History Now: Caught on Screen

In this History Now presentation learn about the history of Australia’s convict past in film and television and explored how they have shaped our perceptions of Australia’s convict past.

From early silent films to contemporary television, stories of convicts have become a powerful lens through which Australians have reimagined the nation’s colonial past. This talk looks at striking productions from Australia and abroad, showing how filmmakers used the convict story to prompt bigger questions about nationalism, colonisation, and Aboriginal dispossession. In tracing these shifting representations, it shows how screen culture has both reflected and reshaped public debates about Australian history, identity, and the enduring legacies of colonisation.

In this History Now presentation Dr James Findlay will speak about research from his new book ‘Caught on Screen: Australia’s Convict history in film and television’.

This presentation is part of the History Council of New South Wales’s 2025 History Now series presented with support of Create NSW.