All sponsored films
109 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year prev 1 2 3 next
1950s (continued)
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.
Snowy Hydro – The Snowy Mountains Scheme 1952
Interesting as an early document on the Snowy Hydro scheme, it’s an unabashed celebration of the entire endeavour, depicting it as a model of postwar reconstruction.
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.
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.
On Stream 1954
On Stream romanticises the achievements in building an oil refinery and emphasises the benefits for Geelong, its residents and the Australian nation.
Snowy Hydro – The Snowy Flows Inland 1954
Most of the Snowy Hydro productions followed the format and style of this film – a conventional instructional documentary complete with authoritative voice-over.
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.
Snowy Hydro – Conservation in the Snowy Mountains 1955
This film traces the history of soil erosion in the Snowy Mountains and demonstrates the approach taken by the Snowy Mountains Scheme to counteract the problem.
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.
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.
Let’s Go c1956
This film promotes the Shell Touring Service and Shell’s nationwide network of road-related services. Shell maps were produced from the 1920s until the late 1970s. Shell has deposited a significant amount of film with the National Film and Sound Archive for preservation, with a range of excerpts on this site.
Operation Buffalo – Colour Record 1956
In 1957, Britain’s Prime Minister declared that the Operation Buffalo tests would place Britain on an equal nuclear footing with the USA and the Soviet Union.
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.
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.
Not Only the Need 1957
This sponsored film made for the Australian Council of Trade Unions argues for the provision of affordable housing to replace inner-city slums.
Service in the Sun 1957
In 1956, members of the American and Hawaiian surf lifesaving teams demonstrate the latest surfing techniques on Bondi Beach.
Snowy Hydro – Conquest of the Rivers 1957
This is essentially a recruitment film, targeting the types of workers whose adaptability and skills base would well serve the Snowy Hydro scheme’s requirements.
Snowy Hydro – Operation Adaminaby 1958
In an extraordinarily florid finale, reminiscent of wartime propaganda, the film pays tribute to the residents and their noble act in moving the town of Adaminaby.
Think Twice 1958
This occupational safety film for metalworkers highlights three main sources of injury – heat, rays and fumes – and illustrates safe and unsafe ways to operate in the workplace.
1960s
The Tasmanian Tiger 1960
This documentary – a partly-dramatised look at Tasmania’s animals and birds – is a good example of innovative documentary making in the early 1960s.
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.
Ikara the Weapon Thrower 1963
This black-and-white film, classified 'confidential’ at the time, shows the lead up to the Ikara weapons trials and the trials that began in April 1963.
Jungle Road c1963
While the film is patronising in its approach, it promotes the army’s work as vitally contributing to preparations for Papua New Guinea’s eventual independence.
Operation Blowdown 1963
This is the official film of Operation Blowdown, the classified project that aimed to replicate the effects of a nuclear explosion on a tropical rainforest environment.
Snowy Hydro – Sound and Safe 1963
Produced in 1963, this safety film focuses on 'drill and blast’ tunnelling on the Snowy Mountains Scheme in an effort to save lives and prevent injury.
Snowy Hydro - Where Men and Mountains Meet 1963
This film is a fascinating depiction of the national ideal of postwar masculinity, looking at the spectrum of workers involved in the Snowy Mountains Scheme.
King of the Surf 1964
In 1964, ten of the world’s best surfers converge on Manly Beach to fight for the title of world champion.
Snowy Hydro – Safety on the Snowy Scheme 1964
The culture of the all-male workplace was one where risk taking and daring were highly valued, an environment intensified by the experiences of two world wars.
Terrain in South East Asia 1964
Produced in-house by Army Public Relations, this was a restricted-access training film for Australian troops placed in South-East Asian postings.
Snowy Hydro – The Jindabyne Story c1965
Although the film talks about the potential loss of the history of the region, the prevailing sense is that the new town of Jindabyne will do very well.
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.
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.
The New Gladesville Bridge 1967
A public relations film made for the NSW Department of Main Roads documenting the construction of the New Gladesville Bridge, then the longest reinforced concrete arch span in the world.
Snowy Hydro – Gardens of the Snowy Mountains 1967
This Snowy Hydro film encourages visitors to the area to take a wider look around, but also counters any criticism of the vastly expanded settlement of the region.
Snowy Hydro – The Construction of Geehi Dam 1967
This film is a fairly technical description of the construction of Geehi Dam in the Snowy Mountains Scheme, located in a remote area of Kosciuszko National Park.
Terrain Study of Phuoc Tuy Province South Vietnam 1967
Many of the places named in this formerly restricted army training film have become pilgrimage tour destinations for veterans of the Vietnam War.
Weapons Research Establishment Project WRESAT 1967
On 29 November 1967, Australia became only the fourth country – after the USA, Soviet Union and France – to launch its own satellite from its own territory.
Sydney-Newcastle Expressway 1968
This film comprehensively covers three-and-a-half years of construction of the Sydney-Newcastle Expressway in 50 minutes.
Snowy Hydro - Snowy 69 1969
This 1969 film makes a concerted effort to explain the many facets of the Snowy Hydro scheme to the public, including how the system was being built.
Snowy Hydro – The Snowy–Murray Development 1969
There’s no exciting dramatic structure here, but to watch it is to gain an insight into the size and complexity of such a large-scale civil engineering venture.
Warringah Expressway 1969
This public relations film for the NSW Department of Main Roads documents completion of the first stage of the Warringah Expressway from the Sydney Harbour Bridge to Cammeray.
1970s
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 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.
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.
The Western Distributor 1973
This sponsored film documents the construction of the first stage of the Western Distributor, providing a route from the Sydney Harbour Bridge through to Ultimo and the city’s west.
Snowy Hydro - The Best of the Years 1974
This 1974 documentary examines the multicultural workforce and its achievement in building one of the world’s largest hydroelectric schemes to that date.
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.
1980s
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.
