THE National Film and Sound Archive is fairly buzzing with contributions to the Centenary of Canberra, and as part of that it plans to showcase its “incredible collection of Australia’s audiovisual history” at the National Folk Festival over the Easter weekend.

Its latest contributions include a film screening with live musical accompaniment this Saturday at 3pm, the 13th awarding of the National Folk Recording Award, more versions, they hope, of “Canberra’s Calling to You,” and a retrospective by Canberra songsmith Fred Smith of his two NFSA award-winning albums.

The special screening on Saturday will feature eight films from the Corrick Collection, a treasure trove of 130 films made between 1900-1914 collected by the Corrick Family Entertainers, a troupe of performers who toured the Australian variety circuit from 1897. Produced in Europe, America, and with a number actually filmed by the Corricks themselves in Australia, the films present fantasy, travel, drama, comedy and special effects. This rare screening have a live piano accompaniment by silent film whizz kid, Elaine Loebenstein, of whose pianistic ventures “CityNews” wrote yesterday.

The NFSA National Folk Recording Award has been presented every year since 2001 and will be presented to the best recording made by an artist appearing at this year’s Festival.

Fred Smith, the only artist to win two NFSA awards, will be enjoying a retrospective at the Folk Festival, with performances focusing on his two NFSA National Folk Recording Award-winning albums “Bagarap Empires” and “Urban Sea Shanties”. Smith is. On Saturday 11am in the Budawang pavilion he’ll be teaming up with his old mates, the Spooky Men’s Chorale, to present songs from their 2009 album and on Easter Monday at  3pm at Trocadero, he’ll sing songs from “Bagarap Empires”. The latter performance will be in effect the “first draft” of a show he is planning for the Canberra Centenary to mark the 10th anniversary of peace monitoring missions in Bougainville and the Solomon   Islands.

To mark the Centenary Year, the NFSA has placed on its website the sheet music of Jack Lumsdaine’s 1938 song “Canberra’s Calling to You”. There is also footage which can be used to make a recording and video clip. The NFSA is encouraging musicians to produce a version of this famous song. For details visit http://www.nfsa.gov.au/whats-on/canberra-calling-you/

To remind readers, here are the words:

Rolling plains of the South land

Vast and wide and free

Windswept grass waving restless

Green as the mighty sea

Our great Commonwealth of Australia

Founded her new home

From God’s good earth

There came the birth of our capital our own,

 

Like a jewel so rare

In a setting so fair

A city of white was born,

With its gardens of blooms

And its rare perfumes

That greet each sunny morn,

Australia’s creation,

The heart of the nation,

‘Neath azure skies of blue,

Wherever you are,

Be it near or far,

Canberra’s calling to you.