WARNING: this article may contain names, images or voices of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

To mark Home Movie Day 2019, the NFSA is participating in an event organised by the Centre for Home Movies. Commencing at 12:00pm (Universal Coordinated Time) on Sunday 27 October 2019 – also the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage – the ‘Home Movie Day and Night: 24-Hour Marathon‘ showcases home movies from around the world.

It will be webcast online for 24 hours (on YouTube) with one hour from each time zone allowing viewers to experience the similarities and differences of home movies worldwide.

The NFSA has contributed an hour of content across the three time zones which Australia straddles to reflect the theme of the event: ‘People and Places: Home Movies of Where We Live’.

Below you can watch a clip from each of the three time zones.

Migrating to Western Australia (Western time zone)

Pioneering Hungarian filmmaker Gustav Kovacs emigrated to Australia on board the ship Anna Salen, arriving in Fremantle, WA on 31 December 1950. This silent black-and-white clip includes shots of life on board the boat, arriving in Australia, migrant camps at Northam and Graylands and first impressions of Perth and Scarborough Beach in 1951:

Centralian Journey (Central Australian time zone)

This silent colour footage from 1952 shows Ian Wood and his wife getting into their green jeep and leaving their hometown of Rainbow, Victoria for a journey into central Australia. Along the way we see scenes of a cattle station with Aboriginal stock workers and views of Alice Springs. They also visit an Aboriginal community at Yuendumu in the Northern Territory:

Bondi and the Bridge in 1937 (Eastern Australian time zone)

Herbert Browne's black-and-white silent home movie shows scenes from a family holiday in Sydney, 1937. We see harbour views, a car journey over the newly completed Sydney Harbour Bridge and swimming and diving at Bondi Beach:

More Marathon

The NFSA selections for the Home Movie Marathon show the diverse nature of Australia and Australians, ranging from the west coast right across to the east and including Papua New Guinea.

The earliest piece is a segment of a home movie from around 1924 taken by cinematographer Ernest Higgins on 35mm nitrate film and showing family life in Tasmania.

There is also footage of a South Australian dust storm, life in the top end during the Second World War, 1960s Melbourne and a Sydney supermarket experience from the 1960s. 

Follow the link for further information on Home Movie Day 2019. Watch more home movie clips on our website by following the 'More to Explore' links below.