Published 20 April 2020
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia launches an online collection featuring never-before-seen footage of Anzac Day events dating back to 1915.
As the nation prepares to mark an unprecedented Anzac Day without public events, Australians are invited to view the NFSA’s newest digital collection and discover how Anzac Day commemorations have changed throughout the decades.
Available to explore on the NFSA website, the collection includes the first known footage of an event billed as ‘Anzac Day’. The event was held on 13 October 1915 in Burra, South Australia - just a few months after the Gallipoli landing in April of that year. From 1916, Australia began officially commemorating Anzac Day on April 25 of each year.
Also featured is home movie footage covering several decades of Anzac Day marches, showing parades of former servicemen and women, marching bands, memorial services and the other traditions we have come to associate with Anzac Day.
The NFSA’s Anzac Day collection highlights include:
- Home movies of Anzac Day commemorations in 1933, 1946, 1977 and 1980, which have not been made available to the public until now.
- Footage from the state funeral of the last Australian Gallipoli veteran in 2002.
- A documentary made in 1965 for the 50th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing.
- A reenactment of the Gallipoli landing, shot in Sydney’s Tamarama beach for the drama film The Hero of the Dardanelles, only months after the actual event.
The collection be viewed for free on the NFSA’s website at: https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/curated/anzac-day-history-marches-and-traditions
Video footage is available for media use. Interviews with NFSA Curator Heather Gill are available. For media material, interviews or more information, please contact NFSA Publicity Officer Katharine Nicholson on 0432 901 866 or katharine.nicholson@nfsa.gov.au.
