All documentaries
381 titles - sorted by title / by year
A wealth of ‘true stories’ captured by documentary filmmakers. Meet Australians from all over the continent, and all walks of life.
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Across Bass Strait (1974)
A record of the 1974 Bass Strait Yacht Race, featuring the action on board a yacht from start to finish, 30 hours later. The documentary covers the excitement ...
Across the Trans-continental Railway: From Kalgoorlie to Port Augusta (c1917)
This documentary details part of the building of the trans-continental railway from Port Augusta to Kalgoorlie.
Addison Road Drop-In (1977)
A ‘process video’ by Tom Zubrycki that looks at some of the marginalised young people who come to the Addison Road Drop-In Centre in Marrickville. Many of them ...
Advertising Missionaries (1996)
Wokabout Marketing is a troupe of performers who visit remote villages in Papua New Guinea and perform vignettes to promote the sale of Western products like soft drink ...
Age Before Beauty (1980)
Designed to provoke thought and discussion, Age Before Beauty examines the issues around ageing, as it relates to women. The film combines interviews with women (young and old), ...
An AIM Patrol (1927)
During the winter of 1927, Australian Inland Mission (AIM) patrolling officer Reverend Andrew Barber and AIM medical adviser Dr George Simpson travelled over 12,800 kilometres through the central ...
Al Daff (1975)
Filmed in 1975, Al Daff talks about his career and offers advice for Australian filmmakers. Al Daff was born in Melbourne before the First World War. He started ...
Alicia (1996)
Alicia Liley was a promising 18-year-old drama student when she sustained brain damage in a near fatal car accident. The documentary traces her recovery and her determination to ...
All About Olive (2004)
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 ...
Allies (1983)
The documentary looks at diplomatic relations between Australia and the USA since the Second World War. Using interviews and archival footage, the documentary leads the viewer to question ...
Always a Visitor (2000)
A personal journey by 30-year-old Turkish Australian Muslim Kuranda Seyit. He discusses his relationship with his father and his siblings, and talks about growing up in Emu Plains ...
Alyawarre Country (2001)
A documentary about how, in January 1889, cattle arrived in the Frew River area, and changed the lives of the local Indigenous peoples forever.
Angst (1993)
The film looks at the lives of three Jewish comedians who are the children of Holocaust survivors. Deb Filler is from New Zealand, Sandy Gutman (Austen Tayshus) from ...
Anthem: An Act of Sedition (2004)
A documentary by filmmakers Tahir Cambis and Helen Newman addressing the contemporary events that have changed the political and cultural landscape. It travels from Australia to Iraq, Afghanistan ...
Antonio Gaudi: to a Dancing God (1974)
The documentary celebrates the work of Catalonian architect Antonio Gaudí (1852–1926), showing his many architectural works around Barcelona and interviewing a range of experts. Gaudí‘s style is a ...
Around a Gum Tree (1949)
Using Australia’s many species of gum trees as an analogy, this black-and-white documentary looks at the wide range of industries, employment sectors and lifestyles which emerge ‘around a ...
Art (1974)
A personal point-of-view documentary about the meaning of art by cartoonist and animator, Bruce Petty. Petty uses his own drawings and other works of art to illustrate connections ...
Art From the Heart (1998)
The documentary looks at the way that Aboriginal art has been commercialised since the 1970s. Artists and galleries have prospered since Aboriginal art was marketed on a large ...
The Art of Healing (2005)
A documentary about an Arrernte woman Agnes Palmer, and her vision of painting the walls of the Santa Teresa church in Ltyentye Apurte (Santa Teresa), an Aboriginal community ...
Arthur Boyd: Figures in the Landscape (1985)
Arthur Boyd is interviewed in his studio in Shoalhaven NSW. The internationally acclaimed artist paints two large works depicting water skiers on the river nearby. He talks about ...
Arthur Boyd: Testament of a Painter (1994)
A portrait of Australian painter Arthur Boyd (1920 – 1999). Born into a family of painters, writers and potters in 1920, his paintings are displayed in galleries all ...
Astonish Me, Graeme Murphy Choreographer (1989)
An observational documentary that explores the world of choreographer Graeme Murphy. The camera finds him in rehearsal, in performance and with his wife Janet Vernon. He was born ...
Aunty Connie (2006)
Aunty Connie is described as a love story. It uses voice-over narration (Deborah Mailman), historical photographs and interviews with Aunty Connie McDonald, an Indigenous woman who was born ...
Austin Hospital at Heidelberg, Vic: The Only Hospital for Chronic Diseases in Australia (1928)
This silent documentary shows the Austin Hospital at Heidelberg in Victoria including its extensive grounds; its main buildings and wards; patients undergoing ‘sun-treatment’ in the gardens; and the ...
Australia Daze (1988)
An observational documentary shot on the bicentennial anniversary of Australia’s European settlement. Twenty-nine directors working all over Australia have contributed segments as Australians celebrated 26 January 1988. Dissent ...
Australia in World War 1 (c1980)
A compilation of film footage from the collection of the National Film and Sound Archive and the Australian War Memorial. Subjects include the home front factories, parades, propaganda ...
The Australian Way: A Salute to Aussie Sex Appeal (1982)
A two-hour commercial television special featuring the personalities and TV programs current on Network Ten in 1982. The program is hosted by presenter Gordon Elliott, actress Joanna Lockwood ...
The Back of Beyond (1954)
Battling heat, dust, flood and sand, Royal Mail driver and everyman Tom Kruse completes the fortnightly run in his battered Leyland Badger, delivering mail, stores and supplies to ...
Backs to the Blast, an Australian Nuclear Story (1981)
The documentary summarises nuclear testing in the 1950s in Australia and its consequences. This compilation documentary uses archival footage from both scientific recordings and newsreels of the time. ...
The Barefoot Bushman: Dancing With Dingoes (1997)
The barefoot bushman, Rob Bredl, presents his view of Australian nature with an emphasis on the dingo. Rob examines the arrival of the dingo from Thailand and traces ...
