About the Collections

Films

30 January 1941. Derna (or Tobruk). The official photographic unit in action at night: the flashes of light on the horizon indicate combat. Photographer Frank Hurley is at the camera with sound man Alan Anderson crouched on the sand recording the sound of the bombardment. 005655

Over 7,000 items, comprising of almost 3,000,000 feet of original cine film and 1000 hours of original video, are held in the film collection, covering all aspects of Australian involvement in war and armed conflict.

The types of footage range from unedited material taken either by official cameramen or by private individuals through to commercially produced documentaries and other features.

Film and sound collection highlights

Read our blog post about the Memorial’s film and sound collection, written to mark the UNESCO World Day for Audiovisual Heritage on 27 October 2009.

The post includes a range of film clips from Gallipoli in 1915 to Iraq in 2006.

There are also film clips about the role of animals in war on our A is for Animals exhibition pages.

Film collection access

About 4,800 film titles are available to the public for viewing in the Research Centre. You can search for films in the Collection database. Time-coded copies are available for viewing and for purchase, subject to copyright approval. A fee is charged for commercial use. For more information please see How to order photos, art, fim & sound.