Film Australia
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Film Australia was a company established by the Government of Australia to produce films about
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
in 1973. Its predecessors were the Cinema and Photographic Branch (1913–38), the Australian National Film Board (1939–1955, under different departments), and the Commonwealth Film Unit (1956–72). Film Australia became Film Australia Limited in 1988 and was consolidated into
Screen Australia Screen Australia is the Australian Federal Government's key funding body for the Australian screen production industry, created under the ''Screen Australia Act 2008''. From 1 July 2008 Screen Australia took over the functions of its predecess ...
in 2008. Administration of the Film Australia Collection was transferred from Screen Australia to the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia on 1 July 2011. The mission of the organisation changed through its earlier incarnations, but from 1973 its aim was to create an audio-visual record of Australian culture, through the commissioning, distribution and management of programs that deal with matters of national interest or illustrate and interpret aspects of Australian life.


History

In 1913 the Cinema and Photographic Branch (also known as the Cinema Branch) was created in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
under cameraman
Bert Ive Bert Ive (1875–1939) was a British-born Australian cinematographer, who was the first long-term cinematographer and still photographer in Australia. During his career as a film photographer for the federal government from 1913 to 1939, he fr ...
, after he had been appointed government photographer and cinematographer. The Branch was administered by a number of
Commonwealth government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...
departments during its existence, changing the focus of the photographs and films, including the promotion of Australian merchandise, tourism, and immigration. When it came under the Commonwealth Immigration Office in 1921, the Cinema Branch was expanded, and by the end of the Silent era (1927 onwards), it was making a film a week. Lyn Maplestone, production manager from 1926, directed many of the films made by the Branch in the 1930s. The Cinema and Photographic Branch wound up in 1938, Ive died on 25 July 1939, and Australia was at war with Germany two months later. The Cinema Branch moved into the new Department of Information (DOI), becoming the Australian National Film Board (also referred to as the Film Division, created in order oversee coordination of government and commercial
filmmaking Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, casti ...
, and to engage film production in the war effort and based in
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
). From 1950, the division came under the
Australian News and Information Bureau The Australian Information Service (AIS) was one of a series of federal government organisations created to promote the image of Australia, in existence between 1940 and 1996. First created in 1940, the Australian News and Information Bureau (AN ...
, until 1955, and from 1956 until 1972 it was the Commonwealth Film Unit. By the late 1940s all film production took place in Sydney, and the Melbourne branch closed in 1954, after continuing to process some non-theatrical film until this time. Stanley Hawes was the Producer-in-Chief from 1946 to 1969. In June 1973 the unit was superseded by Film Australia, which became Film Australia Limited in 1988. The operations of
Film Finance Corporation Australia The Film Finance Corporation Australia (FFC) was the government agency responsible for funding commercial productions of Australian film, documentary, and television from 1988 to 2008. Unlike other publicly funded organisations responsible for f ...
, Australian Film Commission, and Film Australia were merged as
Screen Australia Screen Australia is the Australian Federal Government's key funding body for the Australian screen production industry, created under the ''Screen Australia Act 2008''. From 1 July 2008 Screen Australia took over the functions of its predecess ...
in July 2008. Administration of the Film Australia Collection was transferred from Screen Australia to the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA) on 1 July 2011, and the Film Australia Library became the Film Australia Collection. The
Australian Children's Television Foundation The Australian Children's Television Foundation (ACTF) is a national non-profit children's media production and policy hub. The ACTF helps develop children's television policy; distributes and pays for Australian children's television series; ...
became distributors for Film Australia's children's catalogue, with the exception of '' Boffins'', maintained by the NFSA.