Barred Wives (1993)
Through the examples of four couples, the documentary examines why women marry prisoners, and the complexities and difficulties they experience.
Bastards from the Bush, A Journey with Bob Ellis and Les Murray (1998)
Author and screenwriter Bob Ellis and poet Les Murray go on a journey visiting significant places from their past. They attended Sydney University together and remain staunch friends ...
The Battle for Byron (1996)
The documentary looks at the history of Byron Bay, a seaside town in Northern NSW. Waves of development have influenced the culture of the town. The first settlers ...
The Battleships (2000)
A four-hour documentary miniseries examining the rise in importance of the battleship from the wooden sailing ships of the Elizabethan age to the dreadnoughts of modern history.
Behind the Big Top (1949)
A documentary about the travelling Wirth’s Circus and Zoo that toured to Melbourne in 1949. The circus train arrives in town and workers (and elephants) help set up ...
Behind the Sun (1988)
The documentary looks at a number of artists working in NSW in 1988. Many forms of artistic expression are included. The artists include Jonathan Throsby, painter; Susan Norrie, ...
Belsen For Example (1985)
A German film crew interviews survivors, now living in Australia, of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The recollections of the victims and members of the rescue teams are a ...
Benny and the Dreamers (1992)
A documentary about the Pintubi people’s first contact with white people, and the affects of dispossession and institutionalisation when the peoples were forced from their lands into missions.
Betelnut Bisnis (2004)
This documentary follows several indigenous people of New Guinea as they attempt to earn cash by selling the psychoactive drug betelnut. The money is needed to pay for ...
Betty Pounder (1988)
Australian dancer and choreographer Betty Pounder (1921–1990) is interviewed about her life. She recalls her years with the Sydney based theatre company JC Williamson and the joy of ...
Beyond Sorry (2003)
When she was eight years old, Zita Wallace was removed from her families by the authorities. This is a documentary about the Stolen Generations, and the journey of ...
Big Bag’s Japanese Adventure (1998)
The Big Bag Band is invited to perform at a disabled arts festival in Japan. Three of the band are intellectually disabled, four are not. The documentary follows ...
The Big Boomerang (1962)
Qantas commissioned this film in 1962 to promote their international air service. The film features the new Boeing 707 that halved travel time overseas, and includes brief segments ...
Big Hair Woman (1996)
Actress and comedienne Mary Coustas plays her most famous character, Effie, as she tours around Papua New Guinea. This docu-comedy is a sort of tongue-in-cheek travelogue. Effie gives ...
Big People, Small People (1991)
This two-part documentary was produced for SBS‘s Connections program and was screened over consecutive nights. The film contrasts the rich and poor in Australian society. Commentators include historian ...
Bigger than Texas (1992)
This documentary is a personal vision of the filmmaker, David Noakes, as he examines the cultural development of Western Australia. He interviews writers Tim Winton and Fay Zwicky, ...
Billal (1996)
Sixteen-year-old Lebanese-Australian Billal is struck by a car in the aftermath of fighting between Anglo–Australian and Lebanese youths on a state housing estate in south-west Sydney. Billal is ...
Bitter Herbs and Honey (1981)
The anti-Jewish sentiment in Europe in the 1930s triggered a big migration. This film explores the story of those Jews who settled in Carlton, an inner suburb of ...
Black and Dusty (2005)
A documentary about the Indigenous participants of the 2005 Tattersalls Finke Desert Race.
Black Harvest (1992)
By late 1989, filmmakers Robin Anderson and Bob Connolly were ready to go back to the PNG highlands to make the third film in the Highlands Trilogy, Black ...
The Black Road: on the front line of Aceh’s war (2005)
American journalist William Nessen visits Aceh, the Northern Province of Indonesia, to report on Aceh’s struggle for independence from the Indonesian Government. Nessen makes friends with the Indonesian ...
Black Soldier Blues (2004)
Black Soldier Blues looks back on the period during the Second World War when American servicemen were stationed in Queensland. African American veterans talk with candour about the ...
Black Sunday (1926)
The ‘Black Sunday’ bushfires of Valentine’s Day 1926 swept across the Gippsland and Dandenong regions of Victoria and claimed 31 lives. This silent black-and-white footage contains scenes of ...
The Black Swan: Meryl Tankard Choreographer (1995)
This documentary examines Meryl’s professional and personal life in 1995 when she was the artistic director of the internationally acclaimed Australian Dance Theatre. Meryl rehearses the dancers, talks ...
Blood Brothers – Broken English (1993)
A documentary that alternates between interview and dramatised re-creation. It is the story of Rupert Maxwell Stuart (Max Stuart), an Arrernte man accused of murder and condemned to ...
Blood Brothers – Freedom Ride (1993)
A documentary that intercuts interview material with historical footage, Freedom Ride, written and directed by Rachel Perkins, delves into the political motivations of her father, Dr ‘Kumantjayi’ (Charlie) ...
Blood Brothers – From Little Things Big Things Grow (1993)
A musical documentary that comments on the work of Kev Carmody, Indigenous songwriter and historian. An exploration into the life of Carmody, using music clips especially made for ...
Blood Brothers – Jardiwarnpa (1993)
Jardiwarnpa documents the ceremonial dances of the Walpiri over two weeks, with minimal intrusion by the film crew, who capture the unfolding ceremony. It is an observational style ...
Blowin’ in the Wind (2005)
This documentary warns of the danger of the side effects of weapons using depleted uranium. Filmmaker David Bradbury interviews victims of exposure to uranium, intercuts world-wide archival footage, ...
Body Work (1988)
The documentary consists of a series of interviews with professionals working in the bereavement industry: pathologists, coroners, nurses, funeral directors, police, gravediggers and cremation workers. They each describe ...
Boys and Balls (1994)
A light-hearted examination of the appeal of ballsports to men and boys. Players discuss cricket, football and basketball. Famous sportsmen contribute to the debate. The film features HG ...
