Gadigal Elder Allen Madden performs a 'Welcome to Country' at the Sydney Opera House for the Deadly Awards in 2008. The Deadlys (1994 – 2014) were the national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander music, sport, arts and community awards.

This is a good example of how the traditional welcome to country can be conveyed through sound and moving image. The decision to film Madden speaking in front of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House – two of Sydney's most iconic contemporary structures – effectively reminds the audience that the Opera House, and Sydney itself, is built on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation.

The welcome uses the iconography of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags superimposed onto Sydney Harbour and the Opera House to highlight a feeling of pride as well as asserting an unbroken connection to Country of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The clip uses the power of the spoken work alongside images of contemporary Sydney to reflect the contemporary and changing nature of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and successfully draws a continuous line from the past into the present for a national and international audience. The importance of music in ceremony is reflected in the didjeridu soundtrack – an obvious choice as it is the instrument most connected with Aboriginal culture.

Inside the Opera House the ceremony continues with Madden introducing dancers who perform a dance of welcome accompanied by music. The performance, with its colourful sets and costumes, adds gravitas and authenticity to the awards ceremony.

See a Welcome to Country performed by Bennelong's descendant, Aboriginal actor Ben Blakeney OAM (1937–2003), at the opening of the Sydney Opera House in Queen at the Opera House (1973).

Notes by Beth Taylor

From an elevated position above Central Square (now Railway Square) in Sydney, the camera films the bustle of the streets at rush hour where people transfer from trams to trains and suburban trams to take them out of the city.

The camera observes the people in the streets, some of whom notice they are being filmed. It pans to the left to capture trams coming in from the other direction, before panning back to show one of the trams circling around an intersection.

Notes by Poppy De Souza

Travelling around Sydney using a variety of public transport. Examines the morning traffic build-up to peak hour as workers in Sydney set out by train, ferry, bus and car for their daily work. 

Made by The Commonwealth Film Unit 1971. Directed by Brian Hannant. Film Australia Collection © NFSA

Special episodes like this one shot at Australia’s Wonderland in Sydney were popular with Young Talent Time fans. 

Team members featured include Juanita Coco (1987–88), Joey Dee (1987–88), Rikki Arnot (1987–88), Courtney Compagnino (1986–88), Jamie Churchill (1988) and Johnnie Nuich (1988). 

The opening number ‘Get Ready’, written by Smokey Robinson, was made famous by The Temptations. It had recently been covered by Australian singer Carol Hitchcock in a 1987 version produced by Stock Aitken Waterman in the UK.

This opening clip is effectively an advertisement for the fun park which opened in 1985 (and eventually ceased operation in 2004). 

Hordes of fans follow the team around as they go on rides including the Bush Beast roller coaster, Dastardly's Flying Circus, Boo Boo’s Balloon Race, Bounty’s Revenge pirate ship, the Zodiac ferris wheel, HMS Endeavour and Snowy River Rampage. 

The sound of screaming crowds on the soundtrack boosts the segment's excitement, and the colourful costumes and playful antics of the performers add to the cheeriness.

By this time, the show’s 18-year run was almost at an end. It is noticeable that there is no longer a wide age range among the singers, with the cast members looking a lot younger. 

This excerpt comes from episode 88/44 which was filmed in September 1988. The show’s final episode was broadcast on 23 December 1988. Young Talent Time was rebooted in 2012 but only ran for one series. 

This episode is also an advertisement for a spin-off called The New Generation which was filmed in Australia and screened in the US in 1988. 

The show’s cast, only seen briefly here, includes recent graduates Danielle (Dannii) Minogue (1982–88), Vince Del Tito (1983–88), Natalie Miller (1985–88), Beven Addinsall (1983–88), Lorena Novoa (1984–88) and a new member, Keith Williams, from Los Angeles. The show ran for 13 episodes. 

Other special episodes of Young Talent Time include a live show at World Expo 88 in Brisbane and a concert at the Sydney Entertainment Centre.

Notes by Beth Taylor

This is a compilation of footage from the NFSA collection featuring the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

See more relating to the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the curated collection.

The cover image is from The Bridge, 2006 - Film Australia Collection © National Film and Sound Archive. Buy a copy at the NFSA shop.

Notes by Beth Taylor

Situated in Mosman, on the north shore of Sydney, Taronga Park Zoo was officially opened on 7 October 1916.

