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Melbourne: Life in Australia
Title:
Melbourne: Life in Australia
NFSA ID
55538
Year
1966
Future soap opera star Elspeth Ballantyne sells BBQ chicken in this film about life in the Victorian capital of Melbourne, 1966.
This film follows an engaged couple as they work and party in the city of Melbourne. The female lead is played by Adelaide born actress Elspeth Ballantyne, who would find success in the ABC soap opera Bellbird (1967-77), followed by the iconic role of Meg Jackson/Morris in Prisoner (1979-1986).
Part of the Life In Australia series, made for the Department of Immigration, to entice immigrants from Europe. There’s no denying that these films were a marketing tool; Australia (and its cities and rural centres) was the product, and as such, it was presented as an idyllic destination where everyone led prosperous, happy lives. The scripts for each film are almost identical, covering employment and industry, education, sport, health care, shopping, religion, night-life, and art. Australia had everything anyone could wish for!
Director
Douglas White
Producer
Eric Thompson
Cinematographer
Tom Cowan
Herself
Elspeth Ballantyne
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia acknowledges Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and live and gives respect to their Elders both past and present.