Release calendarTop 250 moviesMost popular moviesBrowse movies by genreTop box officeShowtimes & ticketsMovie newsIndia movie spotlight
    What's on TV & streamingTop 250 TV showsMost popular TV showsBrowse TV shows by genreTV news
    What to watchLatest trailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightFamily entertainment guideIMDb Podcasts
    EmmysSuperheroes GuideSan Diego Comic-ConSummer Watch GuideBest Of 2025 So FarDisability Pride MonthSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll events
    Born todayMost popular celebsCelebrity news
    Help centerContributor zonePolls
For industry professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign in
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
Copy

Notable Australian Films

by zzzorf • Created 8 years ago • Modified 8 years ago
Australia has a rich history of film. These are the most notable movies to come out of my home country.
List activity
774 views
• 1 this week
Create a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
  • 1 - 250
  • 2667 titles
  • The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906)

    1. The Story of the Kelly Gang

    19061h 10mNot Rated
    6.0 (1K)
    Originally 70 minutes in running time, only 17 minutes of the world's first full-length narrative feature film survived in stills and other fragments and tell the story of Ned Kelly, an infamous 19th-century Australian outlaw.
    DirectorCharles TaitStarsElizabeth TaitJohn TaitNicholas Brierley
    The world's first feature-length film.
  • Moora Neya, or The Message of the Spear (1911)

    2. Moora Neya, or The Message of the Spear

    1911
    Harry Earl is in love with the station owner's daughter. The manager makes advances on her, but Earl beats him up. The overseer urges some Aborigines to kill Earl but one of them, alerts the station men by writing a message on a spear.
    DirectorAlfred RolfeStarsEthel PhillipsCharles VilliersStanley Walpole
    One of the first films to depict Aborigines.
  • The Sentimental Bloke (1919)

    3. The Sentimental Bloke

    19191h 46m
    6.2 (315)
    A down-at-heal ex-convict undergoes an epiphany as he experiences the love of a good woman for the first time.
    DirectorRaymond LongfordStarsArthur TauchertLottie LyellGilbert Emery
    Made by Raymond Longford and Lottie Lyell, the best-known partnership in Australian film at that time.
  • For the Term of His Natural Life (1927)

    4. For the Term of His Natural Life

    19271h 41m
    5.9 (145)
    A convict, wrongfully accused and sent a harsh prison colony, attempts to escape.
    DirectorNorman DawnStarsGeorge FisherEva NovakDunstan Webb
    The most expensive Australian silent film ever made.
  • Errol Flynn and Patricia Penman in In the Wake of the Bounty (1933)

    5. In the Wake of the Bounty

    19331h 6m
    4.7 (387)
    A former member of the crew of the HMS Bounty recounts the story of the mutiny aboard ship.
    DirectorCharles ChauvelStarsArthur GreenawayMayne LyntonErrol Flynn
    First film to star Errol Flynn, an iconic Australian "swashbuckler" character.
  • Betty Bryant and Grant Taylor in 40,000 Horsemen (1940)

    6. 40,000 Horsemen

    19401h 40mApproved
    5.9 (268)
    Three young Australians join the army at the beginning of World War I and are assigned to the Australian Light Horse cavalry, which is serving in Palestine. The three eventually take part in the attack during the Battle of Beersheba, which was the last cavalry charge in modern warfare.
    DirectorCharles ChauvelStarsGrant TaylorBetty BryantChips Rafferty
    One of the most successful films of its day.
  • Kokoda Front Line! (1942)

    7. Kokoda Front Line!

    19429mShort
    5.8 (293)
    Cameraman Damien Parer has just returned from the front in New Guinea, where he's documented Australian troops in action. He explains this to us in a prolog. We then see air drops of supplies, wounded men being carried on stretchers by native porters, and men leaving camp to go to the front. There's a tiny bit of possibly staged combat footage. A narrator explains that the Japanese soldiers are expert at disguise, and how important support from the home front is.
    StarsPeter BathurstDamien Parer
    First Australian film to win an Oscar, for Best Documentary Feature in 1942.
  • Jedda the Uncivilized (1955)

    8. Jedda the Uncivilized

    19551h 41mNot Rated
    6.0 (425)
    Set in Australia's outback, young Aboriginal girl Jedda finds herself torn between her indigenous roots and the prejudiced white society, unable to fully embrace either culture.
    DirectorCharles ChauvelStarsRosalie Kunoth-MonksRobert TudawaliBetty Suttor
    First Australian film to have two indigenous lead actors.
  • The Power Makers (1957)

    9. The Power Makers

    195717mShort
    DirectorLee RobinsonStarJames Condon
  • 10. Three in a Million

    195949m
    DirectorJennie BlackwoodStarsEmanuele LazzarottiKitty McNicolSepp Stadler
  • 11. I, the Aboriginal

    196156mTV Movie
    'I, the Aboriginal' is an Australian television film based around the autobiography of the same name and the life of Alawa Aboriginal man Phillip Waipuldanya Roberts. The film covers his traditional upbringing and his training as a skilled medical assistant for the Department of Health at Darwin Hospital. The film was the 1964 winner of the AFI Best film.
    DirectorCecil HolmesStarMax Meldrum
  • Clay (1965)

