LGBTQIA+ Pride Collection at the NFSA

Watch newly uncovered Eyewitness News file footage captured on the evening of the first Mardi Gras in Sydney on 24 June 1978. Please note this clip is mostly silent.

According to Ken Davis, one of the organisers of the first Mardi Gras, 'We had sought to commemorate the ninth anniversary of New York’s Stonewall Riots. Inadvertently, we replicated that moment for Australia.'

In an Eyewitness News report from 26 June 1978, journalist Grant Dowling covers the protest outside Central Court following police arrests at the first Mardi Gras street march on the previous Saturday night.

Read Ken Davis' first-hand account of the first Mardi Gras, a pivotal moment in Australian social and political history

Watch edited file footage from Ten Network's Eyewitness News of a demonstration on 15 July 1978 – the largest gay rights march in Australia at the time. 

Diane Minnis, a co-chair of First Mardi Gras Inc., recalls the 1978 protest campaign as 'full-on, frenetic, with amazing camaraderie among a broad and committed group of people'.

Read Diane Minnis' account of the unprecedented 1978 lesbian and gay rights protests

The documentary Witches and Faggots, Dykes and Poofters (One in Seven Collective, produced by Digby Duncan, 1980) offers an account of the events surrounding the first Mardi Gras march in 1978 by 'the 78ers' (the original protesters), including their subsequent arrests. Restored by the NFSA in 2018, the documentary explores the transformation of derogatory terms into symbols of pride, providing crucial context through contemporary interviews with the 78ers and others fighting for equality.

See more of Witches and Faggots, Dykes and Poofters

Directed by Ana Kokkinos, this film tells the story of Ari, a 19-year-old Greek Australian grappling with his sexual identity and heritage.

Paul Byrnes writes, 'Ari is caught between everything – Greek and Australian, gay and straight, belief in the future and hopelessness about the present.'

See an excerpt from Head On

Emma-Kate Croghan's low-budget directorial debut explores the daily life and love dilemmas of Melbourne University students. The film treats the characters' on-again-off-again relationships matter-of-factly, refreshing for the time.

See an excerpt from Love and Other Catastrophes

Resonance (1991) was made after Cummins experienced a homophobic attack, using dance and performance to show healing. It won Best Short Film at the Sydney Film Festival and screened at over 100 international festivals, including the Sundance, New York and Toronto Film Festivals. Resonance received a theatrical release in more than 10 countries and was one of the most successful Australian short films of the 1990s. 

See more clips from Resonance

Simon Hunt was a creative collaborator on Stephen Cummins' films – made between 1984 and 1995 – and worked with the NFSA on remastering them.

According to Hunt, Cummins' films 'map the changing politics of representation of the human body during that decade'.

See clips from Cummins' films and read Simon Hunt's article about their impact on queer cinema

Writer, actor and creator Steven Oliver, a descendant of the Kuku-Yalanji, Waanyi, Gangalidda, Woppaburra, Bundjalung and Biripi peoples, recorded an online interview with the NFSA in 2020, reflecting on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this clip, he talks about treating life as a song that we enjoy rather than trying to rush to the end.

Casey Donovan, a Gumbaynggir and Dungari actor, singer and presenter, was the youngest and first female winner of Australian Idol. Her stage credits include Women of Soul, The Sapphires, Flowerchildren, RENT, We Will Rock You, Chicago and 9 to 5.

This 2018 broadcast by Australia’s first and only LGBTQIA+ community radio station, JOY FM sets the tone for Mardi Gras and gives a shout out to community listening parties around the country in which those unable to attend the parade gather and listen in.

A brief Seven news clip about the 2019 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras shows Kylie Minogue walking along Oxford Street, surrounded by drag queens and parade-goers. In an interview snippet, Kylie says she’s excited to be back at Mardi Gras and to see how attitudes towards the event have changed. Watch a clip where Kylie talks to Molly Meldrum in 2006 about becoming a gay icon.