Senior high program
This is a selection of some of the film titles from the School Screen touring program. For other titles please contact School Screen.
Study guides are available for some of these films. The NFSA’s education portal australianscreen (ASO) also has downloadable clips for many films with accompanying education and curators’ notes.
Samson and Delilah
Dir: Warwick Thornton, Australia, 101mins, colour
Samson and Delilah’s world is small – an isolated community in the Central Australian desert. When tragedy strikes they turn their backs on home and embark on a journey of survival. Lost, unwanted and alone they discover that life isn’t always fair, but love never judges.
Curriculum Areas* – Australian History, English, SOSE, HSIE, Social Education, Indigenous Studies, Media Studies
Study guide available from ::Metromagazine::
The official website for Samson and Delilah
The Black Balloon
Dir: Elissa Down, Australia, 97mins, colour
It’s not easy being Thomas Mollison. When Thomas and his family move to a new home and he starts at a new school, all he wants is to fit in. His pregnant mother has to take things easy, so his father Simon puts him in charge of his autistic older brother, Charlie. Thomas, with the help of his new girlfriend, Jackie, faces his biggest challenge yet. The Black Balloon is a story about fitting in, discovering love and accepting your family.
Curriculum Areas* – English, SOSE, Values Education, Religion and Society, Personal Development, Media and Film Studies
See clips from The Black Balloon on ASO
Children of the Silk Road
Dir: Roger Spottiswoode, Australia, 125mins, colour
Set in the 1930s, a brave young Englishman, an American nurse and the leader of a Chinese partisan group save a group of orphaned children by leading them on an extraordinary journey, across hundreds of miles through war-ravaged China.
Curriculum Areas* – English, History, Literature, Religious Education, SOSE and Media
See clips from Children of the Silk Road on ASO
Unfinished Sky
Dir: Peter Duncan, Australia, 90mins, colour
A frightened woman appears on the property of a reclusive farmer. Neither can speak the other’s language. Both are hiding from something. As their trust and affection for one another grows, secrets are revealed which could endanger them both.
Curriculum Areas* – English, SOSE and Media
See clips from Unfinished Sky on ASO
Hey Hey it's Esther Blueburger
Dir: Cathy Randall, Australia, 98mins, colour
A smart, rueful and dead-on portrait of life’s unending quest to fit in, and the girl who solves it by completely breaking out. The film introduces a feisty outsider hero unlike any other seen on screen. Esther Blueburger’s quest begins when she escapes from her Bat Mitzvah party and is befriended by Sunni, the effortlessly cool girl who is everything Esther thinks she wants to be.
Curriculum Areas* – English, Screen Literacy, Health, SOSE, Studies of Australian Culture and Society, Religion, Media and Film Studies
See clips from Hey Hey It’s Esther Blueburger on ASO
Study guide available from ::Metromagazine::
Romulus, My Father
Dir: Richard Roxburgh, Australia, 106mins
Prod: John Maynard, Robert Connolly, Writ: Nick Drake
Based on Raimond Gaita’s critically acclaimed memoir Romulus, My Father tells the story of Romulus, his beautiful wife Christina and their struggle in the face of great adversity to bring up their son Raimond. It is the story of impossible love that ultimately celebrates the unbreakable bond between father and son.
Curriculum Areas* – English, Screen Literacy, Health, SOSE, Studies of Australian Culture and Society, Religion, Media and Film Studies
Educational notes and clips are available for Romulus, My Father on ASO
Study guide available from ::Metromagazine::
Ten Canoes
Dir: Rolf de Heer, Australia, 90mins, colour, Lang: English/Ganalbingu, Subtitled
Prod: Julie Ryan, Rolf de Heer, Writ: Rolf de Heer
It is the distant past, tribal times. Dayindi covets one of the wives of his older brother. To teach him the proper way, he is told a story from the mythical past, a story of wrong love, kidnapping, sorcery, bungling mayhem and revenge gone wrong. In English storytelling and subtitled Ganalbingu language, this is a film unlike any you have ever seen.
Curriculum Areas* – English, Screen Literacy, Health, SOSE, Studies of Australian Culture and Society, Religion, Media and Film Studies
Educational notes and clips are available for Ten Canoes on ASO
Study guide available from ::Metromagazine::
The official website for Ten Canoes
*Curriculum Areas are as identified in the individual study guides and may be specific to different state curricula.
This is not a definitive list. School Screen can access most Australian films, documentaries, animation films and short films on request. The NFSA is keen to assist you in choosing the most engaging and suitable screening for your students.
If you would like to discuss any of the screenings listed in the School Screen program please contact:
Imelda Cooney, School Screen Coordinator,
phone: +61 2 8202 0118
free call: 1800 157 705
email: schoolscreen@nfsa.gov.au
Public screenings
If you are interested in public screenings, it may be possible to borrow titles from the Screening loans section of the NFSA.
From the Vaults
Some of our classic films suitable for senior high students (M) – check out the linked films on ASO:
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