A Companion to Australian Cinema

A Companion to Australian Cinema comprises twenty-six original essays on the contemporary state and future directions of a well-established national cinema. A timely collection that challenges and expands the idea of cinema, this book brings into sharp focus those facets of Australian screen production that have evolved and emerged in the twenty-first century.

The essays assembled here address six thematically organized propositions - that Australian cinema is an Indigenous screen culture, an international cinema, a minor transnational imaginary, an auteur-genre-landscape cinema, a televisual industry and a multiplatform ecology. Offering fresh critical perspectives and extending previous scholarship, case studies range from The Lego Movie, Mad Max and Australian stars in Hollywood, to transnational co-productions, YouTube channels, transmedia and naturecam documentaries. New research on trends such as the Blak Wave, the convergence of television and film, digital transformations of screen production and the shifting roles of women, on and off-screen, highlight how established precedents have been transformed by new realities beyond both cinema and national borders.

• Written in an accessible style that does not require knowledge of cinema studies or Australian studies
• Presents original research on Australian actors such as Cate Blanchett and Chris Hemsworth, evaluating their training, branding and path from Australia to Hollywood
• Explores the films and filmmakers of the Blak Wave and their challenge to Australian settler-colonial history and white identity
• Introduces readers to founding texts in Australian screen studies

A Companion to Australian Cinema is an ideal introductory text for teachers and students in film, media and cultural studies, Indigenous and gender studies, and Australian history and politics, as well as a valuable resource for educators and other professionals in the humanities and creative arts.