The Bradman Era (1982)
Former test cricketer Bill O’Reilly recalls the test matches, mainly in the 1930s, with Don Bradman and other notable players. The documentary intercuts Bill O’Reilly’s interview with archival ...
Bran Nue Dae (1991)
This documentary by Tom Zubrycki traces the development and production of the successful stage musical Bran Nue Dae. The writer of the play, Jimmy Chi, talks about how ...
Bread and Dripping (1981)
Four women recall raising families during the Great Depression of the late 1920s and 1930s. The interviews are intercut with historical footage of the living conditions of both ...
The Breaker (c1973)
A documentary of Henry ‘Breaker’ Morant’s life. It covers his disputed parentage, his variety of names, and his adventures as a bushman in Queensland and New South Wales. ...
A Breath (1998)
Artists Huang Miaozi and Yu Feng migrated to Australia in 1989. The Chinese octogenarian couple reflect upon their life in the 20th Century. They were artists in China ...
Brothers and Sisters (1997)
A lecture by scientist Frank J Sulloway about sibling behaviour is intercut with interviews in which a range of brothers and sisters, young and old, including an only ...
Business Behind Bars (2000)
The documentary reports on the privatisation of prisons in the USA and Australia. The film looks at the economics of allowing private companies to run jails. It also ...
The Business of Making Saints (1994)
The documentary is an overview of the process of making saints in the Roman Catholic Church. The documentary includes a cameo of the Blessed Mary MacKillop, potentially Australia’s ...
Canberra Files, The (2006)
The Canberra Files takes a chronological look at the way moving images of Australia’s political leaders have influenced the nation over 105 years. It features a special on ...
‘Cannibal Tours’ (1987)
Using an observational style without commentary, the film follows tourists as they visit the Sepik River region in New Guinea. The film shows the tourists’ reactions in interviews ...
Captain Cook’s Cottage (1938)
Mr Russell Grimwade tells of his purchase of Captain Cook’s family cottage in Yorkshire, England and its transport to Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne. To ‘appease resentment’ back in Yorkshire, ...
Carcrash (1995)
Twenty-six people speak to camera about their emotional relationship with their car and their experience of a car accident. The interviews are intercut with stylised close ups of ...
Case 442 (2005)
Frank Byrne was stolen from his mother Maudie Yooringun at the age of five. Decades later, Frank searches for his mother’s burial site with the intention of taking ...
Cenotaph (1993)
The documentary looks at the effect of the First World War on the New South Wales country town of Hay. Seven women and 641 men went to the ...
Championship Chase (1970)
On the eve of champion driver Norm Beechey’s final race in the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC), this documentary by the Shell Film Unit looks back at how ...
The Changing Face of Australia (1970)
This documentary made by the Shell Company of Australia provides a geological view of Australia’s natural history and development.
Charles Ulm (c1928)
This historical footage documents an air show featuring Charles Ulm and two planes; the Southern Cloud and Canberra Pup.
Cheeky Dog (2006)
A documentary about a young Indigenous boy afflicted with muscular dystrophy and his fascination with dogs. Cheeky Dog is part of the Nganampa Anwernekenhe series produced by Central ...
Child Soldiers (2002)
There is a minimum of 300,000 child soldiers in the world. The documentary takes an intimate look at children fighting in Uganda, Sudan, Myanmar, Colombia and Sierra Leone. ...
Chile: Hasta Cuando? (1986)
The documentary examines aspects of life in Chile under the dictatorship of General Pinochet. The film records songs of protest by the Chileans and the director interviews dissidents ...
China, the Long March (1986)
China, the Long March follows stills photographer Leo Meier as he travels the route of the Long March for seven weeks to photograph the people and places of ...
The Circus Comes to Town (c1943)
This silent documentary follows Wirth’s Circus and Zoo as it travels to Brisbane, Queensland. It shows the arrival of the circus train at the station and the elephants ...
City in the Sun (1946)
This documentary directed by Alasdair Loch, possibly used to promote Australia as a destination for migration, intends to reflect the ‘mood of metropolitan life’ by showing the bustle ...
Clifton Pugh (1988)
In this short film Australian landscape painter Clifton Pugh is interviewed by Nina O’Leary. He describes painting the Australian bush, his influences and his plan to keep the ...
Clowns and their Make-Up (1985)
The documentary covers many aspects of clown make-up particularly for children. Subjects covered include make-up, design, eyelashes, wigs, clown eggs and pom-poms.
Collingwood Community School (1975)
This ‘process video’ made by Tom Zubrycki aspires to provide an insight into the day-to-day running of the Collingwood Community School and some of the issues involved for ...
Colour Bars (1997)
The documentary examines the attitudes of four ethnic youths – Lebanese, Chinese, Indian and Greek – to school and to other ethnic groups of teenagers.
Coming Up from Down Under (1983)
A documentary that reviews the re-emerging Australian film industry of the time. Even though the film refers to the Australian cinema prior to the mid ‘70s, it concentrates ...
Commuting by Cable (1988)
Using historical footage this documentary records the story of cable trams in Melbourne from 1885 to 1940. Enthusiasts have recorded the tram routes and operation of the cable ...
Concrete City (1994)
Residents of Pyrmont, a suburb next to the city of Sydney, try to secure meaningful consultation with the various government bodies involved in a proposed redevelopment in their ...
Conrad Martens (1978)
The documentary follows the life and work of watercolourist Conrad Martens. The painter was born in England and moved to New South Wales in 1835, remaining in Australia ...
Construction of Sydney Harbour Bridge (1931)
A comprehensive pictorial record that chronicles the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge between 1925 and 1931, filmed by the Paramount Film Service, Sydney.
Convictions (1994)
The documentary is a series of recollections by the Australian soldiers who served in the Korean War (1950–1953). Forty years after the war, the men talk frankly and ...
Cool Drink and Culture (2006)
A documentary that features young Indigenous women speaking about the effects of unhealthy food upon the children. Cool Drink and Culture is part of the Nganampa Anwernekenhe series ...
