Hunter Living Histories

Reflection now published

“Dusting off Australia’s Cinderella City: Reflections on the Stories of Our Town Project 2020-2022” has now been published in the prestigious Archives & Manuscripts: Journal of the Australian Society of Archivists.

Access the Article Free of Charge

You can read the article online in PDF here or by following this link: https://doi.org/10.37683/asa.v50.10459

Abstract: This reflection describes the highs and lows involved in making a set of films sharing the key historical stories of Newcastle (Australia) with the world.

The Stories of Our Town Project tell Newcastle’s key historic stories through Novocastrian eyes and points of view using interviews and archival information across a myriad of formats.

The NSW Government Community Grant provided some of the funding and it was a great example of partnership and cooperation among the filmmakers, the University of Newcastle, and Australia’s major Cultural Institutions and local community organisations.

Keywords: Community storytelling; archives; film making; GLAM; stories; personal narratives; Australian stories; Aboriginal people; Aboriginal stories.

Thanks to the Funding Bodies

Thanks to the Department of Regional N.S.W. Newcastle Port Community Contribution (NPCC) fund, The University of Newcastle’s Vera Deacon Regional History Fund, The City of Newcastle Community Grants & Sponsorships Fund and Commonwealth Department of Veterans’ Affairs ‘Saluting Their Service’ grant who all helped in the funding of the Stories of Our Town Films.

Gratitude to the Film Makers

We wish to extend our sincere gratitude and appreciation to the film makers, Chit Chat von Loopin Stab (a.k.a Glenn from Waratah) and Tony Whittaker for their superb work.

They created 17 Stories of Our Town films featuring a myriad of interviewees, across many locations; accessing historical and cultural institutions across the Hunter Region and wider nation. And did it all within the three year time frame, amid two COVID lockdowns, and very scant resources.

Stories of Our Town Free To View

The result is that ALL the films are freely available to the wider communities locally, and across the world. It is the first time that such stories, of real national significance and importance, have been told in such majestic style, through the communities that created them. They have now been able to share the lived experience with everyone.

Thanks to Colleagues Across the University & Australian GLAM Sector

We thank our professional and academic colleagues across the University of Newcastle and those in the cultural institutions across Newcastle, the Hunter Region and beyond. These include the City of Newcastle’s Art Gallery, Museum and Library; the State Library of NSW, the Australian Museum and National Library of Australia who all opened their collections and access to their professional expertise to illustrating Newcastle’s stories to the film makers, and made them available for use in the films.

The Stories of Our Town Project is a series of documentary films that tell Newcastle’s key historic stories through Novocastrian eyes and points of view. The Department of Regional NSW Newcastle Port Community Contribution (NPCC) fund, Commonwealth Dept. of Veterans Affairs, and the City of Newcastle has provided funding.  It is a great partnership between the film makers, the University of Newcastle, and Newcastle’s major Cultural Institutions and community organisations.

You can see them all here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFr0o5nIRF46pnQOkLOo1mw/videos

More information on the Stories of Our Town here:

https://hunterlivinghistories.com/category/stories-of-our-town/

Gionni Di Gravio, OAM
University Archivist & Chair, Hunter Living Histories