The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) is the nation’s living archive, collecting, preserving and sharing its rich audiovisual heritage. Its website provides information on the collection, its preservation, current and forthcoming exhibitions and events, the NFSA Library, and research opportunities (including fellowships and internships). The site also publishes occasional articles on some of its holdings. These comprise historical overviews of the original works, insights in the preservation and restoration of holdings and other pertinent aspects relating to the NFSA's activities.
Published in October 2006 to commemorate the centennial restoration of The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906), this article looks at some historical aspects relating to this landmark Australian film and describes its restoration.
National Film and Sound Archive historian Graham Shirley recalls the restoration of For the Term of His Natural Life.
A transcript of Graham Shirley’s speech about the National Film and Sound Archive's role in finding, restoring and preserving the classic Australian film. The speech was given at the launch of The Sentimental Bloke DVD, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, 12 May 2009.
Heaven, Earth and Canberra
Port Adelaide
:
Ginninderra Press
,
2021
23561884
2021
multi chapter work
criticism
'In 1984, after a somewhat acrimonious move out of the National Library of Australia, the newly minted National Film and Sound Archive took up residence in the old Institute of Anatomy in Canberra. From the first day, it seems, living archivists were not the only occupants of the building. The place had a colourful history associated with human and other animal remains, including racehorse Phar Lap's heart and what was thought to be Ned Kelly's skull. The fine art deco Institute building mostly cleared of soft tissue war-wounds floating in jars of preservative, as well as articulated skeletons, standing tall in elegant display cases. Within a year or two, as the beginner-archivists settled in, struggling with issues of identity and management, limited funding to preserve the nation's sound and moving image heritage, workers began to see and to hear things. An accusation persisted that film and sound had been 'deceitfully' ripped out of the National Library. Also, sound and moving image seemed incompatible bed-fellows. Could that have been a cause of disturbances at the Archive? People saw pestering spirits on balconies and in shady corridors. Incomprehensible voices hung in the air. There was nothing in the Occupational Health and Safety Manual that covered accepted behaviour and best practice in haunted buildings. But the author found Shakespeare helped. The Bard's works provided, perhaps, the largest catalogue of paranormal occurrences to compare and contrast with the encounters archivists described. Before long the National Film and Sound Archive was being touted as Australia's most haunted building. This book presents stories from that haunting. Investigating likely causes, it offers a tentative explanation as to why ghosts seemed to arise to bother the living.' (Publication summary)
Heaven, Earth and Canberra
Port Adelaide
:
Ginninderra Press
,
2021
23561884
2021
multi chapter work
criticism
'In 1984, after a somewhat acrimonious move out of the National Library of Australia, the newly minted National Film and Sound Archive took up residence in the old Institute of Anatomy in Canberra. From the first day, it seems, living archivists were not the only occupants of the building. The place had a colourful history associated with human and other animal remains, including racehorse Phar Lap's heart and what was thought to be Ned Kelly's skull. The fine art deco Institute building mostly cleared of soft tissue war-wounds floating in jars of preservative, as well as articulated skeletons, standing tall in elegant display cases. Within a year or two, as the beginner-archivists settled in, struggling with issues of identity and management, limited funding to preserve the nation's sound and moving image heritage, workers began to see and to hear things. An accusation persisted that film and sound had been 'deceitfully' ripped out of the National Library. Also, sound and moving image seemed incompatible bed-fellows. Could that have been a cause of disturbances at the Archive? People saw pestering spirits on balconies and in shady corridors. Incomprehensible voices hung in the air. There was nothing in the Occupational Health and Safety Manual that covered accepted behaviour and best practice in haunted buildings. But the author found Shakespeare helped. The Bard's works provided, perhaps, the largest catalogue of paranormal occurrences to compare and contrast with the encounters archivists described. Before long the National Film and Sound Archive was being touted as Australia's most haunted building. This book presents stories from that haunting. Investigating likely causes, it offers a tentative explanation as to why ghosts seemed to arise to bother the living.' (Publication summary)
