Annual report 2017-18
Snapshot - The year at a glance 2018
JULY
The Australian Government announces the appointment of Mr Jan Müller for a four-year term as NFSA CEO, starting 6 October.
The Great Strike, a rare censored film from 1917, is restored and released online to commemorate the centenary of the event on 2 August. The film also features in the ‘1917: The Great Strike’ exhibition, presented in collaboration with the City of Sydney and Carriageworks.
Our website nfsa.gov.au wins two Interactive Media Awards for Best in Class in the categories of Government and Arts–Culture.
AUGUST
Two NFSA Restores titles premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival: Celia, with the support of filmmaker Ann Turner and star Rebecca Smart; and Shame, with actors Deborra-lee Furness and Hugh Jackman in attendance. NFSA Restores: Flirting premieres in Canberra followed by a screening at the Adelaide Film Festival in October.
We launch the online exhibition Strictly Ballroom: Behind the Red Curtain to celebrate the film’s 25th anniversary, with support from stars Paul Mercurio and Tara Morice. Media coverage includes Seven’s Sunrise.
SEPTEMBER
Our 100th curated collection on the NFSA website—1980s—is featured on commercial television.
PY Media staff, recipients of the Indigenous Remote Archival Fellowship (presented in partnership with the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies [AIATSIS] and the Indigenous Remote Communications Association [IRCA]) visit the NFSA to discuss their archival challenges, best practice and potential solutions.
We reach 20,000 followers on Facebook and the 1970 Film Australia Collection film The Big Island becomes our first title to surpass one million views on YouTube.
OCTOBER
Our monthly Vinyl Lounge event marks its fourth anniversary, with an appearance by special guest singer–songwriter Vic Simms.
The third annual Digital Directions symposium, titled The User Experience, takes place on 19 October. The sold-out event is presented in partnership with the National Archives of Australia and the National Library of Australia and streamed live on YouTube.
Sounds of Australia celebrates its 10th anniversary. New inductees include INXS, Kasey Chambers,John Paul Young and Louie the Fly. The announcement reaches an estimated audience of over 4.5 million.
NOVEMBER
On 9 November, NFSA Ambassador Margaret Pomeranz and actor Paul Mercurio help us launch the ‘Starstruck: Australian Movie Portraits’ exhibition, developed in partnership with the National Portrait Gallery and supported by the National Collecting Institutions Touring and
Outreach (NCITO) program. The ‘Starstruck’ opening attracts more than 250 news stories nationally, on television, print, radio and online.
Terrigal Surf Life Saving Club honours their pioneering Second World War female lifesavers with the presence of the Governor–General Sir Peter Cosgrove, on 22 November. A 1944 newsreel from our Cinesound Movietone collection plays a key role in the ceremony.
DECEMBER
The Small Objects photography project, which has seen more than 110 artefacts from our collection conserved and photographed, begins being showcased as part of #ThrowbackThursdays on social media.
Our new digital broadcast master of a rare 1960 episode of British police drama No Hiding Place screens at the British Film Institute in London.
Jimmy Barnes publicity image for Freight Train Heart, 1987. From the Jimmy Barnes: Working Class Man online exhibition.
NFSA staff participating in the Museum Dance Off.
Portrait of Margot Rhys in Heritage (Charles Chauvel, 1935) featured in Starstruck: Australian Movie Portraits Exhibition.
Vic Simms at the fourth birthday of NFSA Vinyl Lounge.
Simone Buchanan and Deborra-lee Furness at the Melbourne International Film Festival premiere of NFSA Restores: Shame.
NFSA Ambassador Margaret Pomeranz, NFSA CEO Jan Müller and Director Gillian Armstrong at the screening of NFSA Restores: My Brilliant Career at the Sydney Film Festival 2018.
Indigenous Remote Archival Fellowship participants from Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Media (PY Media): Amos Frank, Bradley Roberts, Tom Holder and Jacob Thompson.
NFSA Ambassador Margaret Pomeranz and Paul Mercurio at the launch of Starstruck: Australian Movie Portraits.
JANUARY
A Costume Week program at the NFSA complements the ‘Starstruck’ exhibition and features award-winning guests, such as costume designers Judith Dorsman and Anna Senior and filmmaker Richard Lowenstein, as well as the premiere of NFSA Restores: The Cheaters (1929).
We celebrate 30 years of our Television News and Current Affairs Program, an ongoing initiative to acquire TV news and current affairs bulletins from around Australia every day for the last three decades. Highlights from the collection are published online throughout 2018.
Our staff participate in a two-day staff conference and hackathon during which small teams workshop and pitch ideas addressing our key challenges.
FEBRUARY
Ahead of the 40th anniversary of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, NFSA Restores: Witches and Faggots, Dykes and Poofters (1980) premieres at the Mardi Gras Film Festival in Sydney.
MARCH
The ‘Starstruck’ exhibition closes in Canberra, having had 14,326 visitors over four months. Further media coverage includes a Today show story on our Cinesound scrapbooks featured in the exhibition.
We publish an online curated collection devoted to The Mike Walsh Show, attracting media coverage on Seven News and Sunrise.
APRIL
In early April we welcome Biginelli’s as our new cafe providers.
We supply over 100 clips from more than 60 films to the opening of the Sir John Monash Centre in Villers-Bretonneux, France. The clips relate to Australia before, during and after the First World War and the footage is made available for the first time in Ultra High Definition (4K).
Three NFSA Restores titles starring Snowy Baker (The Man from Kangaroo, 1919; The Sword of Valor, 1924; and The Empire Builders, 1924) premiere on 25 April at Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane.
The Early Aviators curated collection is published online with the digital preservation of these films made possible by a generous donation from Dick and Pip Smith.
MAY
Right There On My TV, a program celebrating Australian music television from the 1970s, screens at the St Kilda Film Festival with special guests John Paul Young and broadcaster Lee Simon.
Our National Reconciliation Week program includes a sold–out session of the documentary Black Divaz followed by a Q&A and performances by two of its stars. This is an ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTIQ Network event presented by the NFSA, AIDS Action Council and the ACT Government.
Our Jimmy Barnes: Working Class Man online exhibition launches on 28 May, featuring rare content and an exclusive interview with Jimmy Barnes.
We participate in the international Museum Dance Off competition, winning the Australian title and reaching fourth place in the global final.
JUNE
The Australian premiere of NFSA Restores: My Brilliant Career takes place at the Sydney Film Festival with director Gillian Armstrong and NFSA Ambassador Margaret Pomeranz in attendance, following international screenings at the TCM Classic Film Festival in Los Angeles in April and at the Swedish Film Institute.
CEO Jan Müller presents the NFSA: Strategic Vision for a Digital Archive to industry stakeholders and members of the public at events in Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney.