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New directions
Embracing TikTok videos and delving into mobile games, our collection is now Extremely Online. Encounter a witty tarot reader, explore the Daintree from your desktop, put your word skills to the test, and hear from the best minds in gaming.
Krystal Klairvoyant’s magikal TikTok series
Pops of colour, slick editing and rich costuming draw you into the acerbic and funny world of TikTok series Krystal Klairvoyant.
Online tarot reader Krystal (Nancy Dennis) discovers she’s a witch when she accidentally casts spells on her clients. Featuring cameos from Aussie greats like Leah Purcell, this series takes a snappy and humorous approach to exploring agoraphobia and trauma while incorporating the dynamic user experience of TikTok.
Tapping into the popular realm of social networking platform experience, Krystal Klairvoyant shows that wildly engaging content that packs a punch can come in small (short!) packages!
Gondwana is a multi-sensory VR installation condensing 100 years of climate data into a single day.
It transports users into an interactive digital version of the Daintree Rainforest, displaying different possible futures for the forest based on climate projections up to the year 2090.
The installation screened at SXSW, Sundance Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival and CPH:DOX in Copenhagen. Creators Ben Joseph Andrews and Emma Roberts spent five months researching the project while off-grid in the World Heritage-listed Daintree.
Gubbins is the inaugural game by Melbourne-based indie developer Studio Folly, developed with support from Screen Australia.
The puzzle game is described as 'Solitaire meets Scrabble'. Players use tiles to construct words that can be helped (or messed up) by mischievous cartoon characters known as Gubbins.
Released on iOS and Android, Gubbins is representative of the growing popularity of mobile gaming over the last two decades.
SIFTER’s Lightmap podcast explores what goes into making a video game as told by the creative teams making games and the journalists and academics writing about gaming culture.
In 2023, the podcast highlighted guests like Ben Ward and Tim Malony, respectively the creative director and producer behind Dros (2023). It also featured composer River Boy (Narayana Johnsson), who produced a soundtrack for Cult of the Lamb (2022) with everything from vocal sampling to bansuri; and the Fuzzy Ghost team, whose latest game, Janet DeMornay is a Slumlord (and a witch) (2024), explores found family and the perils of renting.
Monumental sport moments
In 2023, the NFSA documented a year of sports firsts. The Matildas shattered records, Sylvia Nulpinditj made history, and Annette Kellerman returned to the spotlight.
The Matildas defeat France in the quarter final of the 2023 FIFA World Cup. Weekend Today, 13 August 2023. NFSA title: 1733037
The Matildas' World Cup triumph
Australia was captivated by the Matildas' performance during the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
Not only did they win the hearts of the nation, they smashed television rating records – reaching 11.15 million viewers during their semifinal game against England, rewriting history and inspiring a new generation of football fans.
With star player Sam Kerr and a strong and driven team led by their determined coach, Tony Gustavsson, the Matildas brought the nation together and ultimately achieved fourth place: their best finish at a World Cup.
Watch Weekend Today's wrap of the Matildas' match against France featuring the nailbiting, history-making, penalty shoot-out that earned Australia a place in the World Cup semifinal for the first time.
This story was captured through the NFSA's Newscaf program, a permanent initiative established in 1988 to acquire television news and current affairs bulletins from around the country thanks to ongoing support and commitment from our Australian broadcast partners.
Sylvia Nulpinditj: AFL pioneer
As Hawthorn battled it out with Gold Coast during the AFL's Sir Doug Nicholls Round in Darwin in 2022, a significant milestone in both AFL and First Nations history was happening in the commentary box. Yolgnu woman Sylvia Nulpinditj became the first woman to commentate an entire AFL game in a First Nations language.
Watch an ABC Darwin news report that captured the historical importance of the moment.
Annette Kellerman's cinematic dive
Champion swimmer, fitness entrepreneur and movie star, Sydney-born Annette Kellerman (1886-1975) was a fearless pioneer.
This extremely rare poster is for the short film Miss Annette Kellerman, which was produced in New York in 1909. Kellerman later earned the nickname ‘The Million Dollar Mermaid’ after the box-office hit Neptune's Daughter (Herbert Brenon, USA, 1914).
Australian explorations
Our curators celebrate and document narratives from every nook of the nation, championing communities, cultures, and landscapes in a rich tapestry of Australian stories.
Exploring the ancient Larapinta
Larapinta is a documentary series about the world's oldest river, guided by Arrernte Luritja woman Talia Liddle. This powerful series explores the deep ecological and cultural history of Larapinta (Finke River) as Talia travels its length.
Through interviews with Traditional Owners on Country and beautiful sweeping cinematography, Larapinta gives voice to the river. The series bears witness to the experiences of First Nations people accessing their homelands and advocating for the river’s ongoing care and respect.
Series two of the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia podcast From the Embers revisits towns impacted by the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires.
The series gives voice to the people affected by the disaster and records the resilience of communities as they rebuild and face the added hardships of floods and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hear an excerpt from episode 1 of From The Embers 2: Phoenix
Travelogue of Eastern States provides a fascinating glimpse into late 1920s Australia.
Digitised from the original tinted 35mm nitrate reel, stunning colours were discovered upon scanning, bringing vibrancy to the moving images featuring iconic Australian city and landscapes scenes.
It begins with views of a sparsely populated Canberra, a sharp contrast to scenes of a busy Sydney Harbour, Bondi Beach and Melbourne's St Kilda Road. The travelogue shows the Illawarra coastline from the tops of Bulli as well as the wonders of the Blue Mountains and the Jenolan Caves, giving an insight into technology and places of interest at the time.
3ZZZ began broadcasting in Melbourne in 1989 and is regarded as Australia’s largest multicultural community radio station.
With 120 programs on its weekly schedule, 3ZZZ broadcasts in many languages. It is also the first community radio station to be added to the NFSA’s off-air radio capture program, with more to come.
Gaming evolutions
The NFSA's video game collection continues to expand rapidly as the institution continues to evolve in response to trends in multimedia, interactive and new media production and consumption in the 21st century.
8-bit wonderland
Released in 1983, Horace Goes Skiing is the second instalment of the Horace series created by William Tang for Beam Software.
Reminiscent of the arcade game Frogger, the player must safely move Horace across a busy road to hire skis before hitting the slopes and navigating a ski course.
Horace Goes Skiing was released for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Dragon 32.
Visualising 1980s gaming
Graphic artist Russel Comte designed some of Australia’s most recognisable games of the 1980s and 1990s. This collection of original art includes drawings of Gino’s pool hall from the Mugsy sequel, Mugsy’s Revenge (1986), concept art for the boxing game Sgt Slaughter’s Mat Wars (1989) and hand-drawn maps for the monster truck racing game Bigfoot (1990).
This image features one of Russel Comte's hand-drawn maps for the monster truck racing game Bigfoot (1990), created for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).
Comte’s imaginings - coded into pixels and played on the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and NES - are emblematic of the era of 8-bit gaming.
Multimedia marvels of Amiga
These software 'demos' were produced for the Amiga computer by the Australian demo group Decay in 1990, and feature Steve Vizard and Derryn Hinch in an unofficial capacity, screen-captured from their TV programs at the time. 'Demos' were audiovisual demonstrations of the multimedia capabilities of a computer in the form of a computer program. Rival groups made up of artists, coders, and musicians competed to produce the best demos that could push the limits of a computer. In the pre-web era, these demos were distributed on floppy disks (either swapped in person or sent in the mail) or downloaded (very slowly) by dialling into a bulletin board.
Steampunk-inspired gameplay
Dros (2023) is an adventure platformer inspired by 1980s dark fantasy films, with nods to steampunk and anime aesthetics.
In the game, the player switches between a little slimy creature and her human shell to solve puzzles and explore a world corrupted by Alchemy.
That steampunk-inspired world consists of 40 crafted stages to explore. EmergeWorlds, the Brisbane-based developers, envisaged each Dros stage like a modelled diorama set.
Dros received funding from the Screen Australia Games: Expansion Pack program.
