The AFI Research Collection
The majority of our holdings are under the name of the AFI Research Collection. These holdings include clippings files, books, magazines, scripts, promotional film material and so on.
Crawford’s Collection
In 2005, The AFI Research Collection received a large donation of materials from Crawford Productions, producers of many iconic Australian television programmes such as Homicide, Division 4, The Sullivans and The Flying Doctors, to name just a few. The materials in our Crawford Collection include radio plays, scripts, stills, promotional items, background research materials and graphic materials. Learn more
The Henry Mayer Collection
In March 2003, the Australian Broadcasting Authority donated the Henry Mayer Collection to the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University. Over his many years as an academic, Professor Henry Mayer assembled and annotated a massive collection of communications-related literature. Learn more
Wayne Royal Levy Collection
The Wayne Levy Collection includes many titles on film education and a vast collection of film novelisations and tie-in editions. Learn more
To read more about how people have used these collections with their research please go to Research Opportunities page.
Our holdings
Clippings files
The AFI Research Collection has collected over 30,000 clipping files from newspapers and magazines since the late 1970s. The clippings relate to films and tv shows screened in Australia, including foreign films and tv; the Australian film/tv industry; and people within the industry in general.
The amount of materials within a file often depends on the popularity (or notoriety) of a film or tv show, person, or whether a subject has been a newsworthy topic. Title clippings files often contain Press Kits and other advertising material which can be very useful background information on a film or tv show.
Journals
We hold over 800 different journals in the AFIRC. The collection is expansive within the film/tv subject areas and there are countless gems of little known and rarely seen journals within our collection.
Stills and posters
Over a thousand folders (many of these including multiple images) as well as more than four hundred film posters.
Microfilm
We have a number of hard to find journals on Microfilm that can be accessed via our Microfilm Reader/Scanner. They include: Variety (1906-1977), Everyone’s (1920-1937), Film Weekly (1927-1971), Australian Variety and Show World.
Scripts
The AFI Research Collection holds 1,000+ scripts from the Australian Writer’s Guild, the AFI/AACTA, as well as a large number as part of the Crawford’s Collection. Many of these scripts are annotated and are at different levels of completion.