Two children walk through the trees and downhill to the beach in a scene from a 1950s home movie

Home movies

This collection includes highlights of some of the almost 6000 unique home movie titles held by the NFSA.

Home movies capture candid moments of family life, holidays and special events. They can also record history as it happens and the unguarded moments of celebrities.

The earliest footage in this collection is of a Higgins family picnic in Hobart, in 1909. There are scenes of The Beatles and Winston Churchill, the Melbourne Olympics and Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation.

Also featured are behind-the-scenes glimpses of artists, circus performers, hairdressers and holidaymakers.

Maori carvings of two figures under an arch

South Pacific Wanderings: Rotorua, New Zealand

Exploring the North Island of New Zealand, this footage focuses on Whakarewarewa – the living Maori village and the geothermal attractions of Te Puia, Rotorua.

Japanese people walking among blossom trees

Cherry Blossoms in Japan

The British Commonwealth Occupation Force was in Japan from 1946–52, with two squadrons of the Royal Australian Air Force based at Iwakuni near the village of Bofu (now Hofu).

Colourful sculptures of figures on a Thai temple

Sightseeing in Thailand

This home movie is unadulterated sightseeing, with R Minter recording the local sites and temples as he and his family travelled along the streets and canals around Bangkok and beyond.

Singapore Synopsis

Alan Bresnahan filmed a Singapore in transition, with skyscrapers and cars mingling with smaller buildings, building sites – often with bamboo scaffolding – and rickshaws.

The Fiji Islands

The opening sequence and intertitles suggest this film was intended for family and friends to enjoy at a home movie night.

Surfing in Bali

Beautiful blues and vibrant greens fly by as Tim Bonython navigates Bali in search of the ideal waves to glide along.

Cricket tour of India

Jon Human was selected for the Australian Schoolboys Cricket Team of 1966–67.

One man teeing off playing golf while others watch

Golf in China

Wander among the stunning landscape of a golf course that was established in 1916, later becoming the Shanghai Zoo in 1954.

Queen Elizabeth II at her Coronation with members of the Church around her

Menzies RG: Our Coronation Tour - Coronation and procession

This clip from a home movie, filmed by Australian Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies, shows Queen Elizabeth II arriving at Westminster Abbey in a horse-drawn carriage.

A busy street scene in 1950s San Francisco.

Buckley Family Collection: Anthony Buckley in San Francisco

This film contains footage shot by Anthony Buckley of his visit to San Francisco in 1958–59.

Dawn Swane with The Beatles

Never-before-seen footage of The Beatles, getting ready for the special The Music of Lennon & McCartney on 1 November 1965. This clip is silent.

Tex Glanville's amazing vaudeville performers

Strongman Paul Anderson, a.k.a.

Melbourne art scene in the 1950s

This clip features home movie footage taken by Gerty Anschel (c.1954-1955) with audio commentary by filmmaker and artist Philippe Mora.

Don Bradman walking onto the cricket pitch

Don Bradman in Colour

At 2:48pm on Saturday 26 February 1949, with the score at 1-111 in the AF Kippax and WA Oldfield testimonial match, Sir Donald Bradman strode onto the Sydney Cricket Ground for his penultimate firs

Actors Emil Minty and Mel Gibson in costume on the set of Mad Max 2. They are seated on the back of trailer in between takes and Minty is holding a silver boomerang while Gibson is laughing

Mad Max 2 Home Movie: Life on Set

This home movie by Peter Kamen gives us a fascinating glimpse of life on set during the shooting of Mad Max 2 on location in June 1981.

Futuristic styles at hairdressing convention, c.1950

A futuristic cone-head hairstyle is a popular style at this convention, as well as multi-coloured hair dyes ranging from dusty green to bright pink.

1956 Melbourne Olympics: Bruce Beresford

Bruce Beresford is one of Australia’s most successful and internationally recognised film directors. But at 16 years of age Bruce was only just discovering what he could do with a movie camera.

Still from a home movie showing a family playing on the beach

Frederick Simpson Dyer: First day at the beach

This home movie was filmed in spring 1941.

A family celebrate the birthdays of their two girls in the 1950s. Brother, mother and father watch on as the girls sit in front of their cakes.

Birthday party for two

The Gerakiteys family celebrate their daughters’ birthday in their family garden. Their younger son watches on as the girls sit with their birthday cakes.

Close up of a woman's face wearing an exotic beaded headress

Wirth's Circus: Behind the Big Top

The film begins with Wirth's famous circus elephants being dressed in their costume rugs. This is followed by a menagerie of animals: horses, ponies, zebras, more elephants and a caged lion.

WARNING: This clip may contain animal suffering

Bobo the clown on set with a man and a large teddy bear

Hal Turner as Bobo the Clown

This clip from Hal Turner's home movies includes footage of him performing as Bobo the Clown with his daughter Gayle as Lenny the Lion.

A panoramic view of the Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA.

Buckley Family Collection: Anthony Buckley at the Grand Canyon

This film contains footage shot by Anthony Buckley of the Grand Canyon in 1958–59. He recalled of the experience:

Boys marching on Anzac Day 1946 carrying a Union Jack flag and an Australian Air League banner

Anzac Day March, 1946: Home Movie

This is a clip from a 1940s home movie with footage of a street parade through Sydney for Anzac Day in 1946.

Dancer Dawn Swane on touring Europe with London Festival Ballet

Australian dancer and make up artist Dawn Swane talks about her years touring with the London Festival Ballet in the 1950s.

Sir Winston Churchill walking arm in arm with Dame Pattie Menzies

Menzies RG: Our Coronation Tour - Winston Churchill

This clip from a Sir Robert Menzies home movie begins with a close-up of Sir Winston Churchill. It then shows him sitting on a rock beside a small waterfall, playing fetch with a dog.

On Australia's Rooftops

On Australia's Rooftops is a home movie travelogue made in 1956 by amateur filmmaker Ernest Singer.

Black and white still people sitting around a swimming pool with their legs dipping in. Two dogs sit by the pool too.

Archibald family: relaxing by the pool

This clip shows the Archibald family enjoying themselves in a backyard swimming pool in the early 1930s. This film was donated to the National Film and Sound Archive by Helen Phillips, the daughter

Richards Home Movies: Holiday Time

From the Film Australia Collection. The Richards Home Movie Collection was donated to Film Australia in 2006 where the collection of 16mm films were restored and digitised.

1956 Melbourne Olympics: Mike Leyland

As one half of the 'Leyland Brothers’, Mike Leyland traveled through the Australian outback when it was still something of a remote frontier and largely unknown to most Australians living in urban

The Gordon Innes Collection

This silent footage is only a small part of a personal collection donated to Film Australia in 2006 and now part of the NFSA FAC Library collection.

A man stands looking at the camera as a woman combs her hair looking in a mirror by the riverbank

Farey: family picnic

The Farey family enjoy a picnic on a river bank in the 1930s. They drink tea and throw stones into the river.

Black and white still of a man dressed as Santa and a young boy dressed in white, with a white hat on, standing beside a cake

Santa on a see-saw

This clip includes five-year-old Wally being picked up and hugged by his parents; an older man dressed as Santa Claus; children on a seesaw and playing ring-a-rosie; Wally being pushed on a swing b

Bryce Higgins home movies – Picnic at Mount Wellington, Hobart

This footage opens with scenes of a family picnic at Mt Wellington, Hobart, in 1909, and then documents family events such as Christmas (1922), childrens' birthday parties, toy cars, picnics, ho