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Reference Type The Age newspaper
Title Artsbeat: METRO
Author(s)Robin Wright
Section Metro
State Unknown
Country Australia
Publication Date 05-12-1997
Citation Date
Page Number 5
Comments This article is very much aimed toward the state of Victoria, and even more directly, Melbourne. Located in the Metro section of The Age, it looks specifically at Jeff Kennets contribution to the Melbourne culture with his introduction of a film festival celebrating Australia.



Written in 1997, the article focuses on the inaugural Festival of Australian Film, the baby of the then Victorian premier and arts minister Jeff Kennet. The Festival launched on the 14th of December in 1997. While The Regent, whose audience had grown after the closure of other venues in the area, is mentioned as being one of the most popular theatre in the state - the State Film Theatre acted as the hub for the Festival.



From January 19-25, the State Film Theatre would act as the vessel to showcase and chronicle the “evolution of the Australian identity in film via such home-grown movies as the original 1957 version of The Shiralee, The Year of Living Dangerously, Mad Max, and The Castle.”



Kennet constructed this Australian film celebration to lead into Australia Day that year as a showcase of our culture, stating that the film collection provides a deep insight into Australian “history, landscape, myths and experience”.



This article acts as an important conveyer of both information on the then-new film festival, while also providing the reader with details and quotes from Kennet himself on why the people should be interested in the collection of movies, and why the festival was initiated in the first place. The author also briefly talks about the growing success of The Regent and the failures of other, smaller venues. It’s an even-balanced piece that is more interested in conveying up to date information on the film industry, rather than inserting opinion or conjecture.
Synopsis An article focusing on the up-coming inaugural Festival of Australian Film, created by Premier Jeff Kennet, which featured a collection of Australian classic films played at the State Film Theatre on the lead up to the following Australia Day celebrations.
tags: Festival of Australian Film Jeff Kennett Mad Max The Age The Castle The Regent South Yarra The Shiralee 
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