Titles tagged with ‘migrants’
52 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year
1920s
Darwin c1926 historical – c1926
This historical and cultural record of Darwin in the 1920s includes valuable footage of the city’s environment and its multicultural population.
1930s
The Broken Melody feature film – 1938
A film with music rather than a musical, The Broken Melody is one of the few films of the 1930s that tries to depict the Depression’s effect on real people.
1940s
Through the Centre sponsored film – 1940
The Indian camel trader and the Japanese pearl diver become part of the film’s projection of the exotic within the expansive space of the Australian outback.
Eureka Stockade feature film – 1949
In 1854, miners in the Ballarat goldfields take up arms against government troops in a defining moment of Australian history.
1950s
Gerakiteys: Greek Community Picnics home movie – 1950
This beautiful colour footage captures how the Greek community in Canberra lived at the time, and the ways they contributed to community life.
Snowy Hydro – The Snowy Mountains Scheme sponsored film – 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.
Il Contratto feature film – 1953
In 1950s Melbourne, four recent Italian migrants eager for work to pay off their debts finally find employment on a rural farm near the city.
Gerakiteys: Greek Wedding Reception: Canberra Scenes home movie – c1954
This is a rare example of home movie footage of migrant communities living in Australia in the 1950s.
Gerakiteys: Greek Scenes home movie – c1955
The Gerakiteys home movies represent a detailed example of multicultural life in Australia during the 1950s.
Snowy Hydro – Conservation in the Snowy Mountains sponsored film – 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.
The Forerunner documentary – 1957
The Forerunner positions the the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme’s as the country’s 'first major step towards the final solution of Australia’s water problem’.
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.
1960s
Dangerous Immigrant documentary – 1960
This CSIRO documentary alerts the general public to the dangers of the European house borer.
A World for Children documentary – c1962
Siblings Maret, Juri and Yanni convey the experience of European immigrant children arriving at the Bonegilla Migrant Reception Centre in Victoria.
Ninety Nine Per Cent short feature – 1963
Pino, an Italian immigrant widower, seeks an agency bride to keep house and be wife and mother to him and his son Peter.
Snowy Hydro - Where Men and Mountains Meet sponsored film – 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.
Friday on My Mind music – 1966
‘Friday on My Mind’ was the first international pop hit by an Australian band, and a landmark in the distinguished career of songwriting team Harry Vanda and George Young.
They’re a Weird Mob feature film – 1966
An Italian sports journalist arrives in Australia to find his cousin’s new magazine for migrant Italians has folded. He soon gets a job as a builder’s labourer, learns to talk and drink like an Australian, and falls in love with an Australian girl.
1970s
Sunstruck feature film – 1972
Welsh schoolteacher Stanley Evans takes a posting in Kookaburra Springs, a tiny outback town. He forms a children’s choir which travels to Sydney for a national competition.
Chequerboard – It’s A Big Day In Any Girl’s Life television program – 1973
A 1970s country society wedding is contrasted with the union of two people living in the city who met on their way to work in a local shoe factory.
Snowy Hydro - The Best of the Years sponsored film – 1974
This 1974 documentary examines the multicultural workforce and its achievement in building one of the world’s largest hydroelectric schemes to that date.
The Golden Cage feature film – 1975
Murat and Ayhan are Turkish migrants living in Sydney. Ayhan falls in love with Sarah, but religious and cultural differences create problems.
Letters From Poland short film – 1978
While the plight of migrant women was a pillar issue for 1970s and 1980s Australian feminism, this film’s approach to the issue is very much focused on the individual.
Raccolta D’Inverno, Winter’s Harvest documentary – 1979
The government has now outlawed this traditional Italian community event of slaughtering and butchering a pig and feasting on it.
1980s
Peach’s Gold – Eureka television program – 1983
This series exploits a range of first-hand sources for its vibrant retelling of the history, while Bill Peach appears from time to time to explain and analyse.
Some of Many: Germans in Australia documentary – 1983
An Australian-based German filmmaker traces the changing fortunes of German immigrants to Australia from the first fleet to the late 1980s.
