Celebrating Strictly Ballroom with an online collection

Now famously known as the first instalment of Baz Luhrmann's 'Red Curtain Trilogy', Strictly Ballroom had humble beginnings as a short play developed by Luhrmann and a group of NIDA students.

Australian one-sheet movie poster for Strictly Ballroom (1992).

After overcoming many obstacles to make it from stage to screen, the film was selected for a midnight screening at the Cannes Film Festival in 1992 where audiences and critics went wild over it.

On its Australian release that year, Strictly Ballroom lived up to all the hype coming out of Cannes. Aussies fell head over heels in love with Scott (played by Paul Mercurio) and Fran (Tara Morice) and they even embraced the garish make-up, crazy hairstyles and outrageous costumes of the ballroom dancing world.

The film remained on the big screen for over a year, taking more than $21 million at the box office and landing a place in the top ten Australian films in terms of box-office takings. It scooped the pool at the AFI Awards, won three BAFTAs, was nominated for Best Picture at the Golden Globes and received a host of other international film prizes.

Angus Strathie's costume sketch for a pink ballroom gown worn in Strictly Ballroom (1992).

Strictly Ballroom is still loved by people in Australia and across the globe and is now regarded as an Australian classic. It is studied by high school students around the country and has reached a whole new generation of film lovers.

The NFSA is celebrating the film by going 'behind the curtain' with a comprehensive curated collection highlighting some rarely seen collection items.

You'll discover Angus Strathie's gorgeous costume sketches, behind-the-scenes interviews with Catherine Martin and Baz Luhrmann, fascinating oral histories, production documents, plus brand new interviews with the stars of the film.

Explore our Strictly Ballroomcurated collection and find more content about the film under More to Explore, below.