Help the NFSA do more
Other ways to Support Us
Tagged: cinemas
Collection
This collection about Australian picture palaces is dedicated to the enduring pleasures of cinemagoing.
At the time of writing, the COVID-19 pandemic has closed cinemas across Australia – but it is...
Collection
What did Australians watch at their local cinema during the First World War?
During the 1910s huge picture palaces flourished across the country and going to the pictures was a big social event....
Article
CineCity Canberra: 1913–2013 is a free exhibition highlighting the diversity of the enduring connection between Canberra and its residents with film through stills, photographs, posters and the...
Video
A Movietone News newsreel story about the premiere of the Oscar-winning In Old Chicago (Henry King, USA, 1937) at the Regent Theatre in Sydney on 21 May 1938.
Guests at the premiere include the Lord...
Video
Crowds line the footpath of the Grand Cinema in Footscray. A bicycle’s sign advertises a children’s talent quest grand final. Jack Perry (Zig) and Doug McKenzie (Zag) perform their Zig and Zag clown...
Video
Workers on the roof and outside a Christian church in Paisley Street, Footscray, prepare it for demolition. A sign at the front of the church reads, 'This land has been secured by the Federal Picture...
Video
A newsreel clip about a special preview of the film King Rat (Bryan Forbes, USA, 1965) at the Barclay Theatre in Melbourne. The film portrays life in the Changi prisoner-of-war camp in Singapore.
At...
Video
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...
Video
This silent newsreel from 30 July 1948 shows Sir Laurence Olivier and his wife Vivien Leigh attending a charity matinee of Hamlet (Laurence Olivier, UK, 1948) at the Embassy Theatre in Sydney.
A...
Video
A short film segment with inter-titles highlighting the benefits of the newly rebuilt North Sydney Orpheum Theatre.
Notable features include a lounge, cloakroom and – more unusually – hat clips on...