NFSA collection passes four million items in 2022

The National Film and Sound Archive’s (NFSA) 2022 preservations have passed four million items with last year’s additions that included a supernatural barista, a sequined jumpsuit, an iconic anthem, two classic soaps, a new Instagram star and an AFL legend.

“The NFSA’s 2022 acquisitions, with their mix of traditional and newer forms of media, connect us very closely to contemporary Australia as well as giving us insights into the past,” said NFSA CEO Patrick McIntyre.

“Reaching four million items speaks to our aspiration of a national collection which represents all Australians, and which demonstrates the power of audio-visual media to keep our collective memories alive in ever-evolving ways.”

The NFSA acquired hundreds of thousands of Australian assets in film, video, digital, audio and physical formats for preservation for future generations, surpassing a collection total of four million items.

The assets tell the national story and showcase Australia’s peoples, cultures, ideas and beliefs, over time and across the land.

Some of the 2022 acquisition highlights include: 

Music and Sound

• Archie Roach’s One Song, the last song he released before he passed away in July, acquired as part of the NFSA’s ongoing agreement with Mushroom Records.
• Long-lost audio on Radio 6PR Perth of AFL player Haydn Bunton Sr in 1937.
• 64 boxes of material from Radio 4K1G, an Indigenous community radio station based in Townsville.
• Partnering with Universal Music, the NFSA remastered the original music video of Helen Reddy’s I Am Woman to celebrate 50 years of the classic anthem.  

Digital Media

• Salma’s Season – a new web season about a Pakistani-Australian woman determined to grab life by the balls.
• A number of Instagram reels from Tait McGregor, the Wadawurrung music journalist and content creator who participated in the Screen Australia / Instagram First Nations Creators Program.

Film

• The collection of internationally renowned avant-garde and experimental film maker and artist Paul Winkler.
• The Voyage of George Raft (1982), the documentary following the journey of three men who sailed the length of the Murray River on a raft made from refrigerator panels.

Games

• Necrobarista, the visual novel game developed by Studio 59, in which the souls of the recently departed are given an extra 24 hours of life in a Melbourne alleyway coffeehouse.
• The hit stealth-puzzle game Untitled Goose Game from Australian developers House House, acquired in partnership with ACMI and the Powerhouse.

Television

• Barrumbi Kids, the 2022 coming-of-age children’s series set in Arnhem Land and based on a series of novels by Leonie Norrington. The series aired on NITV and was notable for its representation of kids growing up in remote Australian communities.
• More than 6400 episodes of Neighbours.
• More than 1000 episodes of Home and Away and All Saints.

Costumes

• Catherine Martin’s award-winning costumes from the Baz Luhrmann-directed ELVIS biopic, as well as props and accessories from the film.

Oral Histories

• Sue Healey – choreographer, artist, educator and dance filmmaker.
• Annette Shun Wah – writer, director, actor and broadcaster.
• Nell Campbell – actress and singer, also known by her stage name Little Nell.
• Jim Sharman – film and theatre writer and director.