Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

Titles tagged with ‘Australian politics’

73 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year prev 1 2 next

A

Against the Grain: More Meat than Wheat feature film – 1980

A terrorist visits his family in Western Australia after detonating a bomb in Sydney on Anzac Day.

ALP Cinema Advertisement: In the Wake of the Storm advertisement – 1946

This cinema ad for the 1946 federal election encourages Australians to stay with the Labor Party, which has successfully led the country through the end of the Second World War.

ALP: Federal Election 1966 advertisement – 1966

These Australian Labor Party television advertisements are for the 1966 federal election and broach issues ranging from education and health care to resource development, conscription and the Vietnam War.

ALP: Frank Forde, Election 1946 newsreel – 1946

Labor Deputy Prime Minister Frank Forde appeals to his Capricornia electorate to vote for him and Prime Minister Chifley in the September 1946 federal election.

ALP: It’s Time advertisement – 1972

This TV commercial for the 1972 Whitlam election campaign targeted elusive Labor voters – women and young people – with a catchy song and starry singers.

Anthem: An Act of Sedition documentary – 2004

This ambitious work gives voice to everyday people affected by the ‘war on terror’ and Australia’s mandatory detention policies.

The Archive Project documentary – 2006

This story of a small group of film enthusiasts gives fascinating insights into the censorship and surveillance culture of the Cold War years.

Australasian Gazette – Armistice Day, Melbourne newsreel – c1925

This newsreel clip from about 1925 shows the crowd gathered on the steps of Parliament House, Melbourne, for Armistice Day. 'The Last Post’ plays after two minutes of silence.

B

Balibo feature film – 2009

In 1975 an Australian journalist travels to East Timor in search of five Australian journalists rumoured to have been murdered by invading Indonesian forces.

Big People, Small People documentary – 1991

Cartoonist Michael Leunig and then opposition member John Howard have very different views on the desire for more.

The Book Show – Jim McClelland television program – 1991

Jim McClelland, minister in the Whitlam Government, was a good friend of John Kerr until 1975 when Kerr dismissed the Labor Government. They never spoke again.

C

Canberra Files, The documentary – 2006

Sir Robert Menzies filmed his own wartime tour in 1941, including meeting British Prime Minister Winston Churchill at his home.

The Chaser’s War on Everything – APEC Episodes television program – 2007

The Chaser’s APEC episodes underscore the power of the unexpected in this type of comedy and the legal juggling act involved in bringing it to air on a weekly basis.

The Chaser’s War on Everything – Series 1 Episode 1 television program – 2006

This is the first episode of the satirical variety program, containing comic pranks, commentary and send-ups responding to topical issues and more general subjects.

CNNNN: Chaser Non-stop News Network – Lunchgate television program – 2002

Finely tuned satire that gives sensationalist reportage a caning.

Compass – Gallipoli Pilgrimage television program – 2006

In this moving Compass documentary about the Anzac spirit, each of the pilgrims reveals yet another reason why Anzac Cove is a sacred site for some Australians.

Curtin television program – 2007

The Curtin telemovie is like a skilfully painted miniature: small in size and scope but, on closer examination, high on well-researched detail.

Curtin Speech: Japan Enters Second World War radio – 1941

In a broadcast to the nation, Prime Minister John Curtin announces that Australia is now at war with Japan.

D

Dame Enid Lyons: Maiden Speech radio – 1943

Enid Lyons, the first woman elected to the House of Representatives in Australia’s federal parliament, reads her maiden speech for radio broadcast.

The Damnation of Harvey McHugh – From Here to Maternity television program – 1994

Amid TV’s throng of lawyers, doctors and cops, public servant Harvey McHugh stands out as an unlikely small screen hero.

D-Generation – Series 1 Episode 1 television program – 1985

While the D-Generation credits read like a who’s who of two decades’ worth of Australian comedy, at the time these comedians were unknowns.

The Digger Carries On: Repatriation Illustrated documentary – 1919

This 1919 film reassured Australians that returned servicemen were being looked after, in part through retraining.

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.

Dynasties – The Murdochs television program – 2001

A portrait of a very close-knit family. Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation is the last of the world’s great media empires controlled by a family dynasty.