Couldn’t Be Fairer (1984)
A documentary that intercuts historical footage with live interview material, Couldn’t Be Fairer borrows its title from a statement made by Joh Bjelke Peterson, and explores the injustice ...
Cradle of Creation (1940)
A compendium of the Middle East filmed by Frank Hurley during his years working as an official war photographer in the Second World War. It covers Iran, Iraq, ...
Cricket in Australia (1987)
Jack Egan interviews cricket personalities and narrates this made for commercial television documentary about the history of cricket in Australia. Interviews with key personalities are intercut with extensive ...
Crook Hat and Camphoo (2005)
A documentary that shows two Alyawarr elders, Donald ‘Crook Hat’ Thompson Kemarre and Reggie ‘Camphoo’ Pwerl making spears and woomeras in the tradition of the old people, using ...
Crystal Voyager (1973)
A surfing biography about legendary design innovator and photographer George Greenough, shot largely in California. Greenough’s search for uncrowded waves drives his construction of a 37-foot ocean-going yacht ...
Daddy Cool (1973)
Daddy Cool, a successful Australian rock band of the 1970s, perform their music including the famous Eagle Rock. Interviews with band members are interspersed with the songs.
Dance of Nature: The Music of Ross Edwards (1995)
A documentary about the life and work of Australian composer Ross Edwards. Born in 1943, he went to England to study composition and returned to Australia to work, ...
The Dance of the Eyes (c1940)
The Dance of the Eyes is one of a series of travelogues made for screening in the first half of a cinema program in the 1940s and 50s. ...
Deadly Hurt (1994)
In 1992, the National Committee on Violence Against Women released its National Strategy on Violence Against Women. Deadly Hurt is a personal response to the strategy by filmmaker ...
Demons at Drivetime (1995)
A documentary overview of the high-rating radio announcers across Australia in 1995. The style is ‘a day-in-the-life of’, with poignant reminders that ratings are paramount and that the ...
Desert Walker: Gulf to Gulf (1985)
Fifty-two year-old adventurer Denis Bartell was the first person to walk across Australia from north to south – from the Gulf of Carpentaria to the Gulf of St ...
Diaries of Vaslav Nijinsky (2001)
Director Paul Cox tells the story of Russian dancer and choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky (1890–1950). English actor Derek Jacobi reads selections from Nijinsky’s diaries. The readings are illustrated with ...
Dick Smith Explorer (1983)
Australian electronics businessman Dick Smith was the first person to fly solo around the world in a helicopter in 1982. The voyage is around the world, travelling east, ...
Difficult Pleasure: A Portrait of Brett Whiteley (1989)
A biographical documentary that follows Australian artist Brett Whiteley as he travels from his studio in Sydney to London. Whiteley started painting in the 1960s in London and ...
The Digger Carries On: Repatriation Illustrated (1919)
This public information film from 1919 shows the facilities for injured and psychologically affected returned servicemen from the First World War and the various vocational training schemes available.
Dirty War (2005)
The US has been invited by the Australian Government to use Shoalwater Bay near Rockhampton, Queensland as a training base. The film describes the pollution left by the ...
Doesn’t Everybody Want a Golden Guitar (1995)
Filmed during the 1995 Tamworth Country Music Festival, the documentary is a tribute to Australian country music and the performers and fans that follow country music. The film ...
Dog Dreaming (2001)
A documentary that uses observational footage and paintings to tell the Dreaming story of two ancestral dogs.
The Dream and the Dreaming (2003)
A documentary about the arrival of the Lutheran missionaries in 1877 in central Australia.
Dreamtime, Machinetime (1987)
An episodic documentary featuring distinguished Indigenous artists specialising in literary and visual art forms.
Echidna the Survivor (1995)
The documentary looks at a year in the life of several echidnas on Kangaroo Island off the coast of South Australia. The film captures the life cycle from ...
Eelemarni, The Story of Leo and Leva (1988)
A short film about a Dreaming story from the Bundjalung people.
Emily’s Eyes (1998)
Emily Wu, born with hydrocephalus, is hearing impaired and has sight in just one eye. The documentary traces the first five years of Emily’s life. Her parents and ...
Empty Arms, Broken Hearts (1994)
Each year thousands of children are abducted by a parent and taken out of the country. In eighty percent of cases it is by the father. Women from ...
Endurance (1933)
The documentary footage taken by Frank Hurley during the Antarctic expedition led by Ernest Shackleton on a ship called Endurance in 1914–16 is bookended with a simple plot ...
Errands of Mercy (1998)
The Melbourne Metropolitan Ambulance Service is subject to efficiency audits. In an effort to become more efficient, the service has adapted a new call system and rostering schedule. ...
Eternity (1994)
Recreating Sydney in the 1930s, the documentary is the story of Sydneysider, Arthur Stace. Arthur had a hard life that deteriorated into alcoholism and despair. In 1930 he ...
An Evergreen Island (2000)
In 1989 the people of Bougainville Island objected to the copper mining that had caused vast environmental damage to the island. They formed the Bougainville Revolutionary Army. The ...
Exile in Sarajevo (1997)
An observational documentary as Australian filmmaker Tahir Cambis and Sarajevo local Alma Sahbaz record the last six months of the Bosnian War.
Facing the Demons (1999)
Young Michael Marslew was shot dead in an armed robbery of a Pizza Hut in Jannali NSW. The four offenders were jailed for up to 18 years. In ...
Family Antics (1945)
A curious documentary featuring the talents of an acrobatic father and son, and their three terriers.
Fear or Favour (1993)
Journalist Iain Gillespie investigates his own profession, interviewing other journalists, print and television executives and the victims of tabloid journalism. He asks what are the rights and obligations ...
Fences (1994)
Fences is a pastiche of short glimpses of vision and sound created to explore the emotional spaces around humans. The film is a mesmerising mosaic of recognisable images ...
Fig Street Fiasco (1974)
A ‘process video’ that filmmaker Tom Zubrycki made in collaboration with inner-city Sydney residents, this documentary voices the concerns of residents whose houses are tagged for demolition to ...
