Tempo – Australia in the Seventies
A machine-made vision of Australia: bold, booming and data-driven.
What happens when a computer is asked to sum up a nation? In TEMPO – AUSTRALIA IN THE SEVENTIES, a futuristic mainframe crunches statistics, lifestyle data and economic forecasts to deliver an audiovisual report on a country on the move. Using fast cuts, narrated summaries and dynamic imagery, the film presents a vision of 1970s Australia shaped by growth, industry and possibility. It’s part time capsule, part techno-optimist fever dream, and a fascinating glimpse into the era’s faith in machines, models and modernity. Directed by Keith Gow and David Haythornthwaite, with narration by Tom Oliver.
An Australian Commonwealth Film Unit Production.
© National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.