This film, made by the National Film Board in 1950, shows off some of the cutest inhabitants of the zoo.

Notes by Beth Taylor

News reader Richard Zachariah introduces a Seven Nightly News story about the opening of the Sydney monorail on 21 July 1988.

Reporter Steve Barnes says that while some protested for it to go away, others were excited to be amongst the first to experience the 12-minute round trip. 

The monorail eventually closed in 2013.

Notes by Beth Taylor

Made for the Department of Immigration, this film looks at Sydney through the eyes of migrants who have made the city their home.

The 1970s Viewpoint series – which includes other cities like Brisbane, Hobart, Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne – can be seen as a counterpoint to the 1960s Life In Australia series that showed these cities strictly through the official voice of government.

These earlier films may well have been the introductory films that these migrants viewed before they came to Australia.

Made by Film Australia, 1975. Directed by Arch Nicholson.

Notes by Beth Taylor

At the conclusion of the final race in the Sydney Cup at Randwick Racecourse, a large crowd is marshalled out to waiting trams.

Thousands of people stream onto the platform and pile in before they travel out of shot and onto their destination. In the upper background of the frame, another section of the crowd can just be seen climbing the steps to the footbridge which passes over the trams below.

Notes by Poppy De Souza

An early silent documentary showing the attractions of Bondi Beach and the surrounding Waverley area. Beaches include Bondi, Bronte and Tamarama. Surfing, swimming, sunbaking, life savers, all the beach activities and features that are seen on these beaches today were just as popular in the 1920s. Hotels and apartment developments are seen under construction, many of which remain as Bondi heritage today.

Notes by Beth Taylor

At Anzac Parade Junction, trams carry crowds from the racecourse to Circular Quay and from the Sydney Showground to Central Station.

The busy intersection is a bustling chaos of trams, buses, cars and pedestrians all of which are kept in order by the adept directions of traffic police.

The camera films from a slightly elevated vantage point at one corner of the intersection, following the movement of the traffic as it flows across the junction.

Notes by Poppy De Souza

At Bondi Beach, the Queen observes an Australian surf carnival, a gathering of teams from surf clubs around the country and New Zealand, all wearing the traditional neck-to-knee surfing costume that was required just after the turn of the century, when Australian surf clubs began.

After the traditional march past, the lifesavers take to the water to give a demonstration of rescue techniques, using both hollow surfboards and surfboats, but the heavy seas play havoc with their plans.

Notes by Beth Taylor

Made by Film Australia in 1975. Directed by Michael Edols. The scene is Sydney's famous landmark, Paddy's Market. Selling fruit, vegetable and all things second hand it was captured by Film Australia before it was demolished and rebuilt. Outlook: Out They Go, 1975 - Film Australia Collection © NFSA

Centennial Park, which is situated on Gadigal land, opened in 1888.

This film traces the historical development of Sydney's Centennial Park, the people's park, and the purposes for which the park has been used.

Notably on New Years Day 1901, 60,000 people gathered there to witness the proclamation of the Commonwealth of Australia. 

Now it is used by millions of walkers, joggers, dogs, cyclists, horse riders and picnickers every year.

And yet the 360 hectares seems to accommodate them all as well as provide an oasis of peace and a retreat for those seeking a quiet place in the centre of Australia's largest city.

Produced by Film Australia, 1979. Directed by Susan Doring.

Notes by Beth Taylor

Paddington is one of Sydney's oldest suburbs. It has developed in a similiar way to New York's Greenwich Village or London's Chelsea and in 1970 became Sydney's artist colony.

This drama captures the essence of Paddington in those days, with footage of the Victorian-style architecture and a depiction of the sort of people who lived in Paddington at that time – its heyday as a bohemian arts community. 

Made by The Commonwealth Film Unit 1970. Directed by Chris McCullough. Film Australia Collection © NFSA

Notes by Beth Taylor

God calls on Arthur Stace to write 'Eternity’ on the pavements of Sydney.

Summary by Damien Parer

Sydney, Australia, is established as the location of the film and the narration introduces the film’s premise and establishes the filmmaker as the story-teller.

Summary by Susan Lambert.

Its famous Opera House was still under construction, but Australia's largest city was already a busy metropolis in 1966.

Sydney's population had just reached three million, and while its skyline was not as tall as it is today, it was already on its way to become a modern city. The film visits all of Sydney's most iconic locations, from its beautiful harbour to Circular Quay, Martin Place, Kings Cross and Bondi beach.

