Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

Titles tagged with ‘Australian culture’

19 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year

0-9

40,000 Years of Dreaming: A Century of Australian Cinema documentary – 1996

Filmmaker George Miller is a big believer in applying Joseph Campbell’s musings on the hero’s journey to storytelling.

A

Australian Story – A Man for All Seasons television program – 1999

Bronco Coach Wayne Bennett’s father was a violent and hard drinking fettler. So he made a vow to his mother that he would never drink or gamble.

Australian Story – Of Droughts and Flooding Rains television program – 2002

Peter Andrews is so obsessed by an idea that it has consumed his life and almost destroyed his family. Voted the very best Australian Story of the decade.

Australian Story – Since Adam Was a Boy television program – 1997

Adam Sutton, horse wrangler and rodeo rider, is a quintessential cowboy: fearless, fun-loving and gay. The biggest risk he ever took was revealing his sexuality.

B

The Beach documentary – 2000

A documentary about Australians’ love affair with the beach.

Bitter Herbs and Honey documentary – 1981

While this study of Jews in Carlton re-enacts how Jewish boys were bullied, it is also a celebration of family and citizenship.

Blinky Bill’s Fire Brigade television program – 1992

Blinky Bill is an iconic Australian character much loved by generations of children, through the books and more recently through these television series.

Boys and Balls documentary – 1994

Greig Pickhaver and John Doyle, aka 'Roy and HG’, are the commentators: of course the sport theme is tackled with humour.

C

Colour Bars documentary – 1997

Director Mahmoud Yekta’s Colour Bars was nominated for Best Documentary at the 1997 Australian Film Institute Awards.

Crocodile Dundee feature film – 1985

This is not just the most commercially successful Australian film ever made, but also one of the most successful non-Hollywood films.

D

The Djarn Djarns short film – 2005

The Djarn Djarns is a comedy-drama very much suited for young people. It is a dance film with a sports feel, so culture and sport are not in competition.

M

Mail Order Bride television program – 1984

A hard-hitting drama about racism, sexism and xenophobia in a small country town.

The Mavis Bramston Show – Series 1 Episode 1 television program – 1964

A weekly variety show featuring topical satire, sketches and songs.

Morris, DG: Royal Agricultural Show, Adelaide home movie – c1943

This home movie shows two contrasting glimpses into the role of women during and after the Second World War.

N

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.

S

Snowy Hydro – Conquest of the Rivers sponsored film – 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 – The Jindabyne Story sponsored film – 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.

T

Touch the Sun – Top Enders television program – 1988

This lovely production captures the exotic frontier feel of Darwin, as it explores human survival and the challenges and rewards of family relationships and friendship.

W

Wrap Me Up With My Stockwhip and Blanket music – 1936

New Zealand-born Tex Morton created an awareness that country and western music could be an Australian form as much as it was an American form.