holidays on the Murray River documentary – c1920
This silent documentary shows the landscape and townships along the Murray River and is from a series made in the 1920s called See Australia First.
Stepping Out documentary – 1980
Stepping Out draws attention to the talents of people with intellectual disabilities. The group went on to perform at the Sydney Opera House.
Stingers – Ratcatcher television program – 1998
The first episode of Stingers wastes no time setting up its premise, diving straight into the action, allowing us to get to know the characters as the crime story unfolds.
Stir feature film – 1980
This revealing film about prison life has a violent tone and very bad language, but this helps give it credibility.
St Kilda Esplanade 1914 historical – 1914
This early footage of St Kilda includes the entrance to Luna Park and a jetty at the beach. The last shot, with its geometric form and structure, is like a Seurat painting.
The St Kilda Esplanade on Boxing Day historical – c1913
A vivid snapshot of public life on a sunny day at the St Kilda esplanade and foreshore on Boxing Day 1913.
Stolen Generations documentary – 2000
Describes the destruction of the familial, cultural and social fabric of Indigenous communities following the removal of children form Indigenous families.
Stone Bros. feature film – 2009
A fun-loving road movie about two cousins who travel home to Kalgoorlie from Perth to fulfil an obligation they’d made to their uncle.
Stork feature film – 1971
Stork was important in a business sense: its success lead to the formation of Hexagon Productions, which became a major force in film.
Storm Boy feature film – 1976
Seamlessly woven into this story about one boy’s love of a pelican, are such themes as race relations, ecology, and family breakdown.
The Story of the Kelly Gang feature film – 1906
Audiences of the time loved this film’s boldness and, with its live sound effects and narration, to them it didn’t seem silent.
Strangers in Paradise documentary – 1989
On the eve of bicentennial celebrations, Strangers in Paradise looks at Australian culture through the eyes of tourists on a ‘Dreamtime’ tour.
Street Scenes in Perth, Western Australia historical – 1907
Leonard Corrick recorded actuality-style footage in places where the Corricks were currently performing.
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.
Strictly Ballroom feature film – 1992
Strictly Ballroom is one of the most popular Australian films ever made. The story may be nothing new but the execution is so colourful and eccentric it hardly matters.
Strikebound feature film – 1983
A docudrama based on the memories of Wattie and Agnes Doig, a miner and his wife involved in the Gippsland coal workers’ strike of 1937.
Strike Me Lucky feature film – 1934
The Holocaust made vaudeville star Roy Rene’s Jewish caricatures unacceptable in later years, but this wasn’t the case in 1934.
Submariners documentary – 2005
Life on board the submarine HMAS Rankin. From a six-part series which followed the crew as they prepare for naval exercises with the US Navy.
Suburban Mayhem feature film – 2006
Katrina, played astonishingly well by Emily Barclay, controls every man in her small kingdom with an overpowering sexuality.
Suburban Strippers documentary – 1998
This behind-the-scenes look into the world of Adelaide strippers in the 90s explores the distinction between stripping and prostitution.
Sugar Mills, Nambour historical – 1899
In this actuality footage from 1899, a horse drags a load of cane to a sugar mill where it is fed onto a conveyor belt for crushing.
The Summer of 77 short film – 2001
In this live action-animated short, a newly single woman runs into a former teenage crush and relives the summer they met.
The Sum of Us feature film – 1994
The Sum of Us presents three generations of characters, all of whom seek the same thing – a meaningful and long-lasting partnership in love.
Sunday Too Far Away feature film – 1975
The defining elements of a great 1970s Australian film are all here – empty, confronting landscapes, hard-drinking Aussie blokes, and a sense of 'the great Australian loneliness’.
The Sundowners feature film – 1960
The Sundowners is remarkable for the number of Australian actors it showcases. Chips Rafferty plays Quinlan, the contractor at an outback shearing station.
Sunshine Sally feature film – 1922
The working-class Sally falls in love with the adopted son of wealthy parents from whom she was kidnapped as a child.
Sunstruck feature film – 1972
Welsh schoolteacher Stanley Evans takes a posting in Kookaburra Springs, a tiny outback town. He forms a children’s choir which travels to Sydney for a national competition.
The Sun Worshippers documentary – 1922
A scientific expedition to Wallal for the 1922 solar eclipse confirmed the bending of light by gravity predicted in Einstein’s 1915 General Theory of Relativity.
Super 8 Soldiers documentary – 1991
A group of Australian conscripts took 8mm cameras with them to Vietnam. Super 8 Soldiers intercuts their footage with interviews with the men and their families in the early 1990s.
Super Flu: Race Against a Killer documentary – 2005
In 1997, Avian flu erupted in Hong Kong and crossed over into the human population. This is a report on the world’s preparedness for an airborne pandemic.
The Surfer feature film – 1986
Vietnam veteran Sam Barlow uncovers a conspiracy in Surfers Paradise involving police, politicians and a Vietnamese gang.
Suzi’s Story documentary – 1987
A mother who has contracted AIDS bravely decides to make a film of the experience.
Swanston St Shamble; Two Day Jag music – 1944
The first published recordings of Graeme Bell’s Dixieland Band made in Melbourne in 1944.
Sweetie feature film – 1989
Ambiguity is filmmaker Jane Campion’s preferred method in Sweetie, and it works superbly as a destabilised narrative because of it.
Swinger short film – 1995
A story of changing luck told through messages on an answering machine and a messy apartment.
Sydney Harbour and Anzac Day home movie – c1946
This colour home movie shows the official Anzac Day parade through central Sydney in 1946, one year after the end of the Second World War.
The Sydney Morning Herald documentary – 1911
One of the first Australian docos to be shot at night with artificial light, this Pathé short shows the newspaper printing process of the Sydney Morning Herald.
Sydney on Show documentary – c1940
This documentary from about 1940 shows Sydney’s progress as a modern city. It is from the large private film collection of Roger McKenzie and Bernard Kent.
Sydney Opera House Opening Concert music – 1973
A magical night in the history of Australian music: the first official concert in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall.
