In Harbour

Made by The National Film Board 1953. Directed by Joan Boundy. The port of Sydney is one of the world's busiest, but it is not only the seagoing liners and cargo vessels that make it so; there are the little ships and boats that never go "outside" but spend their crowded days in a hundred different ways, doing the odd-jobs on Sydney's waterfront. This classic National Film Board film beautifully reflects the life of those that work on Sydney Harbour. While the film shows the busyness of the work carried out on the harbour, especially some of the less obvious jobs, it has a calm and relaxed pace that matches the gentle lapping of the waters and the repetitiveness of the tides. The film, set very much in a male dominated environment, was directed by Joan Boundy, one of the first female directors at the Film Board who directed several films there between 1951 and 1973. This film was also screened at the inaugural Sydney Film Festival in 1954. As the festival celebrates its 60th year this year we present this film as part of a retrospective with the Sydney Film Festival.