Documenting a century
of film collecting

The Film Australia Collection (FAC) of more than 5,000 titles of documentary and educational programs is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2013.
   The FAC consists of titles produced by the former Film Australia Limited and its predecessor agencies (the National Film Board and the Commonwealth Film Unit) or acquired from third-party producers.
   Its custodian, the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) works to preserve the collection and provide access to the FAC.
Events and materials mark milestone
   To celebrate the centenary, the NFSA has announced it will share FAC materials with the public both online and with a variety of events nationwide throughout the year.
   The first of these events will be a documentary program titled Australia’s Living Memory, screening as part of the DocWeek festival at this month’s Australian Independent Documentary Conference (AIDC) in Adelaide.
   While the focus this centenary year will be on the extensive historical film and audiovisual holdings acquired over the years, the FAC also enables filmmakers to produce new content.
   Five documentaries nominated for the 2nd AACTA Awards have used FAC materials under the Zero Fee Licence (ZFL) scheme, which offers Australian independent documentary makers up to 10 minutes of footage and 40 stills for a no-fee licence.
   The nominated documentaries All the Way, Once Upon a Time in Cabramatta, Singapore 1942, Sporting Nation and Utopia Girls used a combined total of 1,006 seconds of FAC material worth approximately $102,415 under the ZFL scheme.
   In total, 34 productions benefited from the scheme in 2012 – a 25 per cent increase from 2011.
Edition 346F, 1 February 2013
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