Final Insult (1997)
The documentary examines multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS). Sufferers are interviewed about their symptoms and medical practitioners offer solutions. The film asks, what do you do when you are ...
First Contact (1983)
First Contact is an astonishing documentary about the three Australian Leahy brothers (Michael, Dan and James) who went gold prospecting in what they thought was a completely uninhabited ...
Flamingo Park (1980)
The documentary looks at the work of fashion designer Jenny Kee who is shown at work at her retail outlet Flamingo Park and at home in the Blue ...
The Flying Vet (1984)
David Bradley’s veterinary practice covers from Port Hedland, Western Australia to Mt Isa Queensland and from Darwin to Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. It is the biggest ...
Follow the Sun (1938)
The beauty of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is promoted in this travelogue filmed and directed by adventurous cameraman Frank Hurley. It begins inside a home at wintertime where ...
Fond Memories of Cuba (2002)
Documentary maker David Bradbury visits Cuba to report on what the socialist revolution of 1959 has delivered for Cubans in 2002. The film has two distinct parts. The ...
Footy The La Perouse Way (2006)
A documentary that uses historical photographs to talk about the history of rugby league in the Sydney suburb of La Perouse, and how football has helped build a ...
For a Price (1985)
The documentary illustrates and discusses the various forms of prostitution available in Sydney and Melbourne in 1985.
For All the World to See (1992)
A biography of Fred Hollows, an eye surgeon who was committed to reforming medical services in indigenous Australian communities and third world countries. The film follows Fred to ...
For Love or Money (1983)
Using a vast array of historical footage, the film proposes a history of women and work in Australia, from 1788 to 1983.
For the Defence (1998)
A ‘day in the life’ of a law firm. Solicitors and barristers consult with clients and reveal their method of operation. Cases discussed include a sexual assault action, ...
The Forerunner (1957)
Made by the Shell Film Unit within the first decade of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme’s construction, this documentary positions the ambitious scheme as the country’s ‘first major ...
The Foundation 1963–1977 (2002)
A documentary that intercuts interviews with historical footage to tell the history of The Foundation of Aboriginal Affairs, an organisation significant in the push for the 1967 referendum ...
Frame Up. Who Bombed the Hilton, Who Didn’t? (1983)
Filmmaker Irina Dunn presents a case for the innocence of the three Ananda Marga members convicted of conspiracy to murder the leader of the National Front in 1978. ...
Frank Hurley: The Man Who Made History (2004)
This documentary is a biography of photographer Frank Hurley. Hurley went to Antarctica several times to record expeditions with his still and movie cameras. He photographed the First ...
Franklin River Journey (1980)
The documentary traces the journey down river on a raft by amateur botanist Antonius Moscal. The Franklin River is part of the south-west wilderness of Tasmania.
The Franklin Wild River (1980)
A documentary film about the Franklin River in South West Tasmania. Conservationist Dr Bob Brown travels the length of the river through largely untouched wilderness by inflatable raft, ...
Friends and Enemies (1987)
Friends and Enemies follows the bitter fight between the Queensland Coalition Government and members of the Electrical Trades Union from the start of the Union’s strike to the ...
From the Bush to the Bungalow (1920)
This industrial documentary presents the timber production process in the 1920s and briefly describes the living conditions of its workers.
Frontline (1979)
A biographical documentary about the working life of combat cameraman and correspondent, Neil Davis (1934–1985). The former Tasmanian went to Vietnam in 1974, working for the London based ...
Funny by George: The George Wallace Story (1999)
A biography of comedian and actor George Wallace (1895–1960). The documentary traces Wallace’s life from childhood to death. The film shows Wallace starring in many of his films, ...
George Dreyfus: A Portrait (1984)
Australian composer George Dreyfus marks this biography with his own whimsical style. He talks about how he composed ‘Peace’, ‘Mary Gilmore goes to Paraguay’, ‘Rush’, ‘Deep Throat’, the ...
Gillies (1987)
The documentary is a biography of comedian Max Gillies. The film cuts between performance pieces caricaturing public figures like Bob Hawke and Ronald Reagan, and Gillies’ private life ...
Girl in a Mirror: A Portrait of Carol Jerrems (2005)
The documentary is a tribute to photographer Carol Jerrems (1949–1980). Jerrems photographed Melbourne’s sub-culture in the 1970s. The biography is told through the short films she made, her ...
Give Trees a Chance: The Story of Terania Creek (1980)
The documentary records the protest by local residents to stop logging in the rainforest of Terania Creek north of Lismore and west of Cape Byron NSW in the ...
Glued to the Telly (1995)
Tracing 40 years of television broadcasting in Australia, this documentary uses dramatised segments, historical footage and interviews to give the viewer a cross-section of opinions about the advantages ...
God’s Girls: Stories from an Australian Convent (1992)
The documentary follows the extraordinary changes in the Sisters of Mercy order in Australia from the 1950s to the 1990s. This Roman Catholic religious order had many postulants ...
Going Tribal (1995)
The documentary observes the lifestyle and values of a group of ferals living in the Byron Bay area in northern New South Wales. The film includes interviews with ...
Good Girls Do Swallow (2000)
Produced for the Lifestyle Channel, this documentary examines dieting women. Presented by Rachael Oakes-Ash, it takes a witty look at widespread dieting and its consequences. Personalities, people in ...
The Good Looker (1995)
This biographical documentary about artist Joy Hester (1920–1960) is collated from interviews with contemporaries, dramatically recreated sequences, still photographs and drawings by the artist herself.
The Good Woman of Bangkok (1991)
In Bangkok, Thailand, Australian filmmaker Dennis O’Rourke hires a prostitute, Aoi, and makes her the subject of the film. Glimpses of the red light area of Bangkok are ...
Grave of the President (1984)
The film follows a series of dives to one of the world’s biggest and most accessible shipwrecks, in Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu. It is a popular dive for scuba ...
