Australian Documentary
History, Practices and Genres

Australian Documentary brings to life over a century of documentary making.

Trish FitzSimons (Author), Pat Laughren (Author), Dugald Williamson (Author)

9780521167994, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 31 January 2011

304 pages
24.8 x 17.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.56 kg

'This is an important book - the intellectual framing is innovative, the thoroughness is exceptional and the insight is illuminating. And those who don't know their way around the Australian documentary will surely find its passion infectious.' Dr Jane Mills, Charles Sturt University

Drawing on interviews with leading industry sources and containing discussion of over 200 documentaries, Australian Documentary: History, Practices and Genres brings to life over a century of documentary making and connects it to international debates in criticism, theory and history. Documentary is the oldest continuous form of screen production in Australia, and today plays a pivotal part in our creative industries. This incisive book covers the development of documentary in Australia from the early days of cinema to the coming of television and to the digital environment. Addressing the issues facing today's documentary makers, the authors explore the role of the documentary in shaping the nation and forming the 'imagined community'.

1. The Documentary Field
2. Braided Channels - Documentary Voice
3. Cinematic Scenes of Life
4. New Waves of Documentary
5. Australian Television Takes On Independent Documentary
6. Documentary and the Film Finance Corporation
7. Changing Relations: The AFC, Film Australia and Documentary in the Era of the FFC
8. Australian Broadcasting Cultures and Recent Documentary Practice
9. Documentary and the Edge of Reality
10. Documentary and Civics
11. Documentary Present and Future.

Subject Areas: Media, information & communication industries [KNT], Media studies [JFD], Films, cinema [APF]