National Film and Sound Archive > Our Services > National Screening Programs

UPPER PRIMARY/JUNIOR HIGH PROGRAM

This is a selection of some of the films from the School Screen touring program, please contact School Screen for other titles.

Study guides are available for some of these films, the NFSA website and australianscreen has downloadable clips with accompanying education and curators’ notes.

Mary & Max (PG) 2009

MARY & MAX (PG) 2009 92mins

A simple tale of pen-friendship between two very different people; Mary Dinkle, a little chubby lonely eight-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne, and Max Horovitz, a 44-year-old, severely obese, Jewish man with Asperger's Syndrome living in the chaos of New York.

*Curriculum Area/s:

Study Guide Available

Son of a Lion (PG) 2008

SON OF A LION (PG) 2008 92mins

Eleven-year old Niaz lives in remote mountains of Pakistan. Niaz doesn't want to follow in the footsteps of his father, a weapons maker. He dreams of going to school just as his mother had wanted. But Niaz's father Sher Alam, a former Mujahideen fighter in the war against Russia wants his son to toughen up and live a strict Muslim life. The family debate soon widens to the local community with both irreverent and serious discussions.

*Curriculum Area/s:

Study Guide Available

Dr Plonk (PG) 2008

DR PLONK (G) 2007 85mins

It is the great year 1907 and Dr Plonk, famous scientist and inventor, calculates that the world will end in 101 years unless immediate action is taken. Plonk is ridiculed for his beliefs and the only acceptable proof lies in the very future that’s ending. Being the lateral thinker that he is, Plonk invents a time machine. In quick succession Tiberius the dog, Plonk and Paulus all visit the future 100 years hence. Not everyone returns but all find the year 2007 a somewhat different place than they expected...

*Curriculum Area/s:

Study Guide Available

December Boys (PG) 2008

DECEMBER BOYS (PG) 2007 105mins

Based on the classic Michael Noonan novel, December Boys is the story of four orphan teenagers growing up behind the closed doors of a Catholic convent in outback Australia during the 1960s. As the boys watch younger kids get adopted by loving families, they begin to realise that as they get older, their turn may never come. When the convent sends the boys to visit the seaside one summer, they finally have something to look forward to.

*Curriculum Area/s:

Footy Legends (PG) 2006

FOOTY LEGENDS (PG) 2006 95 mins.

Set in Sydney's western suburbs, Footy Legends tells the story of Luc Vu, a young Vietnamese-Australian man with an obsession about football. Out of work, and with welfare authorities threatening to take away his little sister, Luc reunites his old high school football team to win a competition that could change all their lives.

*Curriculum Area/s:

Study Guide Available
australianscreen Study Notes and Teacher Guide

Razzle Dazzle (PG) 2006

RAZZLE DAZZLE (PG) 2006 92mins

The tension is palpable, the excitement is mounting and the intoxicating scent of competition is in the air as hundreds of contestants prepare to take part in what is undoubtedly Australia’s most prestigious dance competition – The Sanosafe Dance Spectacular. Amidst parental politics, dance school rivalry, creative controversy and the hysterics of pushy stage mothers, Razzle Dazzle takes us beyond the glamour and glitter to a world where, sometimes, winning is everything!

*Curriculum Area/s:

australianscreen online Study Notes and Teacher Guide

Opal Dream (PG) 2006

OPAL DREAM (PG) 2006 90mins

Pobby and Dingan are invisible. They live in an opal town in Australia, and are friends with Kellyanne, the nine-year-old daughter of an opal miner. The film is a funny, uplifting and touching story of the bizarre and inexplicable disappearance of Pobby and Dingan, and the impact if their disappearance on Kellyanne's family and the whole town. The story is told through the eyes of Kellyanne's eleven-year-old brother Ashmol.

*Curriculum Area/s:

Study Guide Available

Hating Alison Ashley (PG) 2005

HATING ALISON ASHLEY (PG) 2005 100 mins

Hating Alison Ashley is a comic yet poignant portrayal of the dilemmas of being a teenager, and how schoolgirl rivalries and embarrassing families can eventually lead to true friendship. Fourteen-year-old Erika Yurken is a teenager living in a chaotic house with a very unconventional family. She daydreams of being a famous movie star.

Curriculum Area/s:

Study Guide Available

Harvie Krumpet (PG) 2003

HARVIE KRUMPET (PG) 2003 23mins (Animation)

The biography of an ordinary man seemingly cursed with perpetual bad luck. From being born with Tourette’s syndrome, to getting struck by lightning; from having his testicle removed to developing Alzheimers disease; Harvie’s troubles seems unending! Yet, Harvie learns many lessons in life and enjoys its many fruits. He finds love, freedom, nudity and ultimately the true meaning of what it is to be human.

*Curriculum Area/s:

*Curriculum Areas are as identified in the individual study guides and may be specific to different state curricula.

From the Vaults

Some of the classic (G) and (PG) rated films suitable for upper primary/junior high students:

Careful He Might Hear You	Hildegarde
Crocodile Dundee	Malcolm
Smiley	Newsfront
Smiley Gets a Gun	Picnic at Hanging Rock
Storm Boy	Rabbit Proof Fence
Unfolding Florence	Shine
Breaker Morant	Strictly Ballroom
Gallipoli	The Man from Snowy River

This is not a definitive list. School Screen can access most Australian films, documentaries, animation films and short films on request.

The NFSA is keen to assist you in choosing the most engaging and suitable screening for your students.

Please contact Imelda Cooney, School Screen Coordinator, on:

02 8202 0118
Free call 1800 157 705
schoolscreen@nfsa.gov.au

If you are interested in public screenings, it may be possible to borrow titles from the Non-Theatrical Loans section of the NFSA.