75 Preserved Australian Films
The National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA) together with Deluxe Sydney and Kodak (Australasia) have chosen 75 classic Australian films to be preserved for all time. Australia has a responsibility to preserve the films it produces. Our history needs to be chronicled for us to take pride in our achievements and to understand the opportunities provided to each new generation of film makers. This new initiative by the NFSA is a major step forward in undertaking that responsibility to preserve the 75 specially selected Australian films listed below which can be appreciated by the world’s film-goers in the decades to come. All of these films are available from my collection.
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- DirectorEsben StormStarsBill HunterRobert McDarraDavid CurtissA middle-aged "metho" drinker joins Alcoholics Anonymous and undergoes a psychiatric examination. As a consequence, he is committed to a hospital for the criminally insane, to be detained indefinitely under the notorious Section 27A of the Queensland Mental Health Act.
- CreatorAlan HopgoodStarsGraeme BlundellChris HaywoodDawn LakeA waterbed salesman who is irresistible to women gets a job as a gardener in a convent
- DirectorPhillip NoyceStarsBill HunterGary FoleyZac MartinA black and white lowlife duo drives around Australia's Outback in a stolen vehicle and finds trouble after trouble.
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsEdward WoodwardJack ThompsonJohn WatersThree Australian lieutenants are court martialed for executing prisoners as a way of deflecting attention from war crimes committed by their superior officers.
- DirectorArch NicholsonStarsColin FrielsHarold HopkinsKris McQuadeYoung miners Mike and Johnny (Colin Friels and Harold Hopkins) work in the gem fields of central Queensland around Emerald. Conflict arises when their pick-and-shovel operation is threatened by a large scale bulldozer operator.
- DirectorGraeme CliffordStarsJack ThompsonNigel HaversGreta ScacchiA story based on true events about two explorers on a doomed journey trying to cross Australia on foot in the 19 century.
- DirectorDonald CrombieStarsHelen MorseTakis EmmanuelJack ThompsonSydney, Australia in the mid-1920's. Proud and classy Caddie Marsh is forced to get a job as a barmaid and raise two children on her own after her rich cad husband walks out on her. Despite numerous hardships such as the Great Depression, Caddie still manages to catch the eye of smooth dandy Ted and strikes up a romantic relationship with dashing Greek gentleman Peter.
- DirectorPeter FaimanStarsPaul HoganLinda KozlowskiJohn MeillonAn American reporter goes to the Australian outback to meet an eccentric crocodile poacher and invites him to New York City.
- DirectorDavid ElfickStarsGeorge GreenoughRitchie WestNat YoungA loose biography of surfer and documentarist George Greenough, one of the most famous and unique members of the surfing subculture.
- DirectorRolf de HeerStarsColin FrielsMiles DavisHelen BudayTraces the pilgrimage of John Anderson, an average guy with a passion for jazz, from his home in outback Western Australia to the jazz clubs of Paris, to meet his idol, jazz trumpeter Billy Cross.
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsJohn HargreavesPat BishopGraham KennedyOn the night of the 1969 Australian election, Don holds a party in his suburban Sydney house, where his raucous, rude, embarrassing, extrovert friends discuss sex, politics, and their lives, and seduce each others wives.
- DirectorJohn PowerStarsMax von SydowCarol DrinkwaterJulia BlakeOn a TV tabloid show, Iya Zetnick exposes Joe Mueller as the Nazi war criminal who killed her family. Mueller is arrested, but prevails in a trial. Zetnick breaks into his house, and kills herself in front of his family. His daughter, who had stood by him, becomes convinced Zetnick was right, and rejects her father after he admits his guilt.
- DirectorGlenda HamblyStarsNoni HazlehurstAnnie ByronAlan FletcherA single mother, Fran (Noni Hazlehurst) is selflessly devoted to her children. But something is lacking in her life, and that something is the love of a man her own age. Her efforts to juggle a love life with her home life are largely unsuccessful.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsMel GibsonMark LeeBill KerrTwo Australian sprinters face the brutal realities of war when they are sent to fight in the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey during World War I.