Australian games: the early years
The late Darryll Reynolds had a prolific career as an independent video game and software developer, creating illustrated text adventure games such as King Solomon’s Mines (1983), The Secret of Bastow Manor (1983) and Thermonuclearwargames (1984).
This collection of Reynolds’ material includes software and accompanying documentation such as working notes and diagrams on gameplay design, printed computer code, and organisational papers, which give insight into the first two decades of the video games industry in Australia.
Personal stories
Adding new films, TV, shorts, and web series in 2023, NFSA showcases distinct Australian voices that are resonating globally.
The remarkable odyssey of Georgie Stone
From award-winning director Maya Newell (In My Blood It Runs) and acclaimed producer Sophie Hyde (52 Tuesdays), the documentary short The Dreamlife of Georgie Stone was 19 years in the making.
Transgender teen Georgie Stone pursues legislative change and faces public opinion whilst affirming her gender and finding her voice. The film had an Australian Parliament screening and panel event and has streamed in over 90 languages in 190 countries via Netflix.
Watch a clip from The Dreamlife of Georgie Stone
Created by and starring Aussie husband-and-wife team Patrick Brammall and Harriet Dyer, Colin from Accounts has become a fan favourite thanks to its awkward (and at times relatable!) romantic comedy.
Now renewed for a second season, Colin from Accounts has streamed in the US and UK and won the 2023 Logie Awards for Most Outstanding Actress, Actor and Comedy Program.
Watch a clip from the first episode of Colin from Accounts featuring Patrick Brammall, Harriet Dyer and Annie Maynard
Made from a semi-autobiographical script by writer-director Noor Niasari, the Australian feature film Shayda (2023) tells the story of an Iranian immigrant (Zar Amir Ebrahimi) finding refuge from domestic violence in a suburban Melbourne women’s shelter.
Executive-produced by Cate Blanchett, Shayda premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and opened the Melbourne International Film Festival. Niasari was nominated for Best First-Time Feature Director at the Directors Guild of America awards.
Watch a clip from Shayda featuring Zar Amir Ebrahimi and Leah Purcell
This web series combines queer sexual health education with a rom-com storyline.
When Saffie (Gemma Bird Matheson) discovers she has herpes, she reaches out to Bek (Kasia Vickery), the one-night stand who ghosted her – and the only person she’s ever slept with.
Created by Matheson and Vickery, the series premiered at the Mardi Gras Film Festival in 2023 and is hosted by Wear It Purple. Matheson also wrote for and appeared in the web series The Housemate (2017) and TV series The PM's Daughter (2022).
Watch a clip from Me and Her(pes)
Warning: this clip contains sexual references
Iconic sounds
Our curators continue to collect significant sound recordings covering all genres and eras. Other additions to the collection come through valuable partnerships and donations.
Kylie's pop-dance revival
The Mushroom Group is Australia’s largest independent music company. It contains several music labels focusing on various genres, including Bloodlines, Ivy League and Liberation Records. Over the last three years, the NFSA has collected all releases relating to Australian artists under the Mushroom banner.
Kylie Minogue's 'Padam Padam' (2023) was the lead single from her 16th studio album, Tension (2023). It became her first UK Top 10 and Australian Top 20 single in more than 10 years and won the inaugural award for Best Pop Dance Recording at the 66th Grammy Awards and Best Pop Release at the ARIA Awards.
Mushroom Records masterpieces
‘Chance to Lose Control’ is taken from Dan Sultan’s 5th album, Dan Sultan (2023). A proud Arrernte Gurindji man, the award-winning singer-songwriter, said the song is about finding peace with yourself.
Other Mushroom Group artists whose music was collected through this partnership include Archie Roach, the Teskey Brothers, DMA’s, Confidence Man, the Rubens and Maina Doe.
Rocking against tradition
The Vamps broke the mould by becoming Australia’s first all-female rock band in April 1965.
This audio documentary by Holly Alexander features interviews with band founder and guitarist Margaret Britt and bassist Joy Carroll.
