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Apr 2019
Three women pose for the camera. One wears a white wedding gown. The other two are bridesmaids in pink.

Vintage fashion in colour

Mark Foy's fashion parades from the 1940s and '50s, featuring designers Pierre Balmain and Schiaparelli, captured in gorgeous colour footage.

By Beth Taylor / 29 Apr 2019
Film
Mar 2019
A partly colourised photo of a nautical-themed float in a 1930s street parade. On the float a woman dressed in white sits on a large-scale model of a sea creature.

Australia in Colour

The NFSA provided nearly three-quarters of the footage used in the groundbreaking four-part series Australia in Colour.

Film
Television
Black and white portrait of actress Betty Bryant wit her elbows resting on a piano accordian and her face in her hands.

Starstruck: Betty Bryant

A look at Betty Bryant, once Australia’s most famed film ingénue, who features in the exhibition Starstruck: Australian Movie Portraits, now open on the Gold Coast.

By Tenille Hands / 6 Mar 2019
Film
Object
Photographs
Nov 2018
Black and white still of the back of a number 18 South Melbourne tram in the 1910s.

Marvellous Melbourne

Take a step back in time and discover the charm of Melbourne more than a century ago.

By Jemma Pietrus / 12 Nov 2018
Film
Oct 2018
Blue and white film cans sit on a blue mental shelf

World Day for Audiovisual Heritage

World Day for Audiovisual Heritage 2018 takes place on 27 October. The NFSA's Gayle Lake and Richard Vorobieff discuss the significance of preserving our heritage.

By Rachael Priddel / 26 Oct 2018
Two men and a woman. One man lights a cigarette while a mysterious hand reaches for him. The woman looks terrified. The other man holds a gun.

Horror Radio

For Halloween, we're sharing three full-length episodes of popular horror and thriller radio serials of the 1940s and 50s.

By Chris Arneil / 26 Oct 2018
Radio
Sep 2018

Wirth's Circus home movies

Film curator Tara Marynowsky looks at a preserved collection of 16mm home movies of Wirth's Circus and the family that ran it.

By Tara Marynowsky / 10 Sep 2018
Film
Photographs
Nov 2017
Female lifesavers from Terrigal Surf Life Saving Club participate in a march past

Australia's first female lifesavers

Australia's first female lifesavers are being formally recognised for their service, more than 70 years after they patrolled Terrigal beach.

By Amanda Diaz / 16 Nov 2017
Film
Oct 2017
A screen hanging in a garage in Wollongong, part of the 1940s home cinema set-up of film projectionist Eddie Vormister

Home cinema, 1940s style

Meet 99-year-old Eddie Vormister and his homemade film projector.

By Jessica Bolton / 25 Oct 2017
Object
A woman wearing a pink foundation garment stands amidst art deco design elements suggesting power and lightening.

Berlei's Beauty in the Balance

Berlei cinema and television advertisements and educational glass slides from the 1920s to the 1960s offer a window onto Australian fashion and social mores.

By Beth Taylor / 9 Oct 2017
Film
Object