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!

Directed by Joe Scully and now available in 4K HD. Film Australia Collection © NFSA.

Buy a copy of Life In Australia: Sydney or of the whole Life In Australia series at the NFSA online shop.

The sight of Cathy Freeman storming to victory in the women's 400 metre final in her green and silver bodysuit is one of the greatest moments in Australian sporting history. 

This clip powerfully captures one of Australia's most memorable sporting moments. The multi-camera coverage of the race itself is an exceptional example of live vision switching.

The inclusion of interviews with Freeman just after the race and later, provide a useful context as to what the win meant for her.

It would have been interesting to hear more from bronze medallist Katherine Merry who seems to appreciate the significance of the race for Freeman, who was the first Australian Aboriginal competitor to win an individual Olympic gold medal.

Excerpt from Seven News, 26 September 2000.

Notes by Adam Blackshaw

This footage of a man performing on rollerskates for a crowd in a park is thought to be Australia’s earliest surviving film. Patineur Grotesque, aka The Humourous Rollerskater or The Burlesque Roller Skater, was made in Prince Alfred Park, Sydney in 1896 but the exact date is still unknown. Despite this, the film’s first screening was not in Australia, but in Lyon, France on 28 February 1897. It is believed that the film had never been screened in Australia until 2010.

© Association Frères Lumière

This short film documents the construction of one of the world's great landmarks in its various stages, and provides a fascinating glimpse of life around Sydney Harbour and Circular Quay in the 1920s and 30s.

Officially opened on 19 March 1932, the Sydney Harbour Bridge was a massive engineering undertaking that transformed the city.

The Cinema Branch regularly filmed events of special interest to the nation. There were at least three different films on the progress of the bridge.

Sydney's Harbour Bridge was filmed over several years and edited to celebrate the opening.

Made by the Cinema Branch, 1933. Directed by Lyn T Maplestone.

Notes by Beth Taylor

This actuality footage from 1899 begins with a shot of commuters on a Sydney railway platform approaching an incoming train. A man holds a folded newspaper, while one woman carries a parasol. The clip cuts to the view from the back of the moving train after it has passed under an overhead bridge and is pulling into the station.

Summary by Elizabeth Taggert - Speers

This actuality footage shows a steam ferry docking at the Milsons Point Ferry Wharf in 1899. Workers prepare to receive the ferry as passengers on board ready for disembarkation.

Summary by Elizabeth Taggert - Speers

This powerful sequence shows the violent clashes between the government and developers planning Sydney’s large-scale re-development and those that opposed it – the unionists, residents, conservationists and students. Summary by Susan Lambert.

This clip uses old paintings and engravings to trace the early history of the Rocks area from its inception.

Summary by Damien Parer

Shows metropolitan life in and around Sydney as well as some shots of other cities.

This film is not presented as a documentary about a particular Australian city, seeking to reflect the mood of Australian metropolitan life. Never the less, much of it is filmed in Sydney and includes sights and sounds of Sydney in the 1940s: trams in the centre of the city on Elizabeth, King and George streets, Luna Park, Pyrmont Bridge. The art deco T&G building, the AWA building and tower, Farmers store, Grace Brothers, David Jones. Plus railway memories: Wynyard, Museum and St James stations, and the old departure board at Central.

The framing of the invasion of the Sydney area (known as the Eora nation by Aboriginal custodians) as a 'rising from a state of wilderness' and the reference to 'instincts for civilisation' are based on outdated cultural assumptions from the time. Such beliefs gave rise to the fiction of terra nullius.

From the Film Australia Collection. Made by Alasdair Loch Productions 1947.

Notes by Beth Taylor

Green Valley was a housing commission estate in western Sydney, much maligned by the media of the day. The residents were hurt by the criticism but lacked access to the media to respond.

Supplied with equipment by Film Australia, they used this film to present a different image of themselves and their daily lives. In so doing, they answered the question of 'whatever happened to Green Valley'.

The core of this film is the work of half-a-dozen residents, co-ordinated by acclaimed filmmaker Peter Weir in one of his earliest film projects. Weir also acts as the moderator at a public forum that is included in the film.

From the Film Australia Collection. Made by Film Australia 1973. Directed by Peter Weir.