- DirectorCarl SchultzStarsRay BarrettRobyn NevinGuy DolemanOn Queensland's Gold Coast in the early 1980s, when a disgraced former cop, Michael Stacey writes a book exposing police corruption, does an investigation resulting in 2 murders, exposes a religious cult and watches the army begin a military coup.
- DirectorMary CallaghanStarsKevin BudgenShirley FaulknerSyd LongThis short reveals a day in the life of four adolescents in Wollongong who are confronted with unemployment and an uncertain future.
- DirectorCharles ChauvelStarsRosalie Kunoth-MonksRobert TudawaliBetty SuttorSet against the harsh natural surrounds of outback Northern Territory, Jedda captures a rare and honest glimpse into the heart and history of indigenous Australia. Young Jedda is caught between two cultures forbidden from learning about her indigenous heritage and never fully accepted by the other.
- DirectorTom CowanStarsJeune PritchardMartin PhelanNell CampbellIn colonial Australia, daughter of a judge helps a group of female convicts living in inhuman conditions escape. Aboriginal girl teaches them how to survive in the forest. One of them gets raped and killed. The group seeks revenge.
- DirectorTim BurstallStarsColin FrielsJudy DavisJohn WaltonA mild-mannered English conscientious objector moves to what he feels will be the relative calm of Australia after World War I, but gets caught in the middle of violent battles between the rising trade unions and fascist groups.
- DirectorPaul CoxStarsWendy HughesNorman KayeJon FinlaysonIn this offbeat comedy, an unlikely romance develops between a flamboyant, middle-aged piano tuner and an extremely timid office worker.
- DirectorColin EgglestonStarsJohn HargreavesBriony BehetsMike McEwenWhen a suburban couple go camping for the weekend at a remote beach, they discover that nature isn't in an accommodating mood.
- DirectorStephen WallaceStarsKris McQuadeBryan BrownGia CaridesA violent man (Bryan Brown), who ostensibly has a slight mental illness due to fillings in his teeth, continues to write letters to his estranged girlfriend, Kris McQuade. She sees that he expresses himself more dearly in his letters and he is still quick tempered when they try to rekindle their relationship.
- DirectorShirley BarrettStarsMiranda OttoRebecca FrithGeorge ShevtsovIn Sunray, a backwater town on Australia's Murray River, there's little to do but fish or listen to the local radio station. D.J. Ken Sherry arrives from the hustle of Brisbane to run the station; he's mid-40s, detached, thrice divorced, hatchet faced. But both sisters next door find him attractive: awkward Dimity, only 20, who works in a Chinese restaurant with few patrons, and perky Vicki-Ann, a hairdresser with a hope chest who invents a happy future with Sherry based on little but his arrival. First Dimity then Vicki-Ann spend the night with Ken, one concluding he's her boy friend, the other her fiance. Then Dimity begins to smell something fishy.
- DirectorPhilippe MoraStarsDennis HopperJack ThompsonDavid GulpililThe true story of Irish outlaw Daniel Morgan, who is wanted, dead or alive, in Australia during the 1850s.
- DirectorNadia TassStarsColin FrielsJohn HargreavesLindy DaviesA socially awkward and mechanically gifted man becomes involved in a quirky and unconventional crime.
- DirectorPaul CoxStarsNorman KayeAlyson BestChris HaywoodAn eccentric elderly man tries to enjoy the three things in life that he considers real beauty: collecting art, collecting flowers, and watching pretty women undress.
- DirectorJohn HoneyStarsMawuyul YanthalawuyAnna RalphPhillip HintonAboriginal woman Manganinnie survives a Black Line raid which claims the life of her husband, Meenopeekameena.
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsTerence DonovanTony BonnerEd DevereauxAn armoured car company is the target of repeated heists. Company leadership is enforcing new measures in order to tighten security. The biggest danger of a new heist lies from within the company's own ranks.
