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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware this website contains images, voices and names of people who have died.

Building the Hume Dam

Extract from Cavalcade of Australia: 1901–1951 (1951). 1396113, National Film and Sound Archive

Scenes from a documentary which uses archival film to highlight and illustrate the main events that occurred in the history of Australia in the fifty years following Federation. On the celebration of Australia’s Jubilee as a Commonwealth, Australian film production organisations, both governmental and commercial, made archival material from their libraries available for this film.

The Hume Dam was built on the Murray River to store and control the river’s water. When it was opened on 21 November 1936 it became the largest dam in the Southern Hemisphere.
 

Activities

1. What does this short film clip show? Summarise what you see and hear.
 

2. Does the film appear to have a main purpose or message? If so, what do you think it is?
 

3. Who made the film clip and when was it made? Use this information to try to work out why the film was made. Does this change what you think about the purpose of the film?

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