Notes by Beth Taylor

A look at the Rocks area, focusing on restored old buildings, and tourist attractions including retail outlets. 

Summary by Damien Parer

Sir William McKell was a boilermaker who rose to become premier of NSW from 1941 to 1947. While premier, he started the Housing Commission that built the landmark accommodation towers in Waterloo. McKell resigned as premier in 1947 after 29 years in the NSW parliament, and shortly afterwards was appointed governor-general of Australia.

Summary by Damien Parer.

A still taken on the set of the documentary Constructing Australia: The Bridge, 2006 - Film Australia Collection © NFSA.

Crowded House stage their Farewell to the World concert on the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House.This excerpt from Network Ten's coverage of the event shows the 100,000 plus crowd enraptured by the sounds of the popular band who formed in Melbourne in 1985.

They begin the concert with their very first single 'Mean to Me', written by lead singer Neil Finn in 1986. He's joined on stage by Nick Seymour on bass, Mark Hart on keyboards and guitars and Paul Hester (1959–2005) on drums. The band are at the height of their powers musically, managing a tight, buoyant sound that has the crowd singing along and moving as one.

Finn's mention of the New Zealand town of Te Awamutu in the lyrics juxtaposes nicely with the iconic Sydney views. Crane and helicopter shots of the Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge and harbour filled with boats successfully build excitement for the concert to come. The intercutting of multiple zooming shots gives a very 1990s look to the presentation.

The 'small world' of the Australian and New Zealand music scene in the 1990s is beautifully summed up by the colourful, irreverent logo for the farewell tour, designed by New Zealand-born artist and musician Reg Mombassa. Mombassa is also a founding member of Australian rock band, Mental As Anything.

This clip shows a good example of professional live production. Both the live editing and sound quality is first rate.

Notes by Beth Taylor

Home movie footage of the Wirth family at work and play. Performers and family members in costume perform routines for the camera.

We see George Wirth and Philip’s wife Alice Wirth (nee Willis) arrive arm in arm; they are seated and entertained by an exotic troupe of performers. The young woman seen toe-dancing and wearing a tutu is Philip and Alice’s fourth daughter, Madeline Wanda Wirth.

This film was shot on the grounds of Philip Wirth’s famous residence, ‘Ocean View’, which was his home in Coogee. The grand mansion overlooks the Gordon’s Bay and Coogee Bay area of the Sydney coastline and was built in 1926 by Philip.

His wife Alice and seven children lived there and the home stayed with the extended Wirth family up until 2009 when it was sold. Philip Wirth (b.1864) died aged 73 at ‘Ocean View’ in 1937.

Later in the clip we see Philip Wirth, white cockatoo perched on his shoulder, with some of his daughters (possibly, Eileen, Doris & Madeline) walking out the front of his home.

It is rumoured that one of the Wirth’s Circus most famous elephants, Alice (Princess Alice), is buried on the grounds. She was a star attraction with the circus and in 1898 during a tour in England, it was said that the Prince of Wales rode her before her became King Edward VII.

This footage is teamed with a recording of Philip Wirth playing the tin whistle, originally recorded on lacquer disk and digitised by the NFSA (Side A: Cuckoo / Side B: Scottish Medley). It is unknown when this music was recorded however it is known that Philip Wirth took up playing the tin whistle in his older age and would often play it in the circus ring during performances.

Wirth’s Circus was Australia’s largest and most prestigious circus company. For 80 years Wirth’s was billed as Australia’s own ‘Greatest Show on Earth’, and was a huge travelling circus of international standard and reputation.

It was the sons and daughters of Johannes and Sarah Wirth, of German origin, that formed the circus: John, Harry, Philip, George, Marizles, Mina and Madeline.

The Wirth brothers began performing with their father as a travelling band though they soon advanced their show into a variety troupe and established themselves as a small circus by 1882.

The circus grew rapidly; extended family featured as artists, they embarked on world tours, travelled Australia extensively, boasted an exotic menagerie of animals and recruited star attractions from Europe and America.

It was Phillip and George Wirth that continued to manage the circus as Wirth’s Bros Circus from the 1910s. George Wirth retired in 1930, though Philip Wirth and his extended family continued running the business up until its demise in 1963.

The NFSA currently holds approximately 50 x 16mm home movies that document the Wirths' private life, circus life and performances from approximately 1926 until the 1950s. They primarily cover the period that Philip and George managed the circus.