- DirectorKen CameronStarsNoni HazlehurstColin FrielsAlice GarnerA frank portrayal of a year in the life of a divorced mother living in Melbourne, trying to cope with her daughter and her own relationship with a drug addict while trying to get into the music business.
- DirectorAlbert FalzonStarsChris BrockStephen CooneyTerry FitzgeraldThe film portrays surfers living in spiritual harmony with nature, making their own boards (and homes) as they traveled in search of the perfect wave across Australia's north-east coast, Bali and Hawaii.
- DirectorGillian ArmstrongStarsJudy DavisSam NeillWendy HughesA proud young woman in early 20th century Australia must choose between marriage and independence.
- DirectorPaul CoxStarsJohn HargreavesWendy HughesLucy AngwinThe film follows the dissolution of John and Helen's marriage and the aftermath.
- DirectorPhillip NoyceStarsBill HunterGerard KennedyWendy HughesIn post-war Australia the men and women of Cinetone struggle to produce the weekly news reels for the movie-going public.
- DirectorTracey MoffattStarsMarcia LangtonAgnes HardwickJimmy LittleA middle aged Aboriginal woman nurses her dying old white mother till the mother dies.
- DirectorDavid ElfickStarsAmy TerelinckGeoff MorrellSusan LyonsA family is forced off their farm due to drought, and move to Sydney.
- DirectorChris LöfvénStarsJoy DunstanGraham MattersBruce SpenceDorothy is a 16-year-old groupie riding with an up-and-coming rock band when, suddenly, their van is in a road accident, and she hits her head. She wakes up in an alternate reality that's as gritty and realistic as the one she came from, and learns that she killed a young thug with the van. A gay clothier called the Glynn the Good Fairy gives her a pair of red shoes as a reward to help her see the last concert of the Wizard, an androgynous rock singer, in the city (Melbourne) that evening. She is pursed by the thug's brother who attempts to rape her on several occasions. During her journey, she becomes the traveling companion of a dumb surfer, a heartless mechanic, and a tough biker.
- DirectorAlbie ThomsStarsKenneth BrownNat YoungAmanda BerryOver the course of 48 hours, three stories intertwine: Joe is looking for drugs; Leilane has run away from home, and Paul is unemployed and angry.
- DirectorTim BurstallStarsJack ThompsonJacki WeaverWendy HughesA married electrician and former football star begins a degree in English at university, where he has an affair with his professor's wife.
- DirectorJocelyn MoorhouseStarsHugo WeavingGeneviève PicotRussell CroweThe life of a blind photographer who is looked after by a housekeeper is disrupted by the arrival of an agreeable restaurant worker.
- DirectorBert DelingStarsSally McNeeDoc SmithRussell KirbyA group of Australian heroin addicts go out and try to score a hit after a friend overdoses.
- DirectorRay ArgallStarsDennis CoardFrankie J. HoldenBen MendelsohnA man and his wife are partners in a small business, a service station, that is stuggling to survive financially. They are visited by his brother, a divorced middle-aged man, who has taken a break from his stressful career in a big business corporation.
- DirectorSteve JodrellStarsDeborra-Lee FurnessTony BarrySimone BuchananA barrister visiting a town in Western Australian town battles police corruption and the silence of the locals to help a teenage girl seek justice against a gang of young rapists.
- DirectorStephen WallaceStarsBryan BrownMax PhippsDennis MillerWhen a repeat offender returns to a prison after exposing abuses committed by its guards to the press, tensions boil between inmates and staff, culminating in a bloody riot.
- DirectorHenri SafranIan GoddardStarsGreg RowePeter CumminsDavid GulpililMike is a lonely Australian boy living in a coastal wilderness with his reclusive father. In search of friendship he encounters an Aboriginal native loner and the two form a bond in the care of orphaned pelicans.
- DirectorBill BennettStarsChris HaywoodJennifer CluffArianthe GalaniAn Australian who has fought in Vietnam blames Agent Orange for his cancer, and sues for compensation.
