About this Event
Between 1970 and 1985 four hundred feature films were made in Australia – twenty more than in the previous seventy years. How and why did this surge of production happen? What kinds of films were made and how was it that Australian films became fashionable in Europe and North America?
We’ll study extracts from a range of these ‘New Australian films’ and focus on the first Australian film to screen in the Cannes Director’s fortnight in 1975, Ken Hannam’s Sunday Too Far Away.
Sunday Too Far Away, alongside Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock (also 1975), marked the point of recognition for the New Cinema which had been developing from 1970.
Films of all kinds were made in the period and many were seen and enjoyed in the UK and US. Many new directors like Weir, Bruce Beresford, George Miller, Fred Schepisi, Philip Noyce and Gillian Armstrong made it into international filmmaking.
Jack Thompson, the lead in Sunday Too Far Away, became the stand-out actor of the early period of the New Cinema in this film about shearers competing for top spot in a competitive male environment.
The film captures the ‘larrikin’ culture of drinking and brawling as well as ‘mateship’, anti-authority and anti-boss culture. Like many other films in this group it’s also about the unique Australian landscape.
Tea and coffee will be available, for a small donation, and you are welcome to bring your own lunch.
Tickets are available online and on the door but due to limited places, please let us know if you are planning to buy your ticket on the door.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Mechanics Institute Library, 76 Kirkgate, Bradford, United Kingdom
GBP 15.00 to GBP 20.00