The majority of the films are thought to be shot by George Wirth, who became a director of Pagewood (Film) Studios after his retirement in 1930.

Notes by Tara Marynowsky

Shot at the famous Bondi Beach, the film reflects on the prominence of beach culture in Australia.

Genni Batterham protests at the opening of Bondi Junction railway station in 1979 about the lack of accessible transport options for people with disability.

Genni was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1978 and she was incapacitated very quickly. Angry about being 'consigned to the world of the disabled' she tried anything and everything to halt the progress of the disease. 

'Pins and Needles', made with her husband Kim, was one response arising from this anger. Funded by the Australian Film Commission's Women's Film Fund, and directed by Barbara Chobocky, it was translated into five languages and won first prize at the 1980 Canadian Film Festival and second prize at the 1980 New York Film Festival. 

The 1979 Bondi Junction protest was an important moment in the history of the Disability Rights Movement in New South Wales. The Premier, Neville Wran, later said that the experience led him to developing the Disability Taxi Service, the first public transport system designed for people with disability to be launched in Australia. 

Excerpt from Pins and Needles (Kim Batterham, Australia 1980). Courtesy of Kim Batterham. 

A Cinesound Review newsreel story about the premiere of UK-Australian film The Overlanders at the Lyceum Theatre in Sydney on 27 September 1946.

Seen in this clip are some of the film's stars – John Nugent Hayward and Helen Grieve – as well as visiting American radio broadcaster Norman Corwin, Dutch director Joris Ivens, artist William Dobell with Mrs Chips Rafferty, journalist David McNicoll, the ABC's Charles Moses and Herc McIntyre of Universal Pictures.

Actor Ron Randell, star of the recent biopic Smithy (Ken G Hall, Australia, 1946) about Charles Kingsford Smith, is besieged by autograph hunters.

The Overlanders was made in Australia by English director Harry Watt for Ealing Studios, at the request of the Australian Government. It starred Chips Rafferty as a drover who undertakes an epic cattle run across Australia during the Second World War, assisted by a motley crew.

The Overlanders was an unprecedented box-office hit at the Lyceum (and wherever it played), continuing its run into February 1947.

The Lyceum Theatre in Sydney's Pitt Street opened in 1892 and screened the first Lumière productions in 1896. Rebuilt and reopened in 1918 as Hoyts Lyceum Theatre, it showed a number of notable Australian silent and talking pictures as part of its program.

It was refurbished in a New Deco style as the New Lyceum Theatre (now managed by Greater Union) in 1941. The cinema was closed for two years by fire in the mid-1960s and then closed its doors in 1987. Today, the site is part of the Wesley Centre, which opened after extensive renovations in 1991.

Notes by Stephen Groenewegen

This newsreel features live footage of The Beatles and their fans during a concert in Sydney during their 1964 tour of Australia.

Concert footage of popular acts was still in its infancy in the 1960s. This professionally shot footage is the result of employing multiple cameras and stylish editing in post-production that effectively captures the phenomena known as 'Beatlemania'.

It's very effective in showing the band performing and perhaps more so in showing the reaction of the fans!

Parts of the clip appear to be sped-up because the frame rate has been adjusted by the filmmaker; whether or not this is deliberate is unknown. Studio recordings of several songs – which don't match the images – have been dubbed over the images, presumably because the sound that was captured live was predominantly screaming!

Despite this, it is an important recording of a significant era in popular culture. The scenes in this clip effectively serve to contextualise the pop culture phenomenon of Beatlemania.

An early summer morning on an almost empty Bondi Beach in Sydney. Local council workers remove rubbish and volunteer lifesavers check their gear, allocate safe surfing areas and practise their lifesaving skills.

Beginning and ending at Bondi, this film captures the essence of Australian beach life – the bodysurfers, boardriders, sunbakers, families, tourists and, of course, those iconic Aussie lifesavers.

From beach inspectors watching for danger to the ice cream vendors helping people cool down, Australia’s major beaches in summer have the hustle and bustle of a small town.

Surf Beach looks at the proud tradition of surf lifesavers, who give up their weekends voluntarily to patrol our beaches, keeping ordinary folks safe from disaster. Witness the thrilling rescue of a young woman who has got herself into trouble, and the military precision of the surf lifesavers as they bring her back to shore.

