I am passionate about education, cinema, and Australian History. I have been lucky enough to teach university courses on History and Film and I have researched and written on the history of Australian education on film. The books I have chosen are five out of many important books in Australian film history. They were important for my own work, and because in historical research, old books can still be good books, I hope that you will enjoy reading them too!
I wrote
Reel Schools: Schooling and the Nation in Australian Cinema
This is an old but indispensable book that gives a panoramic overview of the history of Australian cinema, ending with the important cinema of the 1970s Film Revival.
I read this coffee table edition all the way through and loved the cinema stills and fabulous information on every page. One for the history of Australian cinema enthusiasts.
I really enjoyed reading this book on the development of Australian film culture and history from the silent cinema to the talkies. Diane Collins looks at unexamined areas of this history, including audiences, marketing, and distribution, and even has a chapter about how picture palaces used to have live music at every screening.
This is an engagingly written account that provides important context for any consideration of Australian cinema history.
LeeAnn Pickrell’s love affair with punctuation began in a tenth-grade English class.
Punctuated is a playful book of punctuation poems inspired by her years as an editor. Frustrated by the misuse of the semicolon, she wrote a poem to illustrate its correct use. From there she realized the other marks…
Two experts in the field provide a great account of Australian film that, at the time, uniquely took a genre approach. There are chapters on comedy, adventure, teen, horror, and art films, to name a few.
In discussing genres, this excellent account foregrounds the films themselves, rather than the history of the Australian film industry. To which genre does your favorite Australian film belong?
Film in Australia is a groundbreaking book that systematically addresses the wide-ranging output of Australian feature films. Adopting a genre approach, it gives a different take on Australian films made since 1970, bypassing the standard run of historical texts and actor- or character-driven studies of Australian film. Comedy, adventure, horror, science fiction, crime, art films and other types are analysed with clarity and insight so the reader can recognize and understand all kinds of Australian films, whether they are contemporary or older features, obscure gems or classic blockbusters. Film in Australia explains how particular types of films work, identifies sub-types,…
This rewarding little book asks and answers the question: what happened to Australian cinema after the landmark Mabo decision on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land rights overturned the colonial doctrine of terra nullius?
Theoretically informed and sensitively written, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in the intertwined relationship between history and cinema following a pivotal event in the nation’s journey toward reconciliation.
Australian Cinema after Mabo is a comprehensive 2005 study of Australian national cinema in the 1990s. Using the 1992 Mabo decision as a starting point, it looks at how the Mabo decision, where the founding doctrine of terra nullius was overruled, has destabilised the way Australians relate to the land. It asks how we think about Australian cinema in the post Mabo era, and what part it plays in the national process of reviewing our colonial past and the ways in which settlers and indigenous cultures can co-exist. Including The Tracker, Kiss or Kill, The Castle, Love Serenade and Yolngu…
LeeAnn Pickrell’s love affair with punctuation began in a tenth-grade English class.
Punctuated is a playful book of punctuation poems inspired by her years as an editor. Frustrated by the misuse of the semicolon, she wrote a poem to illustrate its correct use. From there she realized the other marks…
Australian women have been involved in the creation of cinema from the beginning.
I loved this book because it was one of the few books around at the time that seriously examined this aspect of women in cinema from a range of different perspectives, including from the filmmakers themselves. Can you name the film referenced on the cover? (A: Looking for Alibrandi–a great school film and so much more!)
Drawing upon their experience, success, contributions, and problems, this contemporary study not only focuses on female Australian filmmakers, but also traces the influence of women in television, new media, and computer games. Examining the representation of female, queer, and ethnic ideologies in the moving image, this book provides perspectives from both the artist and the subject. Articles written by women directors, academics, and designers focus on various genres such as short narrative, animation, documentary, comedy, and experimental video. Comment on the work of such filmmakers as Jane Campion (The Piano, Portrait of a Lady) is also featured.
This is the first-ever study of feature films set in Australian schools over time. Starting with silent cinema, it shows how schools, teachers, and students have constantly been employed to convey ideas not just about schooling in Australia but also various important aspects of the Australian nation.
From art houses to hothouses, stories about teachers, children, and adolescents at school have highlighted historical changes in Australian society in entertaining, enlightening, and sometimes disturbing ways.