Films

In 1973 Film Australia gained its first female producer, Suzanne Baker, who in 1977 became the first Australian woman to win an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
, for
Best Animated Short Film The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards (with different names), covering the year ...
, for ''
Leisure Leisure has often been defined as a quality of experience or as free time. Free time is time spent away from business, work, job hunting, domestic chores, and education, as well as necessary activities such as eating and sleeping. Leisure ...
'', animated by
Bruce Petty Bruce Leslie Petty, born 23 November 1929 at Doncaster, a suburb of Melbourne, is one of Australia's best known political satirists and cartoonists.Michael Thornhill Michael Thornhill (29 March 1941 – 22 January 2022) was a film producer, screenwriter, and director. Career Thornhill had a background in freelance journalism and publishing including working as a film critic. He was a member of the WEA Fi ...
's first films were short
documentaries A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...
made for the Commonwealth Film Unit, including ''The Esperance story'' (1968) and ''Cheryl and Kevin'' (1974). One of Film Australia's most successful films is ''
A Steam Train Passes ''A Steam Train Passes'' is a 1974 Australian short film set in the 1940s, featuring the construction and operation of locomotive 3801. Plot The opening sequence is a 1943 black-and-white Cinesound newsreel ''Monarch of the Rails'' showing th ...
''. It has won many awards and is generally regarded as Australia's finest railway film. Film Australia also created one of Australia's most successful children's television programs, ''
Johnson and Friends ''Johnson and Friends'' is an Australian live action/puppet children’s television program that originally aired on ABC from 3 September 1990 to 10 July 1997. It was produced by Film Australia and was created by Ron Saunders, John Patterson ...
'', which ran for four series. The program sold to over 50 territories and ran from 1990 until 1995. This venture also lead to the creation of further children's programs, including ''
The Girl from Tomorrow ''The Girl from Tomorrow'' is an Australian sci-fi children's television series produced by Film Australia. The series is based around Alana (Katharine Cullen), a girl from the year 3000. At the start of the series, she is kidnapped by Silvertho ...
'' / '' Tomorrow's End'', '' Boffins'', ''
Escape from Jupiter ''Escape from Jupiter'' is an Australian children's science fiction drama which aired from 26 November 1994 to 11 March 1995 on ABC. Concerning a small group of children on Jupiter's moon Io, the series ran for 13 episodes. When one of Io's ...
'' / ''
Return to Jupiter ''Return to Jupiter'' was an Australian television series, a 13-part follow-up to ''Escape from Jupiter''. It aired in Australia from 23 March to 15 June 1997. Plot After their escape from Io, Michael, Kumiko, Gerard and Anna, last seen in ''E ...
'' and '' Spellbinder'' / '' Land of the Dragon Lord''.


Operations

Before becoming Screen Australia, Film Australia was one of the nation's leading producers of television documentaries and educational programs. Film Australia produced programs under the National Interest Program: a contract with the Australian Government to devise, produce, distribute and market productions that deal with matters of national interest or illustrate and interpret aspects of Australian life. Additional funding for a ten-part series on Australian history was provided by the Government from 2005. Film Australia was the executive producer of these productions, drawing the creative and technical talent needed to produce them from Australia's independent documentary production industry. The company also provided support to the Australian documentary sector through a range of services and facilities, under its Community Service Obligations. The Film Australia Library manages over 5000 titles and 150,000 photographs, reflecting a century of Australia's history. This unique archive of footage and stills is made available to the production industry. Film Australia Digital Learning creates projects targeted to the developing market for educational resources, primarily for delivery online. It draws largely on the materials in Film Australia's Library, and creates opportunities for documentary filmmakers and multimedia producers in education and new media production. Film Australia Distribution markets both National Interest Program productions and independently produced documentaries to Australian and international broadcasters, and to libraries, schools, universities and community groups. Film Australia Studios in Sydney is a purpose-built film and television production facility and provides screening venues, a sound stage, sound post-production facilities, a film laboratory, production offices, editing and transfer suites. These are used by many Film Australia and low-budget independent film and television productions, and by long-term tenants who operate production facilities and service companies. Film Australia’s Digital Resource Finder is a quick, convenient and easy-to-use search engine for teachers and educators. It features FREE FOR EDUCATION video clips from Film Australia’s remarkable archive—one of the nation’s largest and most historically significant collections. Clips are matched with print-friendly two-page resource sheets that include background information and engaging student research and classroom activities written by leading teachers.


References


Sources

* * *


External links


Moran, Albert (1987) 'Documentary Consensus: The Commonwealth Film Unit: 1954-1964' in O'Regan, T and Shoesmith, B (eds) ''History on/and/in Film'', Perth, History & Film Association of AustraliaFilm Australia Digital Learning Resource FinderAustralian - Live Online Radio and TV
{{Authority control Film organisations in Australia State-owned film companies Film production companies of Australia