Rows of red cinema seats in the NFSA Theatrette.
https://www.nfsa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-05/Theatrette%20%282%29%202%20%281%29.png

Drop-In Docos

Free weekend screenings of Australian documentaries 

Every weekend, drop in for free documentaries in the NFSA Theatrette. Four thought-provoking Australian documentaries will show on rotation, offering a window into key moments and conversations in our history and culture. Films will screen at 11am and 1.30pm every Saturday and Sunday. Admission is free and no bookings are required – stay for 10 minutes or settle in for the full screening. 

The Theatrette is the perfect place to spend a cosy morning or afternoon immersed in Australia’s audiovisual culture. Enjoy a coffee in the courtyard before or after the doco and discover other screening in the Mediatheque or on display in The Library, Kookaburra Room or in our Recent Relics installation. Explore what’s on offer in our heritage building 

Screenings commence at 11am and 1.30pm every Saturday and Sunday – drop in at any time throughout the screening. Entry is free and no bookings are required.

A black-and-white film showing on the big screen in the NFSA Theatrette.
https://www.nfsa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-05/Theatrette%20%282%29%201.png

 

Current program

Bombora – The Story of Australian Surfing delves into the history of one of our favourite summer pastimes, while Harder than Everest follows an epic trek through snow and ice to summit Gasherbrum IV. Meanwhile, A Calcutta Christmas and Broken Journey, Mending Dreams explore culture and identity in post-colonial and migrant contexts across India and Vietnam.  

Bombora – The Story of Australian Surfing (two-part series) 

2009 | M | 110 mins | AUS | D: Paul Clarke, Greg Appel

A man in board shorts standing next to 8 colourfully illustrated surfboards leaning against a fence
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A definitive history of surfing in Australia as told by our surfing champions, writers, pioneers, entrepreneurs, mavericks, legends, drop-outs and drop-ins.  

Bombora – The Story of Australian Surfing Episode 1 (55 mins) Director: Paul Clarke   

Global surfing culture is a mix of wildness, grace and cool that is utterly Australian, but how did a nation of people, who mostly couldn’t swim, turn a Polynesian pastime into a national obsession and international cultural force? From the time we first took on the waves in the late 19th century, Australians were hooked on surfing. Episode one of Bombora looks at the early years of Australian surf history from 1830 to 1964. 

Bombora – The Story of Australian Surfing Episode 2 (55 mins) Director: Greg Appel  

With the Vietnam War came an influx of drugs, and surfers embraced the counterculture and dropped out of society to country towns along the coast. Elsewhere, a group of entrepreneurial surfers began backyard businesses making wetsuits and board shorts. Episode two of Bombora looks at the later years of Australian surf history from 1967 to the present. 

 

A Calcutta Christmas 

1998 | Not Classified | 52 mins | AUS | D: Maree Delofski 

Three elderly people smiling at the camera
https://www.nfsa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-11/Calcutta%20Christmas.png

Hidden in the middle of noisy, vibrant Calcutta is a quiet oasis, the Tollygunge Home, a refuge for 35 elderly Anglo-Indians. In stark contrast to the rest of post-colonial India, the residents of Tollygunge cling to the belief that Britain is their true home. A Calcutta Christmas is a gentle portrait of life inside this forgotten community.  

 

Harder than Everest 

1987 | G | 59 mins | AUS | D: Tim Macartney-Snape, Bob Connolly 

A climber making their way up a steep snow-covered mountain
https://www.nfsa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-11/Harder%20Than%20Everest.png

An adventure film about Tim Macartney-Snape’s incredible expedition to climb Gasherbrum IV – an 8,000-metre symmetrical pyramid mountain of rock and ice on the border of Pakistan and China in the Karakoram Range of the western Himalaya.  Macartney-Snape was the first in the team to reach the summit, a climb he said was 'harder than Everest’.  