Gulpilil: One Red Blood (2002)
A documentary about the career of Indigenous actor, dancer, and cultural delegate, David Gulpilil, using interview as well as archival footage.
Half Life: A Parable for the Nuclear Age (1985)
From 1946 to 1958 the US used the Marshall Islands south of Hawaii to test nuclear weapons above ground. Early atom bomb tests were conducted with some caution, ...
Harold (1994)
Harold Blair was the first Aborigine to sing on national radio. He studied singing in the USA and his tenor voice was heard throughout the world. This biographical ...
The Healing of Bali (2003)
Produced one year after the terrorist bombing of a nightclub in Bali, the film examines the impact on the Balinese and their recollection of the event. The film ...
Helen’s War: Portrait of a Dissident (2003)
Director and writer Anna Brionowski follows her aunt, Dr Helen Caldicott, for a year. Dr Caldicott is seen in the USA promoting her book and giving public addresses ...
Hephzibah (1998)
A biography of Hephzibah Menuhin (1920–1981), using home movies, still photographs, extracts from Hephzibah’s letters, film of concert performances and interviews with family and friends. Hephzibah and her ...
The Highest Court (1998)
The Highest Court is a lucid explanation of the High Court of Australia. Parts of court cases are seen and the history of the court is explained.
The Hillmen: A Soccer Fable (1995)
The Clifton Hill Soccer Club has seen better days. The local Greek and Turkish communities they have traditionally recruited from are moving out to the suburbs and they ...
Home of the Blizzard (1998)
The AAP Mawson’s Hut Expedition sailed to the Antarctic in the summer of 1998 to restore and conserve the original scientific huts constructed by explorer Douglas Mawson in ...
Home of the Blizzard (Silent) (1913)
Home of the Blizzard documents part of the treacherous 600 mile 1911–1914 expedition to the Magnetic South Pole lead by Sir Douglas Mawson. Filmed between December 1911 and ...
Homelands: View from the Edge (1993)
This documentary by filmmaker Tom Zubrycki follows the Robles family – Carlos, Maria and their four daughters – who came to Melbourne as refugees from El Salvador in ...
How the West was Lost (1987)
On May 1 1946 hundreds of Aboriginal pastoral station workers walked off sheep stations in the Pilbara region of north-west Western Australia. This was the beginning of an ...
Hula Girls, Imagining Paradise (2005)
The 18th century discovery of Polynesia by both the British and French started a fantasy about island paradises and beautiful unrestrained women. This film traces the creation of ...
Hypsi: the Forest Gardener (1998)
The documentary follows zoologist Dr Andrew Dennis as he studies the life cycle of the smallest kangaroo, the hypsi (musky rat-kangaroo), in Far North Queensland’s rainforest, and discovers ...
I’ll Be Home For Christmas (1984)
The film follows the lives of a group of men who have bonded through their addiction to alcohol. The documentary employs an observational style with minimal cutting to ...
The Ice Capped Jungle (1993)
The documentary covers a hiking trip to the mountains in a remote area of Irian Jaya. The party consists of an expedition leader, a mountain climber, a biologist, ...
In Limbo (2002)
The documentary follows Australian-Vietnamese lawyer Hoi Trinh, as he attempts to secure Australian citizenship for 2,000 Vietnamese boat people who fled to the Philippines when the Vietnam War ...
Inauguration of the Commonwealth (1901)
This documentary shows the official parade and the swearing in of Australia’s first Governor General and Federal Cabinet for the Inauguration of the Commonwealth on the January 1, ...
The Inlanders (1949)
A documentary by John Kingsford Smith made for the Australian Inland Mission. The Inlanders follows patrolling minister Reverend KF ‘Skipper’ Partridge on his 8,690 kilometre journey into Australia’s ...
The Inner City Tape (1974)
A collaborative community video made by Tom Zubrycki in conjunction with the Inner Sydney Resident Action Group. Through the eyes of its residents it tells the story of ...
The Isabellas: The Long March (1995)
Chen Xing Liang attained refugee status after six months in detention. He arrived in northern Australia by boat along with 56 other Chinese. He retells the story of ...
Island Fettlers (2006)
A documentary that uses historical footage, with current interview and observational footage, about the journey of Torres Strait Islander men who moved to the Pilbara to work on ...
It’s Ruth (1994)
A biography of Australian actress Ruth Cracknell (1926–2002). Cracknell started in radio then moved to live theatre before becoming a household name in film and television. She is ...
Jabiluka (1997)
The documentary investigates the attitudes of Aborigines, mine management and conservationists to the proposed Jabiluka uranium mine, and the impact of the established Ranger mine. It outlines the ...
Jimmy Little’s Gentle Journey (2006)
A documentary about singer–songwriter Jimmy Little, an Indigenous musician whose voice reaches out to all people across the generations.
Joe Leahy’s Neighbours (1988)
Joe Leahy’s Neighbours is the sequel to First Contact (1983) and is the second documentary in The Highlands Trilogy. This well-constructed film traces the fortunes of Joe Leahy, ...
The Joys of the Women (1993)
A group of Italian women from Fremantle, Western Australia, formed a choir called ‘The Joys of the Women’ (Le Gioie Delle Donne), to sing traditional and contemporary songs. ...
Jubilee and Beyond (1977)
This documentary is a record of the visit by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh to Victoria in 1977. In particular ...
Karli Jalangu – Boomerang Today (2004)
An observational-style documentary about the making of a number seven boomerang by four senior traditional men from Central Australia. Karli Jalangu – Boomerang Today is part of the ...
Kemira: Diary of a Strike (1984)
The documentary follows what happened when Kemira Colliery, in Wollongong, NSW, retrenched two hundred miners in 1983. Thirty of the men stayed down the mine for two weeks ...
A Kid Called Troy (1993)
Eight-year-old Troy has contracted AIDS from his mother. His father, Vince, cares for him now that his mother has died. Troy requires hospital treatment and drugs to delay ...
