Titles tagged with ‘poverty’
32 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year
1920s
South Melbourne Methodist Mission News sponsored film – c1924
From the early 20th century, Christian welfare organisations have used films like this to highlight their work within the Australian community.
The Kid Stakes feature film – 1927
The Kid Stakes is one of the greatest comedies of the silent era, although it was largely dismissed at the time as simply a children’s film.
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.
Australia Today – Men of Tomorrow newsreel – 1939
Depicting the family life of a young boy in the poorer suburbs of Sydney, this newsreel touches on society’s responsibility to offer its youth a better future.
A Brief Survey of the Activities of the Brisbane City Mission sponsored film – c1939
This is a moving portrait of the charity work of the Brisbane City Mission for the poor at a time when many people struggled financially because of the Depression.
Take Notice documentary – 1939
Take Notice uses innovative and sophisticated filmmaking techniques to describe the need for a solution to rising rents and substandard living conditions in Sydney.
1940s
Beautiful Melbourne sponsored film – 1947
This film, put together by the Brotherhood of St Laurence in 1947, increased public awareness of the dire state of those living in slum housing in Melbourne.
Prices and the People documentary – 1948
Prices and the People provides a working-class view of price increases, wages and mounting profits and the effects on everyday people in 1948.
These Are Our Children sponsored film – 1948
Through the lives of fictional siblings John and Molly, this film is an indictment of the social injustice facing Melbourne’s inner-city poor.
A Home of their Own sponsored film – 1949
A Home of their Own contrasts Ted and Mary’s overcrowded, inner-city housing with the 'Smith family’, who are lucky enough to live on a new suburban estate.
1950s
A Place to Live sponsored film – 1950
This Realist Film Unit documentary illustrates that the builders of homes belonging to the wealthy themselves live across the river in poor conditions.
Not Only the Need sponsored film – 1957
This sponsored film made for the Australian Council of Trade Unions argues for the provision of affordable housing to replace inner-city slums.
1960s
Chequerboard – It’s Amazing What You Can Do With a Pound of Mince television program – 1969
The series brought to light the lives of individuals and families who had missed out on the benefits of Australia’s growing affluence in the 1960s.
1970s
Caddie feature film – 1976
Caddie is a powerfully emotional statement of the ways in which women outside marriage were socially and economically disadvantaged in the period between the wars.
1980s
Bread and Dripping documentary – 1981
Four women recall raising families during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The film also looks at the activism of women and the beginnings of the early feminist movement in Australia.
Strikebound feature film – 1983
A docudrama based on the memories of Wattie and Agnes Doig, a miner and his wife involved in the Gippsland coal workers’ strike of 1937.
Nicaragua: No Pasaran documentary – 1984
David Bradbury spent six months in Nicaragua telling the story of the revolutionary Sandinistas coming to power after 43 years of organised resistance.
Red Matildas documentary – 1985
Told through the lives of three women, Red Matildas explores the social and political conditions in Australia during the Great Depression.
Winners – The Other Facts of Life television program – 1985
Ben’s over-the-top campaign to right the wrongs of the world is funny to watch but at the same time confronts viewers with some serious global and local issues.
Harp in the South television program – 1986
The ‘harp in the south’ refers to Irish immigrants in Australia. A mini-series, based on Ruth Park’s book, follows the Darcys in the aftermath of the Second World War.
Poor Man’s Orange television program – 1987
Harp in the South was so admired by Network Ten’s then head of drama, Valerie Hardy, that she immediately commissioned this second series.
1990s
Big People, Small People documentary – 1991
Cartoonist Michael Leunig and then opposition member John Howard have very different views on the desire for more.
2000s
Compass – Saving Claymore television program – 2002
Fire-bombings and vandalism were the norm until Mary, a Good Samaritan Sister, got people together to decide what was needed to turn the community around.
Mum’s the Word – Episode 16 television program – 2003
A group of women, including Federal MP Jackie Kelly and a young single mother, talk about how they feel pressured by their children to buy, buy, buy.
Four Corners – The Kilwa Incident television program – 2005
A massacre, cover-up and UN report that implicates an Australian mining company in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
900 Neighbours documentary – 2006
Big hART, a community group, allowed residents of Sydney’s Northcott public housing estate to give their own views on living there.
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.
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.
Bourke Boy short film – 2009
A father attempts to reaffirm his relationship with his adopted son as the son seeks to reconnect with his natural mother, culture and country.
The Waiting City feature film – 2009
The marriage of an Australian couple hits a crisis point as they wait to finalise the adoption of a child in Kolkata, India.
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.
Toomelah feature film – 2011
A hard-hitting film about the impact of poverty, drugs and alcohol on the life of a young boy living in an Aboriginal community.
