Sunday, April 10, 2011

Lights, camera, ACTION!


The entrance to the National Film and Sound Archive, Acton. The NFSA is housed in the former Institute of Anatomy, an Art Deco building completed in 1930. Look out for the stained glass platypus skylight and fabulous animal carvings throughout the building.

The collection contains over 1.6 million items (obviously not all of them on display!), including film and video recordings of television programs and cinema, audio recordings of radio, music and significant events, and various documents and other materials supporting the audiovisual collection. You can sit in an old-fashioned cinema and watch newsreels and movies, and wander through the exhibitions, many of which have a hands-on aspect so the kids enjoy it too.

The Australian Institute of Anatomy collection was given over to the National Museum of Australia, and includes 'wet' specimens of animal foetuses at various stages of development (always a big hit with kids!) and Phar Lap's heart.

National Film and Sound Archive
McCoy Circuit, Acton, Canberra
Toll free 1800 677 609
Open weekdays 9am-5pm
Weekends 10am-5pm
Entry is free of charge

2 comments:

Julie said...

I shall add this to my mid-year Canberra visit - if only for the stain-glass platypus ...

Leeds daily photo said...

Impressive looking building, great that they found a new use for it.