The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), based in Canberra and known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting, and providing access to a national collection of film, television, sound, radio, video games, new media, and related documents and artefacts. The collection ranges from works created in the late nineteenth century when the recorded sound and film industries were in their infancy, to those made in the present day.
The NFSA collection first started as the National Historical Film and Speaking Record Library (within the then Commonwealth National Library) in 1935, becoming an independent cultural organisation in 1984. On 3 October, Prime Minister Bob Hawke officially opened the NFSA's headquarters in Canberra.
History of the organisation
The work of the archive can be officially dated to the establishment of the National Historical Film and Speaking Record Library (part of the then Commonwealth National Library, precursor to the National Library of Australia) by a Cabinet decision on 11 December 1935. It was continued post-War by the Library's Film Division.
After being part of the National Library of Australia (NLA) and its predecessors for nearly 50 years, the National Film and Sound Archive was created as a separate Commonwealth collecting institution through an announcement in Parliament on 5 April 1984 that took immediate effect. At that time, an Advisory Committee was established to guide the institution.
In 1999, the name was changed to ScreenSound Australia, and changed again in early 2000 to ScreenSound Australia, National Screen and Sound Archive. It reverted to its original name, National Film and Sound Archive, in December 2004.
In 2000, Screensound joined the PANDORA Archive, the web archiving project started by the NLA in 1996, as a collaborating partner.
Meanwhile, consequent on amendments to the Australian Film Commission Act which took effect on 1 July 2003 under the Howard government, it ceased to be a semi-autonomous entity within the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts and became an integrated branch, later a division, of the Australian Film Commission, a funding and promotional body. The Archive Forum, of which filmmaker Martha Ansara was a founding member and Chris Puplick the chair, lobbied for the establishment of the NFSA as a statutory body from this date.
In 2007, the Liberal government announced the creation of a new agency to be called Screen Australia, which would incorporate the main functions of the Film Finance Corporation, the Australian Film Commission (including the Archive), and Film Australia.
Following elections in November 2007, the new Labor government implemented an election promise to allow the NFSA to become a statutory authority, similar to other major cultural institutions, including the National Library of Australia, the National Gallery of Australia and the National Museum of Australia. The National Film and Sound Archive Act 2008 became law on 20 March 2008 and came into effect on 1 July 2008, with celebrations held that day.Massola, James (2008) "Innovative film sets the scene for the Archive's new role", The Canberra Times, 2 July 2008, p 7
Inaugural board The archive's first board as a statutory authority comprised:NFSA Board
Chris Puplick AM (chair) Deb Verhoeven (deputy chair) Jill Matthews Grace Koch Catherine Robinson Andrew Pike OAM Philip Mortlock
History of the building
The building to which the Archive moved in 1984 was the home of the Australian Institute of Anatomy from 1931 to 1984. Originally it held the anatomy collection of Sir Colin MacKenzie.
The building is often classified as art deco, though its overall architectural style is technically "Late 20th Century Stripped Classical", the style of ancient Greece and Rome but simplified and modernised. It features a symmetrical façade, a horizontal skyline, classical columns and a central entrance. The decorative foyer features images of native flora, fauna and Aboriginal art and motifs. Face masks of well-known scientists from the late 19th century and early 20th century are featured on the foyer's walls as a reminder of its previous incarnation as the Institute of Anatomy.
The building also features a landscaped courtyard and theatre. In 1999, the building was extended to accommodate the Archive's growth. The new wing's design is in keeping with the Art Deco style of the main structure with details and finishes to match the original look.
In 2024, the NFSA won the Architecture and Building Conservation Award in the ACT Heritage Awards for the renewal of the building.
Governance and people Board NFSA is governed by a board, as a statutory body. the board members are:
Annette Shun Wah (chair) Lucinda Brogden (deputy chair Kylie Bracknell Karina Carvalho Sachin Job Jaclyn Lee-Joe Carol Lilley Joe Thorp
Management Day-to-day management and strategic planning is performed by the CEO. Past and present CEOs include: Michael Loebenstein (2011– January 2017) Meg Labrum, Head of Collection, Acting CEO (February-September 2017) Jan Müller (October 2017 – December 2020) Nancy Eyers, Chief Operating Officer, Acting CEO (January – September 2021) Patrick McIntyre (October 2021 – present)
Collections The NFSA collection includes more than four million items, encompassing sound recordings, radio, television, film, video games and new media. In addition to discs, films, videos, audio tapes, phonograph cylinders and wire recordings, the collection includes supporting documents and artefacts, such as personal papers and organisational records, photographs, posters, lobby cards, publicity, scripts, costumes, props, memorabilia, and sound, video and film equipment.