    12. Clay

    19651h 25m
    6.4 (50)
    A killer on the run is found lying flat on his face in a wet clay bank. He is rescued by potters who shelter him within their community. There he falls in love with a woman. Unfortunately, another man who has been calling upon the woman gets jealous and turns the fugitive in to the cops. The woman gets revenge.
    DirectorGiorgio MangiameleStarsJean LebedewGeorge DixonChris Tsalikis
    Cannes Festival official entry.
  • They're a Weird Mob (1966)

    13. They're a Weird Mob

    19661h 52m
    6.4 (1.2K)
    An Italian sports journalist arrives in Australia but finds no work. The only employment he can find is as a builder's labourer. At first, he cannot comprehend the culture, but eventually he finds mateship and romance.
    DirectorMichael PowellStarsWalter ChiariClaire DunneChips Rafferty
    Said to have been one factor leading to the founding of the Australian film industry.
  • 14. Concerto for Orchestra

    196526mShort
    DirectorRobert ParkerStarsDean DixonSydney Symphony Orchestra
  • The Change at Groote (1968)

    15. The Change at Groote

    196827mShort
    DirectorStefan Sargent
  • 16. The Talgai Skull: An Investigation Into the Origin of the Australian Aborigines

    196858m
    DirectorTom Haydon
  • Jack and Jill: A Postscript (1970)

    17. Jack and Jill: A Postscript

    19701h 7m
    6.0 (19)
    Jack, a working class biker, meets Gillian, a middle-class kindergarten teacher from the other side of the Maribyrnong Creek, and they start to go out together, despite their different interests.
    DirectorsPhillip AdamsBrian RobinsonStarsAnthony WardJudy LeechLindsay Howatt
  • The Intruders (1969)

    18. The Intruders

    19691h 40mNot Rated
    7.2 (65)
    Head Ranger Matt Hammond (Ed Devereaux) and Flight Ranger Jerry King (Tony Bonner) dealing with two suspicious divers seeking permits to fish off the coasts of Waratah National Park. Their real motives, however, are more nefarious.
    DirectorLee RobinsonStarsEd DevereauxTony BonnerKen James
    Spin-off of the Skippy the Bush Kangaroo TV series.
  • Three to Go (1971)

    19. Three to Go

    19711h 30m
    5.8 (128)
    Three stories, each presenting a young Australian at a moment of decision about their future.
    DirectorsBrian HannantOliver HowesPeter WeirStarsMatthew BurtonGrahame BondPeter Colville
  • Homesdale (1971)

    20. Homesdale

    197150m
    5.4 (291)
    Guests arrive at an expensive private guest house on a remote island near Sydney. The guest house and weird activities, like theatre sports and orienteering, are run by a leery eccentric. One of the guests is a loner and the only way to fit in with the crowd is to participate in the questionable events. Some of the games border between comedy and horror - like the murder mystery.
    DirectorPeter WeirStarsGeoff MaloneGrahame BondKate Fitzpatrick
  • Jenny Agutter, David Gulpilil, and Luc Roeg in Walkabout (1971)

    21. Walkabout

    19711h 40mGP85Metascore
    7.6 (29K)
    Two city-bred siblings are stranded in the Australian Outback, where they learn to survive with the aid of an Aboriginal boy on his "walkabout": a ritual separation from his tribe.
    DirectorNicolas RoegStarsJenny AgutterDavid GulpililLuc Roeg
  • Bruce Spence in Stork (1971)

    22. Stork

    19711h 25m
    5.7 (224)
    A gangly, awkward, would-be revolutionary loses his virginity to the vivacious hippie girlfriend of his two flatmates, and becomes hell-bent on sabotaging her wedding to one of them.
    DirectorTim BurstallStarsBruce SpenceJacki WeaverHelmut Bakaitis
  • Wake in Fright (1971)

    23. Wake in Fright

    19711h 49mR85Metascore
    7.5 (15K)
    After a bad gambling bet, a schoolteacher is marooned in a town full of crazy, drunk, violent men who threaten to make him just as crazy, drunk, and violent.
    DirectorTed KotcheffStarsDonald PleasenceGary BondChips Rafferty
    Entered into the 1971 Cannes Film Festival.
  • Marco Polo Jr. (1972)

    24. Marco Polo Jr.

    19721h 20mG
    6.1 (105)
    Marco Polo Jr., the descendant of the legendary explorer, goes on a daring journey in search of his own destiny.
    DirectorEric PorterStarsBobby RydellArnold StangCorie Sims
    Australia's first animated feature film.
  • Libido (1973)

    25. Libido

    19731h 57m
    5.6 (108)
    Explores adultery and jealous fantasies, the end of innocence, the moral and spiritual conflicts of a priest and a nun in love. The stories define the exploration of women and the cultural upheaval of the early 70s.
    DirectorsDavid BakerTim BurstallJohn B. MurrayStarsElke NeidhartBryon WilliamsMark Albiston

More to explore

Recently viewed

Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
Get the IMDb App
Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
Follow IMDb on social
Get the IMDb App
For Android and iOS
Get the IMDb App
  • Help
  • Site Index
  • IMDbPro
  • Box Office Mojo
  • License IMDb Data
  • Press Room
  • Advertising
  • Jobs
  • Conditions of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your Ads Privacy Choices
IMDb, an Amazon company

© 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.