Films from the past. The Tasmanian Archives and the AWBF.
Whenever I hear the narration of Australian documentaries from the 1950’s and 60’s, I always wonder… “did people REALLY used to talk like that?”. Was there a special school that voice over artists went to, in order to learn to speak like an over-entitled Englishmen? The five films in the Australian Wooden Boat Festival’s latest release of documentaries from Archives and Libraries Tasmania have their fair share of plummy pommy commentary, however once you get past this, the content is rich and evocative, and helps remind us of the legacy we have inherited and the importance of preserving the traditions and craft.
The five films span the period from 1955 to 1988 and cover subjects such as Cray Fishing, The Tasmanian Boat building industry in the 1950’s, Scallop Fishing and the 1988 Tall Ships Parade.