Yanks Down Under documentary – 1983
This documentary profiles Americans in the entertainment business, including a 16-year-old Marcia Hines brought to Australia by the musical Hair.
Mail Order Bride television program – 1984
A hard-hitting drama about racism, sexism and xenophobia in a small country town.
Touch the Sun – Captain Johnno television program – 1988
Captain Johnno is a significant Australian children’s film which won the 1988 International Emmy Award for Children and Young People’s Programming.
Green Tea and Cherry Ripe documentary – 1989
A portrait of Japanese women who came to Australia as war brides after the Second World War, and their experiences in an alien land.
1990s
Romper Stomper feature film – 1992
Romper Stomper makes viewers participants, forcing them to confront how they feel about violence as entertainment.
The Piano feature film – 1993
The Piano is a film about an artist and the story of a woman whose passionate nature is akin to a form of madness. Both themes are common to Jane Campion’s work.
Only the Brave short feature – 1994
Although made on a low budget, Only the Brave showed that first-time filmmaker Ana Kokkinos had an uncompromising ambition to tell powerful and personal stories.
Floating Life feature film – 1996
Being a new migrant is portrayed with amazing freshness, perhaps because the film’s key creators had not been in Australia for long.
Head On feature film – 1998
In terms of iconoclastic daring, Head On has no equal in Australian cinema. It broke so many rules, offended so many polite conventions, attacked so many silences, that it left audiences stunned and gulping for air.
Driving Home short film – 1999
In this animated short film, a young Korean immigrant struggles to define her cultural identity.
Looking For Alibrandi feature film – 1999
There is a lot of genuine affection between the grandmother, mother, and daughter in this film but conversations are bruising too.
Soft Fruit feature film – 1999
This comedy, drenched in grief and family conflict, would be a tragedy if it were not so funny and affectionate.
2000s
Delivery Day short film – 2000
A girl is caught between competing demands of family and school. Uncle Le needs help in his garment shop but it’s parent-teacher night.
La Spagnola feature film – 2001
The men here are little better than beasts, and into sex without responsibility; the women are crafty, creative and capable of malice.
Mother Tongue short film – 2002
Set in Korea in 1976, this haunting film conveys how a young girl’s relationship with her parents is altered by the loss of her mother tongue.
Dimpel, Konrad: Burned Out Fields Around My Walking Ways home movie – 2003
This home movie by Canberra resident Konrad Dimpel documents the bushfires that swept through the ACT in January 2003 and their destructive aftermath.
The Finished People feature film – 2003
This ultra-low budget feature cuts between three stories of disadvantaged young people struggling to survive on the streets of Cabramatta.
Harvie Krumpet short film – 2003
Adam Elliot combines darkness and humour, tragedy and triumph, Alzheimer’s and living life to the full, so that we may learn more about what it means to be human.
The Food Lovers’ Guide to Australia – Series 5 Episode 6 television program – 2004
Another program in this very attractive series with its blend of produce, recipes and the cultures that make up contemporary Australia.
Compass – Embracing the Enemy television program – 2005
Turkish immigrants in the 1970s found they were forbidden to march with the Australians on Anzac Day.
Footy Legends feature film – 2006
Anh Do, best known as a stand-up comedian, gives a heartbreakingly real performance as a man of limited education trying to keep his family together, and get back into the economic mainstream.
Clubland feature film – 2007
Clubland explores that time when a young man discovers sex and has to sever the relationship he has with his mother.
Lucky Miles feature film – 2007
Few Australian films have dealt with illegal immigration and refugees. Lucky Miles does so through comedy, but without losing its sense of compassion.
Romulus, My Father feature film – 2007
This film is one of a small number of high quality films dealing with the lives of migrants, but it doesn’t labour this point.
Temple of Dreams documentary – 2007
Made at the time of the Cronulla riots, articulate young Australian Muslim leaders take action to recognise and address the needs of their community.
2010s
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.
