More inner west history

 

Video documentaries about inner west Sydney

The Olympia Milk Bar on Parramatta Road in Sydney's inner-west is a landmark of a dying aspect of Australian culture, the predominantly Greek owned milk bars that flourished in the city in the post-WWII era. By Joshua Brogan. On Vimeo. Duration: 7 mins

Billboard Bandits: A short History of B.U.G.A. U.P. by Kathryn Milliss features Arthur Chesterfield-Evans, Ric Bolzan, Bill Snow and Ian Cohen. BUGA-UP was founded in 1979 and had inner west Sydney as their base.

As historian Iain McIntryre describes, BUGA-UP cleverly revised advertising slogans with graffiti and disrupted tobacco-sponsored events, to reveal the true health cost of tobacco. They were an early example of culture jamming in Australia. Duration: 8 mins

Why Marrickville is 'Little Athens' (2020) on YouTube: An interview with Sydney-based historian and author, Vasilios Vasilas, and Inner West Libraries' Lysele Assarapin on the Greek history and heritage of Marrickville. Duration: 15 mins

I have a dream - the making of a mural (2012) is about the Martin Luther King mural in Newtown, Sydney - one of the most iconic and recognisable pieces of street art in Australia. What is less well known are the circumstances surrounding its making.

This documentary goes back to those heady days and speaks to some of those involved at the time, including artist Juilee Pryor. It was shortlisted for Best Australian Documentary in the Antenna Documentary Festival. Produced by Liz Paddison and directed & edited by Darrin Baker. Duration: 27 mins

I love Marrickville: the multicultural history of Marrickville (1988) by SBS on Facebook. Duration: 27 mins

BAD RIVER: The Cooks River (2022) “Australia's sickest urban river is located in the glamorous and famously pretty city of Sydney. This makes sense, given it’s also Australia's largest, hard-surfaced, drainified, leaky-sewered, city.

In his little red kayak Beau Miles decided to trace all 23km of the Cooks River. This is a journey of ill-health, sadness and hope; putting a test to the local saying, ‘if you fall in, you’ll dissolve’.” Duration: 24 mins

Audio documentaries about inner west Sydney

Henson Park: the eighth wonder is about history, tragedy, and triumph. 

Before the unshakable Newtown Jets footy fans called it home, the community oval was a hole in the ground supplying Sydney's building boom.

When at least nine children drowned at the site, council took charge and began to dream big. Their hidden suburban park wound up on the world stage. Produced by Mike Williams for ABC’s History Listen. Duration: 28 mins

Fishing for answers is about the fisherwomen’s world on Sydney Harbour, before colonisation.

Huge middens of shells used to sit on the site now occupied by Jørn Utzon’s architectural masterpiece. They were collected by Indigenous fisherwomen who, in their nawi canoes, sung the fish onto their hooks.

With a cooking fire at one end and their kids riding their shoulders, the women kept time with their paddles as they passed down knowledge through their songs.

With Anna Clark and Tamson Pietsch on the History Lab podcast. Duration: 36 mins

There goes the neighbourhoood: radio documentary by Radio Skid Row

Radio Skid Row is an inner west community radio station at Addison Road Community Centre, Marrickville. 

When it celebrated thirty years on the air in 2013, the station produced five documentaries in a series called There goes the neighbourhood.

"The area was changing and the locals—many of them our listeners—were not happy. Gentrification seems inevitable but there are still many on the ground fighting for the areas you have built. In solidarity with these communities we chose to document the fight." 

Each audio documentary looks at a suburb, and the history and impact of gentrification. The production team was Nicola Joseph, Thara Mogwe, Giladesi Namokoyi aka Kween G, Anna Schinella and Isobel Deane.

Listen to documentaries on Redfern, Glebe, Millers Point, Leichhardt, and Marrickville. Duration: about an hour each.

Local history groups

Inner West Council keeps an updated list of Local History groups and associations on its website.

Oral histories