Fancy some popcorn or a choc top with your news?
In the decades before television cemented its place in our homes — and long before personal devices gave us instant access — Australians were served up a weekly news fix at the movies.
The National Film and South Archive (NFSA) holds 4,000 newsreels produced between 1929 and 1975, most made by the fiercely competitive all-Australian Cinesound Review and the US-owned Fox Movietone News.
The collection is listed on UNESCO's Memory of the World register.
"The newsreels were played in cinemas before feature film screenings," the NFSA's Jessica Bolton said.
"Pre-television, this was the way that audiences were exposed to video news and film news, to see what was happening in the world."
The newsreels generally contained between one to five segments, covering local and international news, sport, entertainment, and human interest stories.
The voice of Australia
The NFSA recently acquired a 1:43 scale die-cast Trax model of an FJ Holden panel van that was used by newsreel crews in the 1950s.
It was released as a limited edition in 1992 as part of a popular FJ Holden 40th anniversary set.
The tiny panel van commemorates the film units' daring feats, including coverage of the 1954 Redex reliability trial, a 15,450 km car rally around Australia.
Along with the 246 entrants, four Cinesound camera operators in two film units travelled for 18 days over rough terrain and unsealed roads.
"The footage you see is fantastic because it shows … how tough the roads were," Ms Bolton said.
"While the film crews weren't competing, they had to stay ahead of the race and they had to get to these places before the drivers did, in order to capture the footage."
The model car, emblazoned with the Cinesound Review logo, is missing its bumper bar, its tyres, and a headlight.
Ms Bolton said it was a symbol of the lengths to which filmmakers would go to get a good story, despite the hardship and danger.
"This poor little car is a little bit beaten up, I think it's been well-loved," Ms Bolton said.
"It's really important in telling that side of the history … not just what we see on the newsreels."
