All sponsored films
109 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year prev 1 2 3 next
0-9
The 8th Wonder of the World 1973
This documentary coincided with the official opening of the Sydney Opera House in 1973 and looks at the architecture, art and functions of the building.
A
Action Loop 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.
An Australian Invention: Falkiner Cane Harvester in Operation c1925
This film, possibly made by the Queensland Cane Growers Organisation, promotes the use of the mechanical harvester – a real innovation at the time.
The Australian Steel Works c1920
This Made in Australia Council documentary, made circa 1920, tours a steel works factory in Newcastle to promote the Australian steel industry.
Australia Post – 200 Years 1988
With slogans like 'Celebrating a Nation’, the Bicentennial Authority directed emphasis towards celebrating multiculturalism rather than 200 years of white settlement.
Australia Post – Australia Post Inc 1990
The Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989 transformed the post office from an administrative centre focused on mail delivery to a sales-oriented shopfront.
Australia Post – Joint Stamp Issue 1988
This program consists mainly of footage shot at the celebratory launch of the Australian–USA bicentennial stamp in Sydney’s Martin Place.
Australia Post – Meeting the Challenge 1988
This short training video from Australia Post management briefs personnel about the imminent corporate restructure and shift in image to a commercial service provider.
Australia Post – News Release E-Post Electronic Mail 1985
This 1985 video press release explains E-Post, a new service offered by Australia Post to replace the old telegram service and superseded teleprinter technology.
Australia Post – Olympic Post Script 1956
This film focuses on the telecommunications services set up especially for the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne. It also has footage of the sporting events that is unlikely to have survived in any other form.
Australia Post – Onward Speed 1970
Fred Schepisi wrote and directed Onward Speed as a sponsored film for Australia Post. It humorously instructs its target audience of executives, secretaries and mailroom staff in the efficient management of business mail.
Australia Post – Post Office Film 1942
This is a mute, black-and-white film record of the dismantling of the Sydney GPO clock tower to relocate communications equipment during the Second World War.
Australia Post – Post Office Speeds the Mail 1970
With the 1971 changeover from pushbike to motorcycle for mail delivery, Australia Post purchased a fleet of customised motorbikes from Honda.
Australia Post – Post Office Spruce Up 1987
This program introduced a competition between post offices to mark the launch of the first incarnation of commercial, sales-oriented post office shopfronts.
Australia Post – Recruitment 1989
It’s interesting to look at the Australia Post jobs on offer in the late 1980s and compare them to employment opportunities available today.
Australia Post – Royal Tour 1954
As this program amply illustrates, an excited Australian public turned out in droves to see the Queen in 1954. For the PMG, her visit represented a coming of age.
Australia Post – Security 1989
While mail security may be a far greater problem today than in the past, here is evidence that mail security has always presented a substantial challenge.
Australia Post – The Last of the TPOs 1985
This program marks the closure of the Travelling Post Office, a mail service that had worked in conjunction with Australia’s various railway networks since 1865.
Australia Post – This is the Mail 1966
When the $6 million Redfern Mail Exchange in Sydney was opened in 1965, it was hailed as the largest mechanised mail centre in the Southern Hemisphere.
Australia’s Land of Tomorrow 1962
An Australian Inland Mission patrol witnesses a prospering region where industry and agriculture have grown and the population has greatly increased since the last visit.
B
Beautiful Melbourne 1947
This film, put together by the Brotherhood of St Laurence in 1947, increased public awareness of the dire state of those living in slum housing in Melbourne.
Beyond the Furthest Fences 1947
This is an abridged version of the feature-length documentary The Inlanders. Both follow the Australian Inland Mission through central Australia in 1947.
Birth of a Car c1948
Birth of a Car, made in 1948, proudly details the planning, testing and production of the first locally-manufactured Holden model sedan.
The Bones of Building 1956
This Waterside Workers’ Federation Film Unit production is a safety film for building workers, commissioned by the Building Workers’ Industrial Union.
