International Literacy Day 2026: Read it. Watch it. Discover it.

Beamafilm

08/09/2026

Literacy for people, the planet and prosperity

This year's theme reminds us that literacy is about much more than words on a page. It gives us the tools to learn, communicate, share knowledge, understand different perspectives and participate more fully in the world around us.

And stories have always been one of our favourite ways to learn.

At Beamafilm, you can travel from the written word to the big screen, discover languages and cultures different from your own, and explore documentaries that turn curiosity into knowledge.

So, for International Literacy Day, here are a few ways to get watching.

From page to screen

There's something magical about seeing a story you know from a book transformed into film.

Revisit Kangaroo, D.H Lawrence's story of power, prejudice, love and desire, or the Australian coming-of-age culture with Puberty Blues, adapted from Kathy Lette and Gabrielle Carey's groundbreaking novel, or step into Henry Handel Richardson's classic world with The Getting of Wisdom.

Whether you read the book first or head straight for the screen, adaptations are a wonderful reminder that storytelling takes many forms.

Celebrate language and culture

Literacy is also inseparable from language, identity and the ways knowledge is passed between generations.

Whakapapa of a Māori Phrasebook explores the story behind a groundbreaking Māori language publication, weaving together language, whakapapa and cultural memory.

It's a beautiful reminder that keeping a language alive means keeping stories, histories and ways of seeing the world alive too.

Learn something completely new

Who says learning has to stop when you leave the classroom?

Documentaries can introduce us to people, places and ideas we might otherwise never encounter - from science and history to art, culture, the environment and the extraordinary lives of people around the globe.

Pick a subject you know nothing about, press play and see where your curiosity takes you.

Because watching can be learning, too

Books teach us to imagine worlds. Film lets us see them through someone else's eyes.

Both can build empathy, spark questions and encourage us to think differently - which makes International Literacy Day a pretty good excuse to curl up with a great story.

So today, read something. Watch something. Learn something. Share something.

And celebrate the stories that help us understand our world - and one another.

Happy International Literacy Day!

Watch for FREE with a participating library card or on a 30-day trial. You can also rent individual films from the Beamafilm collection.

Literacy Day 2026: Read it. Watch it. Discover it.

Great stories don't only live on the page.

Watch for FREE with a participating library card or on a 30-day trial. Also, you can rent a film for 72 hours.

Kangaroo

1987

1 h 40 mins

Movie

Novelist Richard Somers and his wife abandon the emotional sterility of Europe in the early '20s for a new life in Australia.

Director:

Cast:

M CC

1 h 23 mins

Two teenage girls fight peer pressure in 1980's Australia. Having previously been in their own group, they desperately try to break into the "in" crowd before working to regain respect and equality again.

Director:

Cast:

Whakapapa of a Māori Phrase Book

E CC HD Exclusive

2023

13 mins

Documentary

An exploration into an early Māori phrasebook, first published in 1885.

Director:

Benjamin Brooking

Cast:

Xavier Forsman

Robert Eruera

The Getting of Wisdom

1977

1 h 37 mins

Movie

An imaginative girl refuses the mould of Victorian society.

Director:

Cast:

1 h 40 mins

Novelist Richard Somers and his wife abandon the emotional sterility of Europe in the early '20s for a new life in Australia.

Director:

Cast:

Kings in Grass Castles Miniseries

1998

2 episodes

Series

The life of an Irish immigrant family in Australia in the second half of the 19th century.

Director:

Cast:

A Fortunate Life Miniseries

1986

4 episodes

Series

4-part biopic about classic Australian author A.B. Facey (1894-1982). Born into a large impoverished family, uneducated and illiterate, he'd fended for himself since he was 8 and was later sent to Gallipoli as a WWI recruit.

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PG CC HD

2 episodes

Golden Fiddles, an adaptation of the 1928 novel by Mary Grant Bruce, is a life-affirming family drama, exploring the hardships and ever-present turmoil during the Great Depression.

Director:

Cast:

The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

E CC HD

2020

3 episodes

Series

This 6+ hour screenbook covers a translation in verse, by Laurence Binyon, of the great 14th century Italian poem "The Divine Comedy: Inferno".

Director:

Cast:

1 h 48 mins

A stirring love story based on George Sand's Francois Le Champi. Despite the odds stacked against him, a young orphan grows from a boy into a man.

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Cast:

Fields of Fire: Season 1

M CC HD

1987

2 episodes

Series

In 1938, an Englishman emigrates to Australia and becomes a cane-cutter. Sisters Kate and Dusty fall for him.

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Cast:

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In Search of Edgar Allan Poe

E CC HD

2024

2 episodes

Series

This documentary tells the poignant story of the poet, short story writer, and critic Edgar Allan Poe. It recounts how he invented the detective story, pioneered science fiction, and shaped the horror tale yet was beset by...

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1 h 38 mins

Ginger Meggs is the live-action adaption of a tale about an unruly, young mischief maker who is constantly getting himself in trouble in spite of his good intentions

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1 h 27 mins

Ten-year old local larrikin Fatty Finn clashes with his rival Bruiser Murphy.

Director:

Cast:

Grendel Grendel Grendel

1981

1 h 27 mins

Movie

The monster Grendel tries to figure out his purpose in life.

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Cast:

1 h 35 mins

A part-Aboriginal teenage ex-convict is led back into crime by his reckless cousin.

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Cast:

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Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

M CC

1984

2 h 50 mins

Movie

Star-crossed lovers defy a bitter family feud, only to find unity through tragic sacrifice.

Director:

Cast:

The Tonga Islands - An Account by William Mariner

E CC HD Exclusive

2024

9 mins

Documentary

An exploration into the ongoing significance of an early publication documenting life on the Tongan Islands in the late eighteenth century.

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1 h 34 mins

Australian Rules is the story of 16-year-old Gary Black - average football player, budding wordsmith and reluctant hero. All he cares about is his football team - but racial tensions in his small town are about to boil over.

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Cast:

Shakespeare's Macbeth

M CC

1981

2 h 31 mins

Movie

Ambition and prophecy drive a loyal general to regicide and madness.

Director:

Arthur Allan Seidelman

Cast:

Shakespeare's Othello

G CC

1983

3 h 1 min

Movie

A tale of trust twisted by manipulation, as jealousy poisons love and leads to tragedy.

Cast:

William Marshall

Ron Moody

Jenny Agutter

Shakespeare's King Richard II

PG CC

1981

2 h 42 mins

Movie

A monarch's fatal pride and betrayal by kin lead to his dramatic fall from the throne.

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Inspirational streaming

Beamafilm is a premium video streaming service that specialises in delivering digital library video collections and academic streaming media to educational & public libraries, B2B institutions, & cultural organisations across the globe.