Film & Sound News

Featured articles

List of articles

Mar 2018
Rachel Ward holds a rose and turns her head to look at the camera in a scene from The Thorn Birds

Rachel Ward on The Thorn Birds

To mark 35 years since the premiere of The Thorn Birds mini-series, we take a look at the original costume design sketches in the NFSA collection and talk to Rachel Ward.

By Tenille Hands / 26 Mar 2018
Object
Television
Singer Jeff St John in a recording studio, seated in a wheelchair, wearing headphones and singing with eyes closed into a microphone.

Vale Jeff St John

We pay tribute to one of Australia’s greatest rock voices.

By Thorsten Kaeding / 9 Mar 2018
Sound
Politician Dr Carmen Lawrence talking at a press conference. She has many microphones in front of her.

Newscaf: Female firsts

Looking back at some of the female firsts in Australian history as captured through the NFSA's Television News and Current Affairs Program (Newscaf).

By Beth Taylor / 7 Mar 2018
Television
Seven blue rings sit on a black background. There are people in each ring. Clockwise from left a model wearing an 80s dress, The Village People strike a pose, Mike Walsh, Jeanne Little, John Cleese, John Michael Howson and a woman with a hair hat.

Mike Walsh and friends

As well as featuring the biggest stars from around the world, The Mike Walsh Show kept Aussies entertained with a bevy of quirky guests.

By Beth Taylor / 2 Mar 2018
Television
A growling grass frog sitting on the fingers of a man's hand

Protecting wildlife through sound

Sound Curator Tessa Elieff celebrates World Wildlife Day with a selection of field recordings of unique Australian wildlife.

By Tessa Elieff / 1 Mar 2018
Sound
Feb 2018
A pink and grey Astor 7 transistor radio from the 1950s or 1960s

Top 40 radio turns 60

Sixty years ago this month, the Top 40 pop chart helped bring the golden age of radio to a close and kickstarted a new era.

By Chris Arneil / 28 Feb 2018
Oral History
Radio
A Sydney protest march in the late 1970s with young people walking under a banner that reads 'Stop police attacks on gays, women and blacks!'

The first Sydney Mardi Gras

On the 40th anniversary of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, a new NFSA digital restoration of the documentary Witches, Faggots, Dykes and Poofters goes back to where it all started.

By Stephen Groenewegen / 26 Feb 2018
Film
Winifred Atwell playing the piano and smiling while two men film her with a 35mm film camera next to the piano

Winifred Atwell in Australia

Meet the Amazing Miss A - popular ragtime pianist Winifred Atwell, who conquered the charts in the 1950s and later made Australia her home.

By Stephen Groenewegen / 23 Feb 2018
Sound
A panic-stricken Louie the Fly from the 1962 animated Mortein pest spray TV advertisement

Louie the Fly

A look at the creation of the iconic 'Louie the Fly' jingle, named by the NFSA in 2018 as one of the Sounds of Australia.

By Amanda Diaz / 21 Feb 2018
Sound
Television
Merle Oberon reclining on a chaise longue

Merle Oberon: The Lost Tasmanian

On her birthday, we share images of Merle Oberon from the NFSA's Taussig Film Stills Collection. Publicity for the Hollywood star always claimed she was born in Tasmania but a different story emerged after her death.

By Tenille Hands / 16 Feb 2018
Film
Photographs