The People’s House: Sydney Opera House at 50

Short films screen on rotation and full-length documentaries screen at listed times. Screening times are subject to change due to theatre availability. For up-to-date information on screening times, please call the Museum of Sydney on the day of your visit on 02 9251 5988 between 10am–5pm.

Paving the way: Harold Blair, the first Aboriginal opera singer
Museum of History NSW, 2023
Duration: 16 minutes

Wulli Wulli tenor and social rights activist, Harold Blair AM, was the first Aboriginal Australian to train professionally as an opera singer. In July 1973 Blair performed in Dalgerie, the first programmed opera to be staged in the Sydney Opera House. His legacy is commemorated by the Melba Opera Trust Artist Harold Blair Opera scholarship for Indigenous Australians.

Specially commissioned by Museums of History NSW for The People’s House: Sydney Opera House at 50 exhibition, Paving the way tells the extraordinary story of Blair’s career, from his early life on Aboriginal missions and working in Queensland cane fields, to the international stage in the 1950s and 60s. The film includes interviews with his family and those who have been inspired by him, First Nations opera singers and scholarship recipients, as well as rare recordings of Blair singing Maranoa Lullaby and Nananala Kututja. Read more

Landmark: construction of the Opera House
Commonwealth Film Unit, 1972
Duration: 11:24 minutes
National Film and Sound Archive, Film Australia Collection, Title No: 114157

Transitioning from early footage in black and white to colour in the 1970s, Landmark visually narrates the construction of the Opera House with spectacular detail.

Queen at the Opera House: opening ceremony
Producer Gordon Presland, 1973
Duration: 6:10 minutes
National Film and Sound Archive, Film Australia Collection, Title No: 24981

The ceremonial proceedings for the official opening of the Sydney Opera House on 20 October 1973 were watched by millions across the world. This footage includes excerpts of the international broadcast, including Aboriginal actor, Ben Blakeney performing the ‘Bennelong’ oration from the highest sail, and the royal address from Queen Elizabeth II.

Art express: 25th anniversary of Sydney Opera House
Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 1998
Duration: 13:15 minutes
Reproduced by permission of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation - Library Sales

Step back in time to 1998, for reflections on the Sydney Opera House’s first 25 years, from some of Australia’s leading performers and arts and culture commentators.

Interview with Jørn Utzon
The 7.30 report, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2002
Duration: 13 minutes
Reproduced by permission of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation - Library Sales

From the ABC archives, reporter Anne-Maria Nicholson interviews Sydney Opera House architect, Jørn Utzon in his home in Majorca, where he reflects on his experiences with the Opera House in the 1950s and 60s, following his re-engagement with the project in 1999.

11am
The edge of the possible
Director Daryl Dellora, producer Sue Maslin, 1998
Duration: 56 minutes
Film Art Media

Visually spectacular, the award-winning documentary film, The edge of the possible charts the dramatic course of the creation of the iconic Sydney Opera House. The film features rare interviews with architect Jørn Utzon as he reflects on his role in the compelling story of the conception and construction of the Sydney Opera House and his withdrawal from the project.

1pm
Autopsy on a dream
Director John Weiley, 1968
Duration: 56 minutes
Felix Media

Autopsy on a dream was so contentious when broadcast in 1968 by the BBC, it screened only once before being ordered for destruction. Directed by Australian film-maker John Weiley Autopsy on a dream details the public response to the Sydney Opera House and its controversies, including the dismissal of Jørn Utzon. Quite by chance, a copy was discovered by chance forty-five years later. After a painstaking restoration process the film was brought back to its former glory for the Opera House’s 40th anniversary, in 2013. The People’s House: Sydney Opera House at 50 exhibition offers a rare opportunity for public viewing on the ‘big screen’.

3pm
Monster or Miracle? Sydney Opera House
Director Bruce Beresford, producer Pat Lovell, 1973
Duration: 50 minutes
National Film and Sound Archive, Film Australia Collection, Title No: 17440

Monster or Miracle? Sydney Opera House takes us from the international design competition for a national opera house in 1956, to the Opera House we know today being readied for opening in 1973. Introducing key characters who made the Opera House possible, from lottery officials and site workers to artists and engineers, the film also takes us behind the scenes for stage rehearsals for opening performances.

Cultural warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that these films contain images, voices and names of deceased persons.