In this clip, film critic and presenter Bill Collins reports from the 1976 Cannes Film Festival for a Channel 7 TV special called Australia in Cannes.

It is a year after the end of the Second World War and Australians are hungry for the romance and elegance of French fashion.

Mark Foy's department store's iconic Liverpool Street store in Sydney, dubbed 'The Piazza', is the setting for this French-themed fashion parade in 1956.

In 2012, Kylie made a return to the silver screen in the French fantasy drama Holy Motors (2012), directed by Leos Carax.  

'Quelle belle journée' ('What a lovely day') reads the tagline on this French poster for the release of Mad Max: Fury Road.

 Australia In Cannes 1976 in which Collins' interviews key Australian filmmakers at the festival.

 Australia In Cannes 1976 in which Collins' interviews key Australian filmmakers at the festival.

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

An excerpt of a Mark Foy's fashion parade in 1956 from Fashion Parades at Mark Foy’s (1947–56), Film Australia Collection, NFSA.

The NFSA recently acquired a Polyorama Panoptique, a 19th century French optical toy.