The highlight of the season is the Surf Life Saving Championships – a marvel of pageantry as surf lifesaving clubs from across Sydney march proudly along the beach, led by the University of New South Wales Regiment brass band.

Beautifully shot and set to a swinging soundtrack, Surf Beach pays tribute to an Australian icon: the beach.

Surf Beach is a National Film Board Production produced by the Commonwealth Film Unit.

The Great Strike is a rare censored film documenting one of Australia’s largest industrial conflicts.

This footage, last seen in 1917, is a unique insight into a crucial moment in the history of the Australian union movement, as well as early 20th century Sydney.

This black-and-white Australasian Gazette newsreel shows highlights of the 1932–1933 England versus Australia cricket series. It starts with footage of the packed stadium, and then to the Australian cricket team walking out onto the field. It includes clips of the first Test in Sydney.

Summary Elizabeth Taggert - Speers

'Nearly 60,000 school children are being given the privilege of crossing the Sydney Harbour Bridge before its opening' in March 1932.

Intertitle reads: 'Rain fails to damp ardor of school children as they stream across bridge on their special day'. 

The Melbourne Herald Newsreel team selected eight-year-old Kenneth Jones to climb to the top of the brand-new bridge. The fearless boy stands atop one of the arches and doesn't seem to be wearing a safety harness as he says to the camera, 'They look like ants down there!'

On 13 March 2017, Seven News Sydney ran a story featuring this footage. Journalist Chris Maher asked the public for information about Kenneth Jones. The Jones family contacted us to advise that Kenneth passed away in the 1980s, but he is survived by his wife Maureen, their five children, and several grandchildren. 

One of Kenneth's granddaughters, Tahlia Jones, sent us an email:

'It’s not every day that you’re watching the news and a family member pops up. It’s sad that he isn’t here to share his experience with you guys. As a granddaughter of Kenneth Jones, seeing this footage makes my heart melt. It’s a shame I never got to meet him, so seeing the film is amazing! My brother, who looks up to my pop so much, is excited about all of this, and I’m sure my other cousins and relatives are happy to know about this.'

We also spoke with Maureen Jones, who said: 'I was a bit shocked. I knew about the Harbour Bridge story, but it sort of took me by shock when I saw it on TV last night. It was a surprise.'

From a Melbourne Herald Newsreel. This item is part of the Roger McKenzie collection.

Notes by Beth Taylor and Miguel Gonzalez

Documentary showcasing Darling Harbour as a busy railway goods yard, long before it became one of Sydney's main destinations for recreation and entertainment.

It features footage shot by transport enthusiast and cinematographer Roger McKenzie and his friend Bernie Kent in the 1960s and 1970s.

This recording was made on 27 March 1966 at central railway Station, Sydney, NSW. It features the whistle of Mikado 59 class engine 5914 leaving Central for Katoomba, preceded by an announcement.

The recording is part of the James Eric Bird Collection of Steam Trains of NSW. Mr Bird was the first manager of the New South Wales Rail Transport Museum, and recorded numerous trains around NSW in the 1960s.

His family would be delighted if his recordings were used and appreciated, so they are downloadable from SoundCloud under a Creative Commons licence and we would love to hear of any use or re-use you may find for them.

This simple home movie clip captures afternoon tea on board a boat at Pittwater, Sydney in 1932. The skipper sits at the stern, drinks tea from a china teapot and lights a cigarette, looking very pleased with himself.

The wider shots are underexposed, leaving the coastline dark and hard to distinguish.

Summary by Elizabeth Taggart-Speers

Sydney was written and recorded in 1927 by Maurice Chenoweth, a well known ‘silvery tenor’.

He had been performing around Australia in a variety of musical styles since the turn of the century ranging from art song, vaudeville and even singing with a jazz band alongside a celebrated lady whistler. 

He describes it on the sheet music as the 'People’s Song’. It is the only composition of his in the National Library’s collection and the only recording held by the NFSA. 

Sydney, c 1927 Maurice Chenoweth – Regal G20032

Summary by Graham McDonald

Before the Bridge – Sydney in the Silent Film Era (1896–1929) is a series of silent film highlights that screened at Martin Place during the 2012 Sydney Film Festival.

Scenes:

Dame Nellie Melba arriving at Central Station, Sydney in 1909. This is the earliest known surviving footage of the famous Australian soprano.

Intertitles: Melba arrives in Sydney.

