Oral History Project

What is Oral History?

An oral history is an in-depth interview which focuses on a person's life or career, or an organisation's history or activities or part thereof. The recording is usually on standard audio cassette, DAT (Digital Audio Tape), or Mini Disc. However, some interviews are recorded on camera with Betacam SP (an expensive format regularly used in Television) and DVC's (Digital Video Cameras).

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What is the Oral History Project?

As part of the National Film and Sound Archive's existing Collection Policy, the Oral History Project aims to capture the stories of personalities from Australia's Screen and Sound Industries* for the National Collection. There are performers such as Smoky Dawson, Lorrae Desmond, and Charles 'Bud' Tingwell. However, just as importantly, we value our collection of interviews with the many 'behind the scenes' pioneers and characters such as cinematographers, projectionists, and producers.

*In collaboration with the extensive Oral History collections held at the National Library of Australia and each of the State Libraries, the National Film and Sound Archive restricts its oral history collection to interviews with participants in the audiovisual industries.

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Why collect Oral Histories?

By conducting and collecting oral histories these stories are recorded, preserved and made accessible for generations of Australians to come. As with all historical records, oral histories provide important information on incidents from the past. Being able to hear the story from the participants themselves adds yet another dimension.

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How to find an interview in our Oral History Collection

Direct access to information about the Oral History holdings is available on the online collection database

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How to nominate a potential Interviewee

If you know of someone who has told you a story (or two!) about working in radio, television, or film it's possible we'd like to hear their story. If you are unsure or would like more information, just telephone +61 2 6248 2022 (reverse calls accepted).

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How to donate an interview and other material

If you have already recorded an oral history interview with someone from the Screen and Sound Industries and you would like to add your work to the Collection, please telephone +61 2 6248 2022 or email oralhistory@nfsa.gov.au

In the past we have often found that people who have been interviewed for an Oral History have wished to donate material to the archive such as films and sound recordings in various formats. The National Film and Sound Archive also collects documentation items, such as photographs, posters, scrapbooks, and scripts etc, which relate to the film, television, radio and sound recording industries.

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What is the Film and Broadcast Industries Oral History Group (FBIOHG)?

Founded in 1991, the FBIOHG is an organisation of industry professionals who generously volunteer their time to support the National Film and Sound Archive in recording oral histories of significant screen and sound personalities. The group meets every six weeks at the Archive's Sydney office to organise interviews, review interview priorities, match interviewers to interviewees, and arrange transcriptions.

The FBIOHG believes that while listening to oral history is in itself important, the recordings can only be used to their full potential once they have been typed word-for-word. The existence of a transcript allows easy extraction of quotes, analysis of events, and a more complete understanding of an interviewee's personality.

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