Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

Titles tagged with ‘history’

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

A

Allies documentary – 1983

When Gough Whitlam lead the Australian Labor Party to election victory in 1972, it altered Australia’s relationship with the US.

Angst documentary – 1993

Sandy Gutman, one of the comedians featured, released Australiana in 1983 and it is still the biggest-selling local comedy record.

Anzac Day Promotional advertisement – c1916

This advertisement encourages Australians to commemorate Anzac Day. The Gallipoli campaign was fought from 25 April 1915 and first commemorated in 1916.

Archibald Family: Family Scenes and Outings in Sydney home movie – c1932

Much like a family album, this home movie collection records events over a period of time. From baby shots in the backyard, to outings at the beach.

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.

Australia Post – Joint Stamp Issue sponsored film – 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 – News Release E-Post Electronic Mail sponsored film – 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video press release explains E-Post, a new service offered by Australia Post to replace the old telegram service and superseded teleprinter technology.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 – Onward Speed sponsored film – 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 sponsored 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 sponsored film – 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 sponsored film – 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 – Royal Tour sponsored film – 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 – This is the Mail sponsored film – 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 to England via Tobruk and Benghazi: Menzies Wartime Tour home movie – 1941

Most footage of the Second World War is in black-and-white, making this 16mm colour home movie by former Prime Minister Robert Menzies even more extraordinary.

B

Babakiueria short film – 1986

A mockumentary surveying the culture and customs of the white native people of the land of ‘Babakiueria’, from the perspective of the country’s black colonisers.

The Battle for Byron documentary – 1996

The Byron Bay whaling station operated between 1954 and 1962, producing more than 10,000 tonnes of oil from 1,146 whales.

The Battleships documentary – 2000

Included is a dramatic recreation of Japan’s 1941 attack on Pearl Harbour, which brought the US into the Second World War.

Belsen For Example documentary – 1985

The recollections of concentration camp survivors, now living in Australia, and rescuers, are extraordinary.

The Black Road: on the front line of Aceh’s war documentary – 2005

This compelling inside view on Aceh’s struggle for independence from Indonesia, raises many questions about journalistic ethics.

The Breaker documentary – 1973

The Breaker reveals the details of Henry 'Breaker’ Morant’s life before he went to the Boer War and was executed for murder.

Brisbane Dreaming documentary – 1994

Historical footage and re-enactments help tell stories about the Indigenous people who were displaced by Brisbane.

C

Cenotaph documentary – 1993

The documentary looks at the effect of the First World War on the New South Wales country town of Hay. Fourteen men and seven women revisit the Western Front after 70 years.

The Changing Face of Australia documentary – 1970

The sheer beauty and grandeur of Uluru before and after a rainstorm is a highlight of this geological study.

Chequerboard Revisited – Episode 5: You Can’t Have A Child That’s Ugly television program – 2000

In 1969, Chequerboard made a program about child performers. Thirty-one years later, Max and Grant agreed to be filmed for Chequerboard Revisited.

Chile: Hasta Cuando? documentary – 1986

Filmed in secret, this is a significant record of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and his murderous regime.

Commuting by Cable documentary – 1988

Even the most dedicated tram enthusiast will be fully satisfied by the detail in this 1988 study.

Compass – Buddha Realms, Part 1 television program – 2001

An exploration of Buddhism and why it still has relevance to the world of the 21st Century.

Compass – Embracing the Enemy television program – 2005

Turkish immigrants in the 1970s found they were forbidden to march with the Australians on Anzac Day.

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.

Construction of Sydney Harbour Bridge documentary – 1931

Looking back now, the lack of safety equipment used during the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge is shocking.

Couldn’t Be Fairer documentary – 1984

This film, to some degree, is a tribute to Mick Miller, who was committed to fighting for the rights of Indigenous peoples.

D

The Digger Carries On: Repatriation Illustrated documentary – 1919

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

E

Endurance documentary – 1933

After watching Home of the Blizzard Ernest Shackleton asked Frank Hurley to film his expedition across Antarctica with the aim of funding part of the expedition through film sales.

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.

Fire Guardians documentary – 1932

For this eccentric dramatised documentary on the history of firefighting, Frank Hurley dressed members of the NSW Fire Brigade in all manner of period costume.

First Australians – Episode 2, Her Will to Survive documentary – 2008

This episode covers the period from 1825–60 and European settlement in Tasmania, told through the stories of Truganini and George Augustus Robinson.

For Love or Money documentary – 1983

Using almost totally historical material, For Love or Money encompasses the role of Australian women in both paid and unpaid work, over a 200 year period.

Friends and Enemies documentary – 1987

The story of a machiavellian plan to destroy union power, Friends and Enemies follows the bitter fight between Joh Bjelke-Petersen’s Queensland government and the ACTU.

From England to the USA: Menzies Wartime Tour home movie – c1941

Part travelogue and part historical record, this home movie captures official visits as well as the prime minister’s own travel.

From the Bush to the Bungalow documentary – 1920

Produced at a time when the timber industry was considered romantic, Bush Bungalow shows the power of nature and man’s ability to conquer it.

G

Gallipoli feature film – 1981

Gallipoli remains one of the most loved of all Australian films. It’s one of Weir’s most nakedly emotional films and one of his most poetic.

Ghosts of Port Arthur documentary – c1932

A ‘novelty travel talk’ by Ken G Hall in 1930 has other resonances today: violent encounters after European settlement and the horror of the Port Arthur massacre.

Global Haywire documentary – 2007

Bruce Petty asks Noam Chomsky, Gore Vidal and a bunch of cartoon characters if the West has only got itself to blame for its woes.

Glued to the Telly documentary – 1995

Forty years of television broadcasting in Australia is presented in a self-conscious, ironic style.

Grave of the President documentary – 1984

In 1942, ocean liner President Coolidge accidentally struck two allied mines and sank. One of the world’s biggest shipwrecks is now a popular dive destination.

H

Half Life: A Parable for the Nuclear Age documentary – 1985

O’Rourke presents the case that the US government used the Marshall Islands as a testing ground for atomic weapons to document the long-term effects of radiation.

Historic Beechworth home movie – 1971

This colour home movie gives us a glimpse into Beechworth, showing us the local scenery and architecture and people panning for gold.

I

I Can Jump Puddles television program – 1981

Based on the autobiographical novel of the same name by Alan Marshall, this story of struggle and courage has become a classic Australian tale.

In the Mind of the Architect – Episode One: Keeping the Faith television program – 2000

How many of us would be prepared to change in a cupboard each day rather than compromise the architect’s vision? A showcase of contemporary architecture.

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