Kylie Tennant (1986)
An interview with the writer Kylie Tennant (1912–1988), filmed at her home in Blackheath NSW, between February and May 1985.
Land Mines – A Love Story (2004)
Shah, a former Mujahideen soldier in Afghanistan, courts a Tajik girl, Habiba, and marries her. The couple have both been the victims of landmines. The wars of the ...
Land Short of People (1947)
This film is from a monthly documentary series, This Modern Age, and surveys Australian industrial, social and geographical conditions in the 1940s. It emphasises the need for an ...
The Last Circus? (1993)
A plea for the survival of the circus as a form of entertainment. The film shows children and adults as they enjoy the circus. Audience members are interviewed. ...
The Last Husky (1993)
Husky dog teams have served on the Mawson Base in the Antarctic for fifty years. The documentary records the last dogs to be used there and their journey ...
Last Mail from Birdsville: The Story of Tom Kruse (2000)
The documentary follows the last mail run of octogenarian Tom Kruse, as he drives his restored truck from Birdsville in Centralia to Adelaide in 1998. From 1936 Tom ...
The Last Man Hanged (1993)
The dramatised documentary traces the events leading up to the hanging of Ronald Ryan in 1967. Ryan escaped from Pentridge prison and a warder was shot dead in ...
The Last True Action Hero (1995)
The fire and rescue service has always attracted recruits. The film follows young trainee fire fighters as they experience the dangers and challenges of their chosen profession. We ...
The Last Whale (1994)
The documentary was produced to promote a ban on whaling worldwide. Greenpeace and other organisations want the killing of all whales to stop. Japan and Norway argue that ...
Least Said, Soonest Mended (1999)
At age fifteen, in 1964, Val gave birth to an illegitimate baby girl. Her parents sent her to a school in another town until she had delivered the ...
Letters to Ali (2004)
A documentary feature by Clara Law that follows an Australian family on their journey of friendship with fifteen-year-old ‘Ali’, an Afghani asylum seeker detained at the Port Hedland ...
The Life and Times of Margaret Whitlam (1993)
Maxine McKew interviews Margaret Whitlam in 1993. Margaret Whitlam talks about her childhood, career choices and her life married to Gough Whitlam (Prime Minister of Australia 1972–1975). She ...
Life Guards at Bondi Beach (c1929)
A fragment of actuality footage that shows lifesavers marching on Bondi Beach, a demonstration rescue of a person from the surf and lifesaving boats being rowed out into ...
Life on a Sheep Farm (1965)
The documentary explores life on a sheep farm over one year in 1965. The property is in Ruffy, Victoria. The documentary explains sheep shearing, sheep drenching, hay bailing, ...
Living Country (2005)
A documentary about the Indigenous peoples of the Northern Territory’s fight to prevent the federal government from dumping nuclear waste in their country. Living Country is part of ...
Living Hawthorn (1906)
Historical footage filmed by Melbourne-based chemists Millard Johnson and William Gibson in Hawthorn, Victoria.
Lizzy Gardiner’s Story of the Fame Game (1997)
Academy Award winning costume designer, Lizzy Gardiner, interviews television stars about their time in the spotlight and what follows. Gardiner interviews stars like Bruce Samazan, Ashley Paske and ...
Lobster Tales (1998)
A whimsical look at the life of a crayfish, also known as a rock lobster, from egg to table. The film also interviews the fishers about growing wealthy ...
Loggerheads (c1990)
In 1992 the NSW State Government gave permission for logging to commence in Northern NSW, prior to an environmental impact study being completed. Environmentalists protested to stop the ...
Lord of the Bush (1990)
The documentary is about Lord Alistair McAlpine, bon vivant, patron of the arts and author. After falling in love with the Broome region in Western Australia in the ...
Losing Layla (2001)
Michael and Vanessa decide to have a child. Vanessa is approaching middle age and she feels that this will be her last chance. Michael is ambivalent but agrees. ...
Lousy Little Sixpence (1982)
A documentary using historical footage and interviews with Indigenous people who belonged to the generation that were forced into unpaid servitude by the Australian government. The title refers ...
Love’s Tragedies (1998)
The film follows Charles, a private investigator, on the job. He describes how he collects evidence of people in the act of being unfaithful and shares his feelings ...
Loved Up – Endangered (2005)
A documentary with interviews and animated sequences that explores the issue of being single and Indigenous in contemporary society.
Loved Up – Lore of Love (2005)
A short documentary about a young woman named Jessie Bartlett, an 18-year-old being taught the lores of love by her Pintupi grandmothers Mijili, Nancy and Kumanjayi.
Loved Up – Our Bush Wedding (2005)
An observational documentary about the wedding between artist Gordon Syron and photographer Elaine Pelot-Kitchener. Syron went to jail in 1972 for killing a man who, in his view, ...
Loved Up – The Dream of Love (2005)
An intimate portrait of the family of filmmaker Lawrence Johnston, who discuss what love means to them individually and as a family.
Lowering the Tone: 45 Years of Robyn Archer (1993)
Australian singer Robyn Archer has been acclaimed worldwide for her cabaret singing. This biographical documentary looks into Archer’s life in 1993. Archer speaks frankly about her personal life ...
Mademoiselle and the Doctor (2004)
The documentary explores euthanasia through the suicide of a healthy 79-year-old woman. The film also interviews Dr Philip Nitschke and follows several people who consult him.
Making Venus (2002)
Making Venus is a ‘making of’ documentary about the production of a low budget feature film. Initially, the documentary sets out to record the development, funding, production and ...
The Man Who Stole My Mother’s Face (2003)
Laura Henkel was raped in Johannesburg in 1989. Even though Mrs Henkel identified her attacker, the South African police failed to prosecute. Thirteen years later her daughter, Cathy ...
The Manufacture of Khaki (c1916)
This brief fragment with intertitles shows part of the process of manufacturing khaki cloth including sewing, cutting, folding and the finished rolls of khaki.
Mao’s New Suit (1997)
Two young Chinese fashion designers combine forces to stage a fashion show in Shanghai. The enterprise is plagued with problems but the designers are optimistic about their future.
