NFSA brings rare historic footage of Orange to town

Locals in Orange will have the opportunity to see extremely rare footage of the town, when the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA) joins with the Orange and District Historical Society to present a special sold out screening next Wednesday 1 August.

On screen will be beautiful footage of Orange taken in 1927. The 35 minute film was discovered by Alan Press, a projectionist at the Strand Theatre, taken to the NFSA in Canberra and the first stage of reassembling the film has now been completed. With the help of members of the Orange and District Historical Society, led by Ross Maroney, the film’s title cards have been matched to the correct scenes as far as possible.

The NFSA is now looking for more information from the audience in Orange, and to hopefully identify some more of the people in the film.

Michael Loebenstein, CEO of the NFSA, says that films such as this one are a delight. ‘They bring back to life the memory of a community and it is the role of the NFSA to preserve such films and the precious history they capture.’

Publicity officer for the Orange Historical Society Liz Edwards says viewers will see Orange as it was more than 80 years ago. ‘It was a much smaller town in 1927 with only about 8500 inhabitants, but the film shows the school children, workers, aldermen, firemen and all the other people who made up the fabric of the town.’

The evening will commence with drinks and finger food at 6pm and the film will screen at 7pm. The film will be accompanied by talented local musician Donna Riles on piano.

Liz says that because of popular demand, the Historical Society is looking to organize future screenings. Collins Bookshop in Orange is keeping a waiting list for these screenings.

Revenue from the evening will go to support the work of the Orange and District Historical Society.

Note: Interviews with Jennifer Coombes, Film Curator from the NFSA, can be arranged and a clip of the footage is available.

Media contact: David Hogan on (02) 6248 2002 or david.hogan@nfsa.gov.au