Stream, rent or buy online

Screen Australia’s The Screen Guide is like IMDB, but for Australian drama. Search for a title and it will display if it’s available on Australian streaming services such as Stan or Netflix and/or available to buy/rent online from stores like iTunes.

Buy a DVD

Check your local retailer, or search online stories such as JB Hi-Fi, Sanity, ABC Shop, or specialists like EzyDVD and Mighty Ape.

DVDs do not necessarily stay in print, so another option is to buy a second hand version from sites like ebay.com.au. It’s also worth checking international online retailers like Amazon, because some Australian titles are released later overseas and/or get special overseas editions. Remember to check the region settings of the DVD player and whether it can read the region of the respective DVD.

Looking for rare titles?

The NFSA may be able to provide access to a copy of the film or TV show to view on-site at NFSA access centres.
Additionally, search the ACMI collection for videos/DVDs available via ACMI’s lending service.

As a last resort

Screen Australia’s The Screen Guide lists a sales contact for each title where available. Sales contacts generally handle sale of the title to distributors or other parts of the distribution chain, either locally or internationally, so they’re not the best place to start if looking for a title for personal or non-industry use.

For non-industry uses, if none of the above strategies has been successful, it is possible to contact the Australian distributor directly. Try typing the film’s title plus ‘DVD distributor’ into an online search engine, e.g. ‘Muriel’s Wedding DVD distributor’, or search an international film database such as the Internet Movie Database (IMDb).

If the distributor is unable to be confirmed, try the producer, production company or sales contact, as listed in the The Screen Guide. If the contact details are not listed, search for them in the business White Pages.

What if the title listing on The Screen Guide says ‘Sales information not current, please contact Screen Australia for enquiries’?

First, we suggest contacting the film’s producer or production company. Again, if the contact details are not listed on the The Screen Guide, try the business White Pages.

If all else fails, email Screen Australia. Please note: we can only assist with Australian drama titles.

What about documentary sales?

On 1 July 2011, all of the rights and obligations of the Film Australia Limited Library and Sales functions were transferred from Screen Australia to the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA).

The former Film Australia Limited was an Australian Government-owned company, whose mission was to create an audiovisual record of Australian life. In its 60 years, it became one of the nation’s leading producers of television documentaries and educational programs.

Film Australia Collection Program Sales provides distribution services for more than a thousand Australian documentaries and programs, including titles produced under Film Australia’s National Interest Program and Making History Initiative.

For more information, see the National Film and Sound Archive shop here: NSFA