Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

Titles tagged with ‘suburbia’

30 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year

1940s

Dyer, Frederick Simpson: Milkshakes and Bomb Shelter home movie – c1940

This footage offers a beautiful glimpse of suburban Australia during the Second World War through the everyday recreational activities of the Dyer family.

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

Carnival of Flowers, Toowoomba sponsored film – 1953

This short sponsored film about the 1953 Carnival of Flowers in Toowoomba captures the floral street parade and the colours of spring.

1960s

Dangerous Immigrant documentary – 1960

This CSIRO documentary alerts the general public to the dangers of the European house borer.

General Motors Holden – Saturday Kind of Car advertisement – 1967

The 1960s Holden ads used catchy jingles and upbeat music, promoting the car as an object of desire.

My Name’s McGooley, What’s Yours? – End of the Line television program – 1967

McGooley, starring Gordon Chater and set in Balmain in the ’60s, was Australia’s first homegrown sitcom success.

1970s

The FJ Holden feature film – 1977

When The FJ Holden premiered at the Chullora Drive-in in 1977, anyone driving an FJ or FX Holden got in free.

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.

1980s

This Woman is Not a Car short film – 1982

An imaginative examination of sexual violence, This Woman is Not a Car turns the suburban dream of marriage and conformity into a nightmare.

Passionless Moments short film – 1983

Jane Campion’s student short film delivers funny, fragmentary tales with an unsentimental whimsy.

Fran feature film – 1985

A vivacious young mother is married to a violent man. Her desperate need for love leads her to some tragically inappropriate choices.

A Street to Die feature film – 1985

A Vietnam veteran and his wife fight for legal recognition of the damage done to him by the defoliant Agent Orange.

The Comedy Company – Series 1 Episode 11 television program – 1988

The Comedy Company, with its array of familiar, daggy suburban characters, was a popular sensation.

Living Room documentary – 1988

This beautiful, unsettling experimental documentary is a meditation on Australian suburbia and notions of home.

1990s

Return Home feature film – 1990

Suburbs in Australian cinema are usually the place that characters flee from; this film suggests you can also go back.

Sylvania Waters – Episode 5 documentary – 1992

One of the first ‘fly on the wall’ reality TV shows, this co-production between the ABC and BBC was a hit here and in the UK.

Brother short film – 1999

The biography of a brother, his cigarette butts, asthma and head lice.

2000s

Kath and Kim – Money television program – 2002

Kath’s 'look at moi’ is the show’s most famous catchphrase and the vernacular of the 'foxy ladies’ has become a recognisable fixture in popular culture.

Alexandra’s Project feature film – 2003

If Steve is an average Australian male, his insensitive treatment of his wife is by implication a serious indictment of not only him, but Australian men in general.

Clara short film – 2004

A stop-motion animation that explores the grief experienced by a young girl.

Little Fish feature film – 2005

In the climax of Little Fish Cate Blanchett convinces a man with a gun that he has a choice about what to do. There’s never really been a scene like it in another Australian film, because guns, once drawn, tend to get used. It’s a powerful message for young viewers used to violent resolutions to complex problems.

The Safe House short film – 2006

A young Lee Whitmore attempts to unravel the mystery of the spies living next door.

Suburban Mayhem feature film – 2006

Katrina, played astonishingly well by Emily Barclay, controls every man in her small kingdom with an overpowering sexuality.

The Black Balloon feature film – 2007

The Black Balloon is partly a coming-of-age movie, but the presence in the family of an autistic brother like Charlie prevents it from becoming conventional or predictable.

Eco House Challenge – Episode 1, Stop Your Gassing television program – 2007

Two Australian families have accepted an ‘eco challenge’: the Edwards family, led by ex-army commando Spike, and consumer addicts, the Shepherds.

Eco House Challenge – Episode 3, Emission Impossible television program – 2007

Eco House is a funny but informative show about how to lessen our eco footprint. The families who had to survive for 24 hours with no water, electricity, cars or waste disposal, now have to cut their household energy emissions by 60%.

Noise feature film – 2007

This smart script explores the effect that chronic isolation can have on a nation.

Cedar Boys feature film – 2008

Three young Lebanese Australians get into deep water by stealing drugs from a dealer.

The Square feature film – 2008

A married man gets into deep water when he joins his girlfriend in pinching a bag of stolen cash.

2010s

Snowtown feature film – 2010

A vulnerable South Australian teenage boy is drawn into a horrific world of murder and torture.