 

Broken Journey, Mending Dreams  

1992 | Not Classified | 56 mins | AUS | D: Jim Landels, Hanh Tran 

A man smiling and looking backwards as he walks between two stationary trains in Vietnam. Around him are people walking, watching and looking at the camera
https://www.nfsa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-11/Broken%20Journey%2C%20Mending%20Dreams.png

After 18 years in Australia, Hanh Tran is making his first journey home to Vietnam, fulfilling a long-held dream. Amidst the reunion of tears and laughter, an extraordinary family saga emerges. Broken Journey, Mending Dreams is not just about Hanh’s family but also about a society in transition. Hanh compares contemporary Vietnam with his life in Australia, admitting to ‘stepping in and out of being an insider and an outsider’. 

 

Screening times 

Date 

11am 

1.30pm 

SAT 15 FEB 

Bombora – The Story of Australian Surfing 

Broken Journey, Mending Dreams 

SUN 16 FEB 

A Calcutta Christmas 

Harder Than Everest 

SAT 22 FEB 

Harder Than Everest 

A Calcutta Christmas 

SUN 23 FEB 

Broken Journey, Mending Dreams 

Bombora – The Story of Australian Surfing 

SAT 1 MAR 

Bombora – The Story of Australian Surfing 

Broken Journey, Mending Dreams 

SUN 2 MAR 

A Calcutta Christmas 

Harder Than Everest 

SAT 8 MAR 

Harder Than Everest 

A Calcutta Christmas 

SUN 9 MAR 

Broken Journey, Mending Dreams 

Bombora – The Story of Australian Surfing 

SAT 15 MAR 

Bombora – The Story of Australian Surfing 

Broken Journey, Mending Dreams 

SUN 16 MAR 

A Calcutta Christmas 

Harder Than Everest 

SAT 22 MAR 

Harder Than Everest 

A Calcutta Christmas 

SUN 23 MAR 

Broken Journey, Mending Dreams 

Bombora – The Story of Australian Surfing 

SAT 29 MAR 

Bombora – The Story of Australian Surfing 

Broken Journey, Mending Dreams 

SUN 30 MAR 

A Calcutta Christmas 

Harder Than Everest 

SAT 5 APR 

Harder Than Everest 

A Calcutta Christmas 

SUN 6 APR 

Broken Journey, Mending Dreams 

Bombora – The Story of Australian Surfing 

SAT 12 APR  

Bombora – The Story of Australian Surfing 

Broken Journey, Mending Dreams 

SUN 13 APR 

A Calcutta Christmas 

Harder Than Everest 

SAT 19 APR 

Harder Than Everest 

A Calcutta Christmas 

SUN 20 APR 

Broken Journey, Mending Dreams 

Bombora – The Story of Australian Surfing 

SAT 26 APR 

Bombora – The Story of Australian Surfing 

Broken Journey, Mending Dreams 

SUN 27 APR 

A Calcutta Christmas 

Harder Than Everest 

SAT 3 MAY 

Harder Than Everest 

A Calcutta Christmas 

SUN 4 MAY 

Broken Journey, Mending Dreams 

Bombora – The Story of Australian Surfing 

SAT 10 MAY 

Bombora – The Story of Australian Surfing 

Broken Journey, Mending Dreams 

SUN 11 MAY 

A Calcutta Christmas 

Harder Than Everest 

SAT 17 MAY 

Harder Than Everest 

A Calcutta Christmas 

SUN 18 MAY 

Broken Journey, Mending Dreams 

Bombora – The Story of Australian Surfing 

SAT 24 MAY 

Bombora – The Story of Australian Surfing 

Broken Journey, Mending Dreams 

SUN 25 MAY 

A Calcutta Christmas 

Harder Than Everest 

SAT 31 MAY 

Harder Than Everest 

A Calcutta Christmas 

SUN 1 JUN 

Broken Journey, Mending Dreams 

Bombora – The Story of Australian Surfing