A complete set of programs from The Sydney Film Festival, 1954-2019. From the first: June 11-14, 1954, held at four venues across Sydney University, 9 movies screened, to full houses, or 1,200 tickets sold at a guinea each, to 2017, held at eleven venues across Sydney and suburbs, 288 movies screening from 59 countries. In between the Festival has had twelve directors, David Stratton the longest serving from 1966-1983, Sylvia Lawson and Robert Connell were co-directors in 1959; numerous venues: the State, from 1974 and counting is the longest, various halls at the University of Sydney from 1954-1967, the Wintergarden at Rose Bay from 1968-1973, the Orpheum at Cremorne in 1967 and again in the last few years. The programs provide a mini-history of movies during the period of the Festival: censorship battles, notably from c.1966-1970, again with Ken Park in 2003; the inclusion of movies from countries outside Europe, America and Japan; the retrospectives of movies previously unseen in Australia; advertisements for Sydney cinemas now all closed or demolished as well as clubs, restaurants, movie companies, bookshops, film processors and travel agents, most as well long gone in the digital age. The programs contain similar information: credits, synopses, schedules for screenings, in various formats that mirror the changing status of the festival, the no. of movies screened, and the nature of the times. Or, modest pamphlets grew into glossy programs and into tabloid newspapers. Many contain loose sheets, often in the pre-digital age, detailing program changes, or other information about movies, meetings or other events.
