Sidney Nolan (1962) - Collings Productions.The Big Boomerang (1962) - Collings Productions.Night Freighter (1962) – AFI winner for Best Film.Bypass to Life (1962) – AFI winner for Best Film.Three in a Million (1960) – AFI winner for Best Film.The Power Makers (1959) – AFI winner for Best Film.Edge of The Deep (1959) – AFI winner for Best Film.Hard to Windward (1958) – AFI winner for Best Film.Conquest of The Rivers (1958) – AFI winner for Best Film.Jedda (1955) – first Australian film to have two indigenous lead actors.Australia Builds (1957) - Collings Productions.The Long Journey (1954) - Collings Productions.Sons of Matthew (1949) – popular drama by Charles Chauvel.Kokoda Front Line! (1942) – first Australian film to win an Oscar, for Best Documentary Feature in 1942.Forty Thousand Horsemen (1940) – one of the most successful films of its day.Notable Australian films of the 1940s–1950s:
The industry picked back up during the 1970s with one of the first internationally released films, Picnic at Hanging Rock, and with the success of the series of Mad Max franchise films. The mid-1900s had a slow start for Australian film, although the first Academy Award was won for an Australian film, Kokoda Front Line!. Hall, one of the most popular Australian films of the 1930sįor a more comprehensive list, see List of Australian films of the 1940s, List of Australian films of the 1950s, List of Australian films of the 1960s, and List of Australian films of the 1970s. The Squatter's Daughter (1933) – directed by Ken G.In the Wake of the Bounty (1933) – first film to star Errol Flynn, an iconic Australian "swashbuckler" character.On Our Selection (1932) – comedy based on the Dad and Dave stories by Steele Rudd.For the Term of His Natural Life (1927) – based on the novel by Marcus Clarke the most expensive Australian silent film ever made.The Sentimental Bloke (1919) – made by Raymond Longford and Lottie Lyell, one of the first, best known and most successful silent era films with a first-person narrative, the best-known partnership in Australian film at that time.Moora Neya, or The Message of the Spear (1911) – one of the first films to depict Indigenous Australians.The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906) – world's first feature-length film.Inauguration of the Commonwealth (1901) – multiple reel documentary of the Federation of Australia.Soldiers of the Cross (1900) – religious drama produced by the Limelight Department of the Salvation Army.Notable Australian films of the early 1900s: Social Salvation (1898) – documentary about living conditions produced by Herbert Booth for the Salvation Army in Australia.Prince Ranjitsinhji Practising Batting in the Nets (1897) – featuring Ranjitsinhji one of the earliest surviving cricket films.Patineur Grotesque (1897) – comedy roller-skater routine originally filmed in 1896.The Melbourne Cup (1896) – multiple reel sports documentary of the Melbourne Cup Carnival.Passengers Alighting from Ferry Brighton at Manly (1896) – first film produced and screened in Australia.For a more comprehensive list, see List of Australian films before 1910, List of Australian films of the 1910s, List of Australian films of the 1920s, and List of Australian films of the 1930s.Īustralian filmmakers were at the forefront of cinema and film, having created what is considered the first feature-length narrative film with the release of The Story of the Kelly Gang and other early films by directors John Gavin, W.