F

Farey: Opening of Sydney Harbour Bridge home movie – 1932

Lesley Francis Farey captured what it would have been like to be in the crowd at the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Four Corners – The First Program television program – 1961

This interview with Olympic swimming champion John Konrads, from the first Four Corners in 1961, leaves us with a better understanding of how a great athlete’s mind works.

G

The Gillies Report – Series 1, Episode 4 television program – 1984

Max Gillies’ ability to capture the mannerisms of our politicians and Patrick Cook’s searingly funny scripts are this program’s great strengths.

Go Back to Where You Came From – Series 1 television program – 2011

An immersive documentary in which six Australians test their prejudices by tracing in reverse the journeys taken by refugees to Australia.

H

A Hard Rain documentary – 2007

A Hard Rain came out of David Bradbury’s concern that Australia was about to embark on the biggest environmental disaster since white settlement.

The Harold Holt Mystery documentary – 1985

On 17 December 1967 Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt disappeared while swimming at Cheviot Beach, Victoria. This docudrama reconstructs Holt’s last days and examines controversial theories surrounding his death.

Hellfire Jack: The John Curtin Story documentary – 1985

A portrait of John Curtin, Prime Minister of Australia from 1941 to 1945.

I

It’s Like That short film – 2003

A haunting animated documentary depicting the sadness of refugee children held in captivity in Australia.

J

Jack Luscombe music – 1953

An oral history containing the first recorded collection of Australian folk song.

K

Kerr’s Cur historical – 1975

On 11 November 1975, on the steps of Parliament House, the dismissed Prime Minister Gough Whitlam delivers his now-famous verdict on the day’s events.

L

The Last Man Hanged documentary – 1993

The story of Ronald Ryan, last man hanged in Australia, features some of Australia’s best-known actors and interviews with the real-life people involved.

Letters to Ali documentary – 2004

One family’s willingness to embrace 15-year-old Ali stands in contrast to the media’s portrayal of asylum seekers as ‘terrorists’ or ‘people smugglers’.

Liberal Party Cinema Advertisement: The Golden Age advertisement – 1946

This Liberal Party cinema advertisement for the 1946 federal election proposes that life for ordinary people under the incumbent Labor government is by no means as good as it should be.

Liberal Party Cinema Advertisement: The House that You Built advertisement – 1949

This Liberal Party cinema advertisement for the 1949 federal election presents a choice between the 'socialist’ and 'free democratic’ ways of life, as offered by the ALP and Liberal Party respectively.

The Life and Times of Malcolm Fraser television program – 2004

A portrait of Malcolm Fraser, Prime Minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983.

The Life and Times of Margaret Whitlam documentary – 1993

Wife of former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, Margaret Whitlam recalls the day that the Governor-General John Kerr sacked her husband on 11 November 1975.

Life at the Top: A Week with Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser documentary – 1977

Tracks Malcolm Fraser for one week in 1977 as he goes about his prime ministerial duties in Canberra and takes trips to Kalgoorlie and Wollongong.

M

Menzies 1948 Journey, Reel 1 home movie – 1948

This 16mm colour home movie filmed and edited by Sir Robert Menzies is an extraordinary record for not only Australians but the British too.

Menzies 1948 Journey, Reel 2 home movie – 1948

A truly mesmerising piece of footage taken through the eyes of Australian prime minister, Sir Robert Menzies, during a family journey through Europe.

Menzies in Profile documentary – 1964

A tribute celebrating the life of Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia and founder of the Australian Liberal Party.

Metric Motoring advertisement – 1974

This is one of the two television advertisements produced to facilitate the change to metric on Australian roads in July 1974.

Mister Prime Minister – Alfred Deakin television program – 1966

A biography of Alfred Deakin, Prime Minister of Australia from 1903 to 1904, 1905 to 1908 and from 1909 to 1910.

Mister Prime Minister – Joseph Aloysius Lyons television program – c1966

A profile of Joe Lyons, Prime Minister of Australia from 1932 to 1939.

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.

Newsfront feature film – 1978

Some believe that Newsfront, set in the late 1940s and incorporating extensive newsreel footage, is Australia’s best film.

O

Official Opening of Canberra by His Royal Highness the Duke of York newsreel – 1927

The Duke of York (later King George VI) officially opens Parliament House in Canberra on 19 May 1927. Dame Nellie Melba sings the national anthem, 'God save the King’.

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