The Friends is a group of volunteer advocates working to further the aims of the Archive and to encourage links between the Archive, the film and sound communities and the general community. In essence, the Friends want to promote excellence in film and sound culture, including: best practice in preservation, public programs and access; promoting high level appreciation of film and sound heritage and contemporary culture; creativity in the use of our archive; a broad, outward looking focus that locates Australia in the South East Asia-Pacific region and globally; and restoration of the correct name of the Archive.
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia had its beginnings in the National Historical Film and Speaking Record Library, created by Federal Cabinet in 11 December 1935 “to secure and permanently preserve within the Commonwealth National Library approved historical films and sound recordings”. It was to operate under the joint administration of the Library and the Department of Commerce Cinema Branch, and collection development was to be controlled by a committee comprising the heads of both bodies and a representative of the Motion Picture Distributors’ Association.
World War II disrupted activities, and in 1945 the collection gravitated to the Library’s newly established Film Division, primarily a 16mm film lending library. The “historical collection”, as it became known, was an unstaffed activity of the Division until 1972, when a dedicated National Film Archive unit was established. Advocacy for a separate institution to manage the nation’s audiovisual heritage grew during the 1970s and culminated in the creation of the National Film and Sound Archive by Cabinet decision on 26 March 1984. The film and sound archiving responsibilities of the National Library were thereby transferred to the new institution, and the relocation of staff and collections followed over the succeeding months.
On this site documents charting the NFSA’s journey are being progressively posted, beginning with its creation.
40 YEARS ON – CABINET DOCUMENTS CHART CONTROVERSIAL BIRTH OF THE NFSA
To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA), the Friends of the NFSA are publishing the original Cabinet documents recording the creation of the institution on 26 March 1984. Nine days later, on 5 April, Arts Minister Barry Cohen would announce this in Parliament. His media release is here.
The new NFSA took over the film and sound archiving responsibilities, collections and staff that had, until then, been part of the National Library of Australia. The film, television and sound communities had long advocated for separate institutional status and greater resources to protect the nation’s audiovisual heritage, matching the model more commonly followed overseas. Conversely, there were also strong voices favoring retention of the status quo.
Ray Edmondson, then head of the Library’s Film Section, has never forgotten the fervid atmosphere of the time. “By mid-1983 the issue was looming large in the media and Parliament and moving towards a crisis point. I was among those who favoured creating a separate institution.”
The new Hawke Government embraced the challenge and determined to establish the NFSA, despite dissenting arguments from the Departments of Prime Minister and Cabinet and Finance, the Public Service Board, the National Library and Australian Archives. These are all documented in the Cabinet submission, and make interesting reading today.
Development of the submission over several months was led by the Prime Minister’s Senior Advisor, Bob Hogg, who recalled: “It was a rather instructive period for myself in observing at close hand the bureaucracy working to thwart the clear objective of the Government. Fortunately, in this case their efforts were not productive.”
Forty years on, the NFSA’s global stature has amply vindicated that original vision.
The documents can be accessed on the Friends website: http://www.archivefriends.org.au/images/stories/2024/Cabsub-March-1984.pdf (Image courtesy of the National Archives of Australia, Cabinet Decision 660 – National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA) and Decisions 2971/LA and 2982) NAA: A13977, 660)
Further information: Ray's PhD Thesis: http://archivefriends.org.au//images/stories/2012/edmondsonthesis.pdf
Contact: Friends’ president Dr Ray Edmondson Phone 0413 486 849 Email ray@archival.au
The Friends have established the Rod Wallace Memorial Lecture series to commemorate the pioneering achievements of Roderick Wallace AM, the ‘godfather’ of the NFSA. Each year a public figure will be invited to deliver a lecture of lasting import which will be recorded and be permanently accessible. While the choice of topic is left to the speaker, the lecture series aims to reflect aspects of the preservation and dissemination of the audiovisual heritage.
Read about Rod Wallace 
The 2023 lecture by Jenny Hocking details are here
Read about our inaugural lecturer Kim Williams
The 2022 lecture is titled Why bother? Reflections on the duty of care to Australians’ creativity. It is available to read as simple text or text with pictures. The event was captured live, and the video record was subsequently edited to include the film and audio clips that were presented to the audience as the talk proceeded. If you would like to download and keep your own copy, you can do so: Download the lecture video or you can simply Watch the lecture video on YouTube
CIFF returns for an immersive and exciting 3-day event on 26 - 28 August 2022, at the NFSA Arc Cinema.
Details of the 8 unmissable screenings are available in the program calendar and on the CIFF website: https://ciff.com.au/
This year, CIFF continues with its policy of retrospective programming, with a celebration of the work of two Australians who flourished in Hollywood in the 1940s and 50s - the actor Dame Judith Anderson, and the Oscar-winning writer-director John Farrow. The program includes a new documentary about Farrow’s life and work, and the filmmakers - Claude Gonzales and Frans Vandenburg - will be present to introduce their documentary and three of Farrow’s finest “noir” thrillers.
Dr Desley Deacon, the author of a recent biography of Judith Anderson, will also be a CIFF Guest and will introduce two of Anderson’s most impressive screen performances.
The program also includes two comedy classics by Ernst Lubitsch - his gleefully amoral pre-Code comedy, TROUBLE IN PARADISE (1932), and his last completed film, CLUNY BROWN (1946), starring Jennifer Jones as a plumber.
Tickets for CIFF are now available through the CIFF website or over the counter at the NFSA. Friends of the NFSA may purchase tickets for CIFF at the Concession rate of $16.