Marvellous Melbourne: Queen City of the South (c1910)
This silent documentary with intertitles was compiled by producer Charles Cozens Spencer and cinematographer Ernest Higgins. It documents architecture, transport, and recreation in Melbourne in the early part ...
Merrepen (2005)
A documentary about the gathering of the leaves and berries from the Merrepen plant by Indigenous women from the Nauiya community on the Daly River to make dilly ...
Mid-East (1945)
Frank Hurley takes us on a journey to the Middle East and North Africa at the close of the Second World War. He describes aspects of traditional life, ...
Midwives … Lullabies … and Mother Earth (1993)
French doctor Michel Odent is a pioneer in the natural birth movement. The documentary follows him to Holland, Russia, the UK and the Middle East to witness childbirth ...
Mimi: An Evening with the Aboriginal Dance Theatre (1988)
A documentary filmed during the National Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre’s end of year production.
Molly and Mobarak (2003)
Molly and Mobarak follows the emotional journey of Mobarak Tahiri, a young Hazara refugee from Afghanistan living on a Temporary Protection Visa, as he struggles to adjust to ...
Monster or Miracle? Sydney Opera House (1973)
A celebratory film about the construction and opening of the Sydney Opera House. Made just prior to the official opening in 1973, it traces the history of Bennelong ...
Moodeitj Yorgas (1988)
Made during the 1980s, Moodeitj Yorgas is an experimental documentary by Tracey Moffatt on prominent Indigenous women. Moffatt uses her experience as a visual artist to make a ...
Mparntwe Sacred Sites (2004)
A documentary about the sacred sites of Mparntwe (Alice Springs) and how the development of Alice Springs affected the cultural traditions of the Arrernte people.
My Brother Vinnie (2006)
A documentary that explores the relationship between Arrernte actor Aaron Pedersen and his brother Vinnie, whose mild retardation made him dependent on his older brother. This is the ...
My Country (1994)
The documentary examines the working relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous occupants of a cattle station in the Northern Territory. Most of the filming takes place during a cattle ...
My Mother India (2001)
Director Safina Uberoi traces her parents’ history. Her Australian mother married a Sikh and moved to India. There they bought up their three children and survived the anti-Sikh ...
My Mother’s Country Part 1 (2001)
My Mother’s Country is a documentary that gives a personal account of the Coniston Massacre of 1928.
My Mother’s Country Part 2 (2001)
My Mother’s Country is a personal account of the Coniston Massacre of 1928, in two parts.
My Survival as an Aboriginal (1978)
A documentary about Indigenous woman Essie Coffey (1940–1998) and her life in the township of Brewarrina, or Dodge City, as it is also known.
Narbalek (2001)
An observational documentary about the Bordoh clan of Manmoyi, 200 km from Oenpelli, in Arnhem Land. Narbalek is part of the Nganampa Anwernekenhe series produced by Central Australian ...
A Nation is Built (1938)
This sprawling and patriotic documentary uses actuality footage, historical re-enactments, fictionalised scenes and propaganda to chronicle Australia’s development and progress as a nation. It was sponsored by the ...
Nazi Supergrass (1993)
The Australian Nationalist Movement conducted a campaign of racial hatred on Perth for three years from 1986. They were opposed to Asians, Jews and Blacks. They bombed Asian ...
Neptune’s Nippers (1984)
The Wildlife Research Institute advertised for young people interested in participating in a marine science training program. The film traces the training of 12-year-old Jason Duplator who won ...
Nicaragua: No Pasaran (1984)
This 1984 documentary examines the political story of Nicaragua. The Sandinistas overthrew the US backed dictatorship of Somoza. The Sandinistas then had to defend their country from the ...
No Fences, No Boundaries – Walter Burley Griffin (c1976)
A biography that examines the life and work of architect Walter Burley Griffin (1876 – 1937), based on the unpublished biography by his wife, Marion Mahony (1871 – ...
No More Needles Please (1997)
Twelve-year-old James Jarvis and his mother Catherine travel around the world to find a cure for James’ diabetes. This observational documentary, partly photographed by James, explores the options ...
No Survivors: The Mysterious Loss of the HMAS Sydney (1993)
On 19 November 1941, the HMAS Sydney, just returned from Europe, was sailing off the coast of Western Australia when she was sunk by the German raider HSK ...
Northern Safari (1956)
The film records a six-month journey by car, in 1955, from Perth to the Northern Territory and back, via Western Australia. Keith F Adams, his wife Audrey and ...
Not In Front of the Kids (2003)
A short documentary made by bRitt Arthur which explores sexuality, relationships, ageing and the social and physical needs of people in their later years of life. It contains ...
The Old Man and the Inland Sea (2005)
A documentary about Mr Norman Hayes Jagamarra who was a ‘noodler’ on the mining fields of Cobber Pedy.
Opal Fever (2004)
Opal Fever is a four-part documentary series that explores the obsession with mining the precious stone opal. The series looks at the miners, retailers and consumers of opals. ...
Opal Mining Lightning Ridge (c1925)
This silent footage with intertitles from around 1925 shows scenes of the opal mining community of Lightning Ridge in New South Wales. It includes miners’ shanty houses, the ...
Opening of the Prahran-Malvern Tramway (1910)
This silent historical footage filmed by Millard Johnson and William Gibson captures the opening of the Prahran-Malvern Tramway, Victoria, on 30 May 1910.
Or Forever Hold Your Peace (1970)
A compilation of events concerning the moratorium to stop the Vietnam War in 1970. The film is an observational documentary without commentary that cuts between meetings, street protests, ...
Our Park (1998)
Filmmaker Gillian Leahy filmed the activities over one year of the residents and other users of a park in front of her house. The documentary is chaptered in ...
Out of Darkness (1984)
Produced in 1984, this documentary outlines the archaeological findings on Australian Aboriginal history and culture. Various experts postulate on human development at a range of archaeological sites.