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Geoffrey Wright's Arrivederci Roma (1979, 24mms), regarded as one of Australia's most impressive student films, is set in Melbourne's City Baths. It portrays an Italian immigrant's terrifying first encounter with an Australian culture obsessed with physical education. Underscored by outstanding editing and cinematography (and a perfectly deployed Bowie soundtrack).
Emma-Kate Croghan's student film Desire (1992, 10mins), is film noir par excellence. Amongst other classic noir devices, a package left on a train. The result-a thriller.
More Smokes Less Lollies (1981, 25mins) one of a series of documentaries by Gillian Armstrong—is an Australian version of the British 7-Up series. Here she talks to three 18 year-old girls about marriage children, love and sex—presenting a poignant picture of life in the suburbs 20 years ago.
People Make Papers (1965, 18mins), by Fred Schepisi, portrays a day in the life of The Age newspaper. Documenting all phases in the production of the paper the film's attention to detail is particularly compelling—a fascinating record of the way things were, in newspaper publishing and in society generally.
Tim Burstall's The Prize (1959, 31mins), set in the 50's, features a very young Tom Burstall as a boy who wins a goat at the local fair—then has it stolen. A far cry from Burstall's later films Stork and Alvin Purple, this is a timeless piece of storytelling in which dialogue is made virtually redundant by Dorian Le Galienne s magnificent score and the vibrant cinematography.