Week 6-Some thoughts about Australian Film Industry

The early years

The Australian film industry got off to a flying start, producing what was probably the world's first full length feature film in 1906. The film was the Tait brothers production The Story of the Kelly Gang, a success in both Australian and British theatres, and it was also the beginning of a genre of bushranger storiesWhile Australians took to bushranger stories, the censorship boards of the day did not. South Australia banned the screening of bushranger films in 1911, Victoria followed in 1912. The NSW police department banned the production of bushranger films in 1912. The Kelly story, however, outlasted the ban and has been refilmed a number of times since although only a few minutes of footage from the original film have survived.Australian cinema continued to thrive during the silent era thanks largely to the work of the pioneers of Australian movie making such as Ken Hall, Charles Chauvel andRaymond Longford, director of the Australian silent classic The Sentimental Bloke.In these early years Australian filmmakers were interested in forging and exploring Australian identity and films such as For the Term of His Natural Life were notable for their peculiarly colonial themes of convicts and bushrangers.In spite of the fact that Australian audiences were interested in seeing their own stories on the screen the industry went into decline in the 1920s. The ever expanding U.S. and British production companies took over the Australian distribution and exhibition chains and Australian features were often excluded from cinemas. The state of the industry was so dire that a Royal Commission was held into the film industry in 1928, but it did little to stop the decline.

Nowadays

Today, the Australian film industry has a reputation for innovation and quality, producing films with a unique flavour and global appeal.Australia’s actors, directors, producers, costume designers, writers, cinematographers and animators are attracting growing international acclaim. Actors such as Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett, Rachel Griffiths, Abbie Cornish, Geoffrey Rush, Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Heath Ledger and Naomi Watts have amassed a body of work that has won critical acclaim and commercial success. The Australian production Happy Feet won an Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2007.The qualities that attract overseas film producers to Australia include its world-class studio facilities, highly-skilled local technical crews and the stunning diversity of the landscape.