Learn more about the Vamps and listen to the audio documentary The Vamps: Australia's First All-Female Rock Band (2022)
New-old discoveries
In 2023, rare gems surfaced – a 1920s newsreel, an extensive century-old glass slide collection, and a selection of magazine ads spotlighting Australia's video games' global successes.
Gaumont Graphic newsreel, c1920
Silent-era splendour
This silent Gaumont Graphic newsreel contains two segments. ‘Fashions for Ladies’ is thought to show footage of famous ballroom dancer and 1920s flapper Irene Castle with her pet monkey Rastus on the boardwalk in Long Beach, New York.
‘Food of the Gods’ follows the cocoa production process in Trinidad. This newsreel is uniquely coloured by combining two silent-era methods - a tint and a stencil-colouring process – making this clip especially rare and unusual.
Marketing Aussie games
Beam Software and Melbourne House developed and published many of Australia’s iconic early video games. Pulled from the pages of international computer game magazines, such as the UK publication ZZAP!64, these advertisements show the reach and popularity of Australian games like The Hobbit (1982) and The Way of the Exploding Fist (1985).
The image above shows part of an advertisement for Judge Dredd. Follow this link to view more.
Magic lanterns and glass slides
The Reverend Percy Edwards Visual Archive is an extensive collection of glass slides, equipment and manuscripts that has been in the Edwards family for six generations.
The magic lantern pictured above, manufactured in London by W Watson and Sons, projected glass slides and is considered a forerunner of the film projector. Philanthropist Fred Grimwade gifted a magic lantern to Percy Edwards in 1898.
This glass slide is from a series titled 'Farewell to Old England'.
The Rev. Percy Edwards Visual Archive was donated to the NFSA by the Edwards Family of Melbourne.
Behind the scenes
The NFSA’s oral history program continues to capture the personal recollections of key people in Australia’s audiovisual industry. Among the oral histories recorded recently were animation pioneer Antoinette Starkiewicz and award-winning filmmaker Jessica Douglas-Henry.
Excerpt from oral history interview with Antoinette Starkiewicz by Paul Harris, 2022. NFSA title: 1696116
Identity through animation
In this clip from her oral history interview, Antoinette talks about her film Pussy Pumps Up (1979), which was the winner of the inaugural AFI Award for Best Short Animation in 1980. Antoinette explains that the film deals with gender and identity fluidity, realised through the animated 'line'.
Antoinette was interviewed by Paul Harris at the NFSA's Melbourne offices in late 2022.
Antoinette Starkiewicz (1949-2023), who arrived in Australia with her family from Poland in 1960, was an animator with a highly distinctive style who created many groundbreaking and celebrated animated short films.
Identity through animation
In this clip from her oral history interview, Antoinette talks about her film Pussy Pumps Up (1979), which was the winner of the inaugural AFI Award for Best Short Animation in 1980. Antoinette explains that the film deals with gender and identity fluidity, realised through the animated 'line'.
Antoinette was interviewed by Paul Harris at the NFSA's Melbourne offices in late 2022.
Excerpt from oral history interview with Jessica Douglas-Henry by Rod Freedman, 2023. NFSA title: 1722302
Bold, brave storytelling
In 1991, Jessica formed Iris Pictures with Mary-Ellen Mullane. From 2014 to 2021, Jessica was executive producer of Compass, the ABC's flagship faith and ethics series.
In this clip from her oral history, Jessica talks about her documentary Anna's Adventure (2009), a bold and challenging cross-platform project in which Dr Anna Donald shared her experience of living with a terminal illness.
Jessica Douglas-Henry is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, director, producer and executive producer with more than 40 years' experience in the film and television industry.
Bold, brave storytelling
In 1991, Jessica formed Iris Pictures with Mary-Ellen Mullane. From 2014 to 2021, Jessica was executive producer of Compass, the ABC's flagship faith and ethics series.
In this clip from her oral history, Jessica talks about her documentary Anna's Adventure (2009), a bold and challenging cross-platform project in which Dr Anna Donald shared her experience of living with a terminal illness.
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia acknowledges Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and live and gives respect to their Elders both past and present.