- DirectorKen HannamStarsJack ThompsonMax CullenRobert BruningA hard-drinking but hard-working gun shearer leads a group of Outback sheep herders into striking after wealthy landowners attempt to drive them from their territory.
- DirectorJane CampionStarsGeneviève LemonKaren ColstonTom LycosAn introspective young woman's life is upturned by the arrival of her maladjusted sister.
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsBarry CrockerBarry HumphriesDick BentleyYoung Australian, Barry McKenzie, travels to England with his Aunt Edna after his father dies and a request is revealed in his will.
- DirectorNadia TassStarsBen MendelsohnClaudia KarvanMarshall NapierTo impress a girl a shy teenaged boy buys a used Jaguar.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsTerry CamilleriJohn MeillonKevin MilesThe small town of Paris, Australia deliberately causes car accidents, then sells/salvages all valuables from the wrecks as a means of economy.
- DirectorFred SchepisiStarsTommy LewisFreddy ReynoldsAngela Punch McGregorAfter suffering racist abuse throughout his life - which intensifies following his marriage to a white woman - a half-Aboriginal farmhand finds himself driven to murder.
- DirectorDavid StevensStarsChris HaywoodSimon BurkeGerda NicolsonA series of humorous vignettes set in a clinic for venereal diseases. Although the film concentrates on relationships, it is also a source of instruction on safe sexual practices and STD (the script-writer worked at a clinic for three years!).
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsJack ThompsonGraham KennedyFrank WilsonBoardroom and dressing-room intrigues spill on to the field at the Australian Rules football club.
- DirectorDusan MakavejevStarsEric RobertsGreta ScacchiBill KerrEx-marine turned Coca-Cola marketing guru Becker is on a mission to boost sales in Australia when he discovers a dry spot in the Outback, where everyone is guzzling homegrown brew - and not a drop of his company's cola.
- DirectorFred SchepisiStarsCharles McCallumJohn FrawleyArthur DignamFred Schepisi's first feature is this lushly photographed period drama detailing a young boy's coming-of-age in a strict Catholic seminary in 1950s Australia.
- DirectorMichael ThornhillStarsPaul CouzensEva DickinsonCarl SteverBankstown, NSW, Australia, 1970s. Kevin and his mate Bob spend their time drinking and cruising around the western suburbs of Sydney in Kevin's yellow FJ Holden, looking for girls. One day Kevin meets Anne. Anne works in a large shopping center. Anne and Kevin spend some time together until one day Kevin gets drunk and tries to make love to Anne with Bob watching. Anne throws them out of her house. When Anne later refuses to be pacified, Kevin becomes aggressive and causes a scene at a party. The police are called. Kevin escapes but later returns home to find the police waiting there for him.
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsKristina NehmJustine SaundersBob MazaStory of an aboriginal family who tries to move out of the fringe into the main white community.
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsSusannah FowleDorothy BradleyPatricia KennedyOscar-nominated director Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy, Tender Mercies) crafts a tender coming-of-age tale that introduces one of Australian literature's most beloved characters to the screen, Laura Tweedle Rambotham (Susannah Fowle).
- DirectorDonald CrombieStarsElizabeth AlexanderJohn HargreavesReg LyeJessica Simmonds returns from overseas to find her retired professor father in a bitter public fight to save the historic Sydney waterfront houses on Angel Street. After her father's mysterious death, she joins forces with local residents and a union leader against corrupt forces. Based on the real life mysterious disappearance of Juanita Nielsen.
- DirectorGillian ArmstrongStarsLisa HarrowBruno GanzKerry FoxVicki returns to her elder sister Beth's house in Australia after an affair in Italy. Beth, with a teenage daughter, has become involved in something of a marriage of convenience with Frenchman J.P., and her rather prickly houseproud ways are causing frictions counterpointed by Vicki's more laid-back and indolent air. When Beth goes off on vacation to the outback alone with her cantankerous father to see if they can finally get to know each other, relationships in the household start to shift.