Excerpt from a 1919 Australasian Gazette newsreel. The Hopetoun Quays residential complex now occupies the former site of the Balmain Colliery, which closed in 1945.

Intertitles: Sydney, NSW. A Difficult Job. Hauling a 30-ton Boiler up a Steep Hill from the Balmain Colliery. Twenty-six horses each doing their bit.

Dramatic footage of the Pastoral Finance Association's Woolstore ablaze at Kirribilli Point in December 1921. A well-known landmark at the time, the destruction of this 7-storey building remains one of inner-Sydney's largest fire disasters.

Film of opening round matches of the 1924 NSWRFL (now NRL) season.

Intertitles: Sydney. Rugby League kicks off. Football season promises to be greatest in history of the game. South Sydney has good, hard-fought triumph over Western Suburbs. At Sports Ground Easts have narrow win from Newtown.

Excerpt from a 1928 documentary on Sydney's busy tramway system. Filmed as huge crowds depart Randwick Racecourse.

Intertitles: A glimpse of the Sydney Cup at Randwick Racecourse. Marshalling hundreds of cars for the return Racecourse Traffic. After the last race the rush commences. An exceptional feat in Tramway Transportation. Trams move the huge crowd at the rate of 1,000 per minute.

Images from the collection of the National Film and Sound Archive curated by Simon Smith.

Before the Bridge – Sydney in the Silent Film Era (1896–1929) is a series of silent film highlights that screened at Martin Place during the 2012 Sydney Film Festival.

Scenes:

Footage filmed on top of a Sydney tram heading south down George Street in 1906.

American boxer Jack Johnson filmed training at Rushcutters Bay in December 1908, in preparation for his World Heavyweight Championship title match at Sydney Stadium against Canadian Tommy Burns.

Daylight saving is introduced to NSW on 1 January 1917. Swimmers flock to Bondi Beach.

Rugby League representative game, SCG, 5 June 1922. New Zealand Maori vs NSW Second Thirteen. This is the earliest known surviving film of rugby league action in Australia.

Excerpt from a government sponsored documentary on the major landmarks of the city of Sydney, circa 1927.

Images from the collection of the National Film and Sound Archive curated by Simon Smith.

Sydney gay and lesbian radio program Gaywaves presenter Dietmar Hollman reports in October 1985 from a rally and AIDS Candlelight Vigil, the first held in Sydney, organised by Sydney City councillors Brian McGahen and Craig Johnston.

The recording includes discussion of the 1985 Public Health Proclaimed Diseases Amendment Act, speeches from Brian McGahen, Craig Johnston, Dorothy McRae-McMahon, Dennis Scott, a performance from July Glen and vox pops from the crowd.

Image from the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives (www.alga.org.au) badge collection

The opening of the Columbia pressing plant in 1926 with its brand new technology of electrical (as distinct from purely acoustic) recording opened the doors to Australian performers to record their music.

Columbia’s Sydney-based factory was followed within a year by Vocalion Records opening a pressing facility in Melbourne.

One of the first local recordings was O! Sydney I Love You, the winner of a song writing competition organized by The Sun newspaper.

On 16 March 1927 the paper enthusiastically reported on the recording session, with Len Maurice and the 2FC Studio Dance Band led by Eric Pearse recording the song.

O! Sydney I Love You, 1927 Len Maurice – Columbia 0610

The cover image for this song is the sheet music for O! Sydney I Love You. Image source: National Library of Australia

Summary written by Graham McDonald

A short sequence of contemporary nightlife in The Rocks, showing it active with live music, restaurants and tourist attractions.

Summary by Damien Parer

A row of houses in Sydney, all displaying balconies made of ironwork. 

Still from the shoot of the documentary Artisans of Australia: Ironcraft, 1984 - Film Australia Collection © NFSA.

In this silent newsreel clip from 16 July 1948, actress Vivien Leigh opens a camellia show at the Killara Memorial Hall in Sydney.

A crowd gathers outside the hall. Inside, Lady Olivier, wearing a fur coat and a hat, walks through the crowd and looks at the flowers. She makes a speech to open the show and is presented with a box of camellias.

Australian Diary 111: Monowai’s Captain Recalls Forty Years of City's Progress. Forty years of Sydney’s progress as seen by the captain of the ship Monowai.

From the Film Australia Collection. Made by the Commonwealth Film Unit in 1959.

Directed by Loch Townsend.