Australian Cinema After Mabo

Australian Cinema after Mabo is a comprehensive 2005 study of Australian national cinema in the 1990s.

Felicity Collins (Author), Therese Davis (Author)

9780521834803, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 27 October 2004

214 pages, 12 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.3 cm, 0.46 kg

'The authors offer a compelling argument about the development of Australian cinema in the wake of the High Court's 1993 Mabo judgement, which overturned the founding principle of terra nullius - the myth that Australia was 'empty' prior to European settlement/invasion. This belated realization, Collins and Davis argue, opened a completely new chapter in the country's national cinema. The late 1990s and early 2000s have seen Australian film-makers respond by reflecting critically upon Australia's unresolved historical 'trauma' and restaging the country's colonial history … the book is strong in addressing films directly responsive to the crumbling myth of terra nullius … it … offers an excellent, much-needed sophisticated contribution to contemporary political, historical and cinematic debates around Australian national identity, while evidencing the continuing weight and relevance of film as a culturally engaged form.' Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory

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 Boy among numerous others, this book highlights turning points in the shaping of the Australian cinema since Mabo. It is essential reading for anyone studying Australian cinema and for those interested in the ways in which land politics has impacted upon the way we imagine ourselves through cinema.

Part I. Australian Cinema and the History Wars: 1. Backtracking after Mabo
2. Home and abroad in Moulin Rouge, The Dish and Lantana
3. Elites and battlers in Australian Rules and Walking on Water
4. Mediating memory in Mabo - life of an Island Man
Part II. Landscape and belonging after Mabo: 5. Aftershock and the desert landscape in Heaven's Burning, The Last Days of Chez Nous, Holy Smoke, Serenades, Yolngu Boy, The Missing
6. Coming from the country in Heartland, Cunnamulla and Message from Moree
7. Coming from the the city in The Castle, Vacant Possession, Strange Planet and Radiance
Part III. Grief, Trauma and Coming of Age: 8. Lost, stolen and found in Rabbit-Proof Fence
9. Escaping history and shame in Looking for Alibrandi, Head On and Beneath Clouds
10. Sustaining grief in Japanese Story and Dreaming in Motion.

Subject Areas: Film theory & criticism [APFA]