- DirectorBrian Trenchard-SmithJimmy Wang YuStarsJimmy Wang YuGeorge LazenbyHugh Keays-ByrneWhile on dispatch in Australia to extradite a drug courier, a tough Hong Kong cop wages a one-man war against Sydney's most powerful kingpin.
- DirectorGeorge MillerStarsKirk DouglasTom BurlinsonTerence DonovanIn 1880s Australia, after young Jim Craig's father dies, he takes a job at the Harrison cattle ranch, where he is forced to become a man.
- DirectorJim SharmanStarsRuth CracknellJohn FrawleyKerry WalkerFrom the Director of 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' Jim Sharman and Nobel Prize winning author Patrick White A haunting tale of obsession and possession.
- DirectorTom JeffreyStarsGraham KennedyJohn HargreavesJohn JarrattIn between drinking cans of Fosters beer, Australian soldiers tread on a few landmines, and generally experience the war in Vietnam.
- DirectorJane CampionStarsHolly HunterHarvey KeitelSam NeillIn the mid-19th century a mute woman is sent to New Zealand along with her young daughter and prized piano for an arranged marriage to a farmer, but is soon lusted after by a farm worker.
- DirectorJohn PowerStarsJohn MeillonRod TaylorJohn EwartAt the beginnings of this centuary a man, his son and a piano player travel around Australia showing the first silent movies (naturally in black and white). But what they really want is stay at one place and open up a cinema.
- DirectorGillian ArmstrongStarsRuth CracknellElizabeth CrosbyRussell KiefelAn elderly woman who is treated as a simple-minded invalid, periodically escapes to sit by the river and listen to the races on her radio. There she befriends Charlie, a woman who has come to seek a new life in the country.
- DirectorRoger ScholesStarsMelita JurisicChris HaywoodRod ZuanicLocated among the haunting peaks and brooding mists of Tasmania's Central Highlands, RUBY ROSE is the story of a woman's quest to break out of the isolated an demanding farm life she lives and find something challenging.
- DirectorJohn DuiganStarsNoah TaylorLoene CarmenBen MendelsohnIn rural 1960s Australia, a boy watches helplessly as his best friend falls in love with a small-time criminal, setting off a violent chain of events.
- DirectorMichael PowellStarsWalter ChiariClaire DunneChips RaffertyAn Italian sports journalist arrives in Australia but finds no work. The only employment he can find is as a builder's labourer. At first, he cannot comprehend the culture, but eventually he finds mateship and romance.
- DirectorLee RobinsonMarcello PaglieroStarsChips RaffertyFrançoise ChristopheReg LyeSteve MacAllister, an Australian official for The New Guinea Administration, gets orders to investigate an oil discovery by Ned 'Shark-eye' Kelly in the interior. He selects his native policeman, Sergeant Major Towalaka, to accompany him on his "walk into hell" and then finds that a French lady doctor, Louise Dumarcet, is to go with them part of the journey. They find the malaria-stricken Jeff Clayton in a deserted village and he joins the trek. They are captured by jungle natives but are released after Dr. Dumarcet cures the fever-stricken children of the chief.
- DirectorIgor AuzinsStarsAngela Punch McGregorArthur DignamMartin VaughanJeannie Gunn faced being the only civilised woman in an uncivilised land. A story of personal triumph about one woman who reached out in a hard, hostile, prejudiced world and managed to find love.
- DirectorNed LanderStarsLeslie GrahamChris JonesVeronica RankineA dramatised documentary showing 48 hours in the lives of members of the Aboriginal bands, No Fixed Address and Us Mob, including the racism, hostility and harassment they receive.
- DirectorDavid CahillStarsKen ShorterRowena WallaceCarmen DuncanFilm version of the TV series You Can't See Round Corners (1967). Small time bookie, Frankie McCoy is conscripted into the army during the Vietnam War, and is frustrated because his girlfriend will not have sex with him.