Australia’s audiovisual heritage online

australianscreen is a look at the Australian film and television industry, from its earliest days to the present.

You can view clips from Australian feature films, documentaries, TV programs, shorts, home movies, newsreels, advertisements, other historical footage, and sponsored films produced over the last 100 years, with curators’ notes and other information about each title. The site currently contains 2,204 clips from over 1,000 titles and is constantly being added to.

You can also visit our education page for educational content provided by The Le@rning Federation. All clips with teachers’ notes are marked by the e symbol.

Featured title – All About Olive

Filmmaker Mike Rubbo takes 105 year-old Olive Riley back to her childhood home in Broken Hill, western NSW, to talk about her life. Rubbo enlists Olive’s help to faithfully recreate scenes from Olive’s early life.

> Go to All About Olive

Featured title – Bread and Dripping

This poignant story of survival reminds us of the true battlers, and throws into perspective the current use of the term to describe families living on low incomes.

> Go to Bread and Dripping

Featured title – Aunty Connie

Narration by Deborah Mailman reading from Connie’s life story told in her book When You Grow Up is skillfully blended with Connie speaking to camera. We get to reminisce with Connie, as director Ivan Sen establishes a very intimate space between subject and audience.

> Go to Aunty Connie

Featured title – Mother and Son – The Money

The problems of ageing would seem like an unlikely subject for television comedy but Mother and Son became an instant success when it was first shown in 1984, continuing for nine years to become one of Australia’s best-loved television shows.

> Go to Mother and Son – The Money

Featured title – A Woman’s Tale

Rarely has a film shown so eloquently that beauty is not a function of age, but of spirit. Sheila Florance seems to be playing very close to her real personality, but that is part of what makes the film so moving.

> Go to A Woman’s Tale

australian screen