Notable holdings include: The Cinesound Movietone Australian Newsreel Collection, 1929–1975, a comprehensive collection of 4,000 newsreel films and documentaries representing news stories covering all major events in Australian history, sport and entertainment from 1929 to 1975. Inscribed on the Australian Memory of the World Register in 2003. The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906), directed by Charles Tait, is the first full-length narrative feature film produced anywhere in the world, and was inscribed onto the International Memory of the World Register in 2007. The earliest surviving Australian sound recording, "The Hen Convention", a novelty song by vocalist John James Villiers, with piano accompaniment, recorded by Thomas Rome in 1896, inducted into the Sounds of Australia."The Hen Convention" The earliest surviving film shot in Australia, Patineur Grotesque, footage of a man performing on rollerskates for a crowd in Prince Alfred Park, Sydney in 1896, shot by Marius Sestier.Patineur Grotesque original costumes from Australian films such as The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Muriel's Wedding, Elvis, Picnic at Hanging Rock, and My Brilliant Career.
A 2010 study compared the curatorial practices of accessioning and cataloging for NFSA collections and for YouTube with regard to access to older Australian television programs. It found the NFSA to be stronger in current affairs and older programs, and YouTube stronger in game shows, lifestyle programs, and "human interest" material (births, marriages, and deaths). YouTube cataloging was found to have fewer broken links than the NFSA collection, and YouTube metadata could be searched more intuitively. The NFSA was found to generally provide more useful reference information about production and broadcast dates.
NFSA Player In June 2023 the NFSA launched the NFSA Player, a new digital streaming platform for on-demand content. The first content collection, Buwindja,https://www.nfsa.gov.au/about/corporate-information/media-release/nfsa-brings-compelling-curated-program-new-demand-platform was a curated selection of 17 titles reflecting the 2023 NAIDOC theme of For Our Elders.
In July 2024, NFSA Player made another 34 titles available for rent, including true crime and mystery, stories of postwar migration and early films from notable Australian artists and directors.
Video Games The NFSA announced plans to collect Australian-developed video games as part of its collection starting in 2019, with new titles to be added on an annual basis.
In 2022 it joined with ACMI and The Powerhouse to acquire the hit multi-platform video game Untitled Goose Game, created by Victorian game developers House House.
In 2024, the NFSA published the first international video game preservation survey, in collaboration with The Strong Museum of Play (US) and with the support of the BFI National Archive (UK), and called for increased international collaboration and recognition to advocate for the needs of the video game preservation community.
Public Program The NFSA runs a public program from its Acton building, including new release and repertory cinema screenings at Arc Cinema, panel discussions and Q&As, conferences, audiovisual installations, festivals and live music.
Free public spaces include The Library, restored in 2024 to house more than 280 items drawn from the full expanse of the National Film and Sound Archive collection, the Mediatheque, a lounge screening highlights from the audiovisual archive, and the Theatrette, which shows free documentaries on rotation.https://www.nfsa.gov.au/events/canberra-experiences
Partnerships The NFSA is a foundation partner of Sustainable Screens Australia and a founding member of the Australian Media Literacy Alliance.
2023 Budget Funding / Revive In April 2023, the Australian Government announced an investment of $535 million over four years into eight National Collecting Institutions, including $31 million over the same period for NFSA.https://www.nfsa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-09/NFSA%20Corporate%20Plan%2023-24%20%20to%2026-27.pdf The CEO of the NFSA Patrick McIntyre said “The new funds will turbocharge our ability to increase discoverability and access to the national collection for all Australians.”
Fantastic Futures In October 2024, the NFSA curated and hosted the Fantastic Futures 24 Conference, the first in-depth Australasian examination of the challenges and opportunities of AI for the galleries, libraries, archives and museums sector.
Learning and Media Literacy The NFSA runs a student media literacy program, Media and Me onsite at its Acton headquarters, which examines storytelling through animation, advertising, gaming, social media, film and music and explores how media has evolved over time in its methods of influencing and persuading viewers.
Special collections The Film Australia Collection contains a diverse range of more than 3,000 titles of Australian documentary and educational programs, spanning a century of Commonwealth documentary and docu-drama titles (1913–2008). Sounds of Australia (formerly the National Registry of Recorded Sound) is the NFSA's selection of sound recordings with cultural, historical and aesthetic significance and relevance, which inform or reflect life in Australia. It was established in 2007. Each year, the Australian public nominates new sounds to be added with final selections determined by a panel of industry experts. NFSA Restores is the NFSA's program to digitise, restore and preserve, at the highest archival standards, classic and cult Australian films so they can be seen on the big screen in today's digital cinemas. The Oral History Collection houses oral history recordings. The Non-Theatrical Lending Collection includes non-theatrical screenings, which take place on a non-commercial basis and are held by educational, cultural, social and religious institutions; community groups; churches; film societies; government bodies; hospitals; libraries; museums and galleries.