One of the fun things I used to do as Education and Public Activities Officer, then later with my Research & Academic Outreach Program, was to make up catchy titles for talks, lectures, media and publications. Across 40 years there have been more than a few that I remember fondly. What has also come down the years now recollecting on NFSA’s 40th anniversary, is the joy and serious intent contained in the education of Australia’s cultural heritage for its preservation and public presentation.

Some of the titles and what they were about:

Raiders of the Lost Archive – on silent cinema and the loss of so much

Mighty Mums: The Female Action Hero as Mother – on Mothers’ Day

Keepin’ Silent – for a catalogue of Australian Silent Cinema

Virgins, Vamps and Heroines: Women of Australia’s Silent Cinema & “Tall Timbers: Felling the Myths: “Excuse me, but I’m the heroine. I don’t need that bloke to rescue me.”- Women in Film and Television Film Festival, Sydney

The Galloping Girls of the Bush – Women in early Australian Film

Harry Potter for Grownups – for ABC radio

The Game is Up! – Educational kit on Women in Sport and Physical Activities in Australian Society 1896 – 1956

Sex and Censorship in early Australian Cinema - Aids benefit Canberra brothel

Phonographs and Flickers: The First 100 years of Australian Sound Recording and Film, Bundanoon NSW Flickers of the Southern Cross: Australian features 1906 – 1996

Screening Sappho: Lesbian images in cinema – film festival

Sheilas on the Sheet [ Women’s contribution to Australian Cinema] - Flicks Screenings NFSA – Curated theme

Who was that woman in the Federation Films? - Women’s Constitutional Convention, Parliament House Canberra

Cultural Imperialism or box office bonanza: Hollywood in Australia - Popular Cultures Conference, Brisbane Queensland

Picnic at High Tide: A Celebration of Women in Australian Cinema - Canberra Institute of Technology: International Women’s Day 1999

Lost in the Land of the Long White Cloud: The New Zealand Films of Longford and Lyell 1916 - History and Film Conference, Wellington New Zealand Nov/Dec 2000

Muses and Music: Women and Australian Film Music for National Festival of Women’s Music

“Wot’s in a Name?” – Cultural Identity, Text and The Sentimental Bloke – 2002 Film and History Conference, Adelaide Flinders University

Archaeology in Action-Adventure Films – Popular culture staff lunchtime talks and public lecture for Archaeology week 2004

The Archivist’s Perspective – workshop on Research Methods – 21st Century perspectives on 20th Century materials for 3rd International Congress on Women and the Silent Screen 2004, Montréal Canada

Film and the ANZAC legend – National Museum of Australia 2005

World War 1 - The Home Front and Gallipoli on film – Family and Friends of the First AIF [Australian Imperial Force] October 2005