Boots and Shoes c1924
This film shows the inner workings of a boot and shoe factory, following the manufacturing process from cutting shoe patterns to the finished product.
A Brief Survey of the Activities of the Brisbane City Mission c1939
This is a moving portrait of the charity work of the Brisbane City Mission for the poor at a time when many people struggled financially because of the Depression.
Browning Machine Gun c1940
An animated army training film that illustrates the operation of the Browning machine gun.
Building a Motor Body c1925
The South Australian Government commissioned this promotional film to attract workers to the Woodville car plant; at the time, the second largest in the British Empire.
Building a Railway Engine c1925
The state government commissioned this short film showing work at the South Australian Railways engine construction and repair plant outside Adelaide.
C
Carnival of Flowers, Toowoomba 1953
This short sponsored film about the 1953 Carnival of Flowers in Toowoomba captures the floral street parade and the colours of spring.
The City of Geelong 1957
The Shell Film Unit made this promotional travelogue of Geelong; three years earlier, a large Shell oil refinery was built on the city’s outskirts.
Commonwealth Bank – The School Bank 1951
The bank commissioned this film to replace personal school visits by Bank Liaison Officers, recently cancelled because of postwar labour shortages.
Commonwealth Bank – Willie Wombat: Waste Not Want Not c1939
Willie Wombat was produced by Eric Porter – Australia’s first career animator – to promote the Commonwealth Savings Bank of Australia’s School Banking program.
The Constant Threat 1946
This short film promotes the importance of having a free chest x-ray, provided by the NSW Department of Public Health, to test for tuberculosis.
CSIRO – Rabbits in Confined Populations Management Techniques c1955
With exploding rabbit numbers in the 1950s, the Wildlife Survey Section of the CSIRO studied captive rabbit populations to assist and improve control techniques.
D
A Day at an Engineering Works c1926
This Made in Australia Council documentary details work at the largest engineering works in South Australia at the time.
A Day in a Biscuit Factory 1932
While not the film’s primary intention, it offers an interesting examination of the division of labour and factory-line production processes in a 1930s biscuit factory.
Disturber of the Peace c1945
A short government announcement advising citizens to consider each other’s need for sleep and to keep noise levels low when others are sleeping.
E
Eventide and Westbrook Farm Home: Brisbane City Mission 1950
This is one of a handful of films made by the Brisbane City Mission to promote its charity and social work assisting vulnerable members of the community.
The Evolution of a Chocolate 1925
The chocolate factory which features in this film employed over 2,000 people and – according to the intertitles – was one of 'the best producers of chocolates’.
Eyes Right c1950
A short public awareness film about the importance of eye health. It explains how our eyes function and how to protect them.
F
Factory to Farm: Making Agricultural Implements in Australia c1925
This film provides a visual record of the inner workings of an agricultural implements factory as well as the role of sheet metal workers and fitters and turners.
Federal Capital Commission: Anti-Fly Campaign c1928
This public relations film explains an anti-fly campaign. It depicts a series of familiar situations in which flies are present and demonstrates acceptable methods of dealing with them.
The Flying Doctor 1941
Through the work of the Australian Aerial Medical Service and their 'mantle of safety’, no-one in Australia is further than four hours from medical assistance.
G
Green Heritage c1948
Green Heritage is a documentary aimed at viewers who care about subterranean clover, methods of pasture irrigation and the preferred grass for livestock.
The Growing Child 1938
What has changed in the last 70 years is how the public health message is delivered. Rather than highlight dire consequences, this short film positively reinforces correct behaviour.
H
Hewers of Coal 1957
This union-sponsored documentary dramatises the history of mining in Australia since the early 1900s, including the friction between miners and mine owners.
Holt – Film Re-enactment of the Circumstances Surrounding the Disappearance of the PM 1967
This unedited footage shot by Victorian Police re-creates the unexplained disappearance of Prime Minister Harold Holt from a Victorian beach in December 1967.
