The end of the decade seems an appropriate time for a re-assessment of the revival of Australian cinema, since the beginning of the seventies can be taken as the time when it struggled towards life. Somewhere between the two Burstall films, Two Thousand Weeks (1968) and Alvin Purple (1973), there took place the various stirrings of conscience, consciousness, initiative, and enterprise that led to ... (read more)
Jack Clancy
Jack Clancy (1934-2014) taught film studies at RMIT for many years and was instrumental in the institutionalization of the discipline in Australian universities. In addition to his work inside the university, Clancy served on the Melbourne panel for the Experimental Film Fund established by Prime Minister John Gorton in an initiative intended to spur the Australian film production industry industry. The Jack Clancy Lecture at RMIT was established to honour his contributions to both the university and Australian cinematic culture.
The dilemma faced by the Australian film industry after a decade – and about fifty feature films – of revival is neatly put by the Foreword and the Introduction to The New Australian Cinema. One kind of pioneer, Phillip Adams, to whom some credit for the early impetus is due, has one kind of warning. ‘Our politicians, film corporations and investors are insisting on the need for commercial s ... (read more)
This is the third edition of the Australian Motion Picture Yearbook, a production of the leading Australian film magazine Cinema Papers, which is itself solidly established with Issue No. 41 currently on sale, and a circulation of over 12,000 per issue. The Yearbook is one of a number of publications to come from Cinema Papers Pty Ltd, their range – from The New Australian Cinema and The Documen ... (read more)