Australian Film Theory and Criticism. Australian film theory and criticism has burgeoned over the past thirty years, but there is no dedicated book-length study of the field. This research project will fill the gap, not only tracing the specificity of Australian film theory and criticism but also reasserting its place on the international scholarly agenda. In tracing the critical positions, personalities and institutions that have shaped film theory and criticism in this country, this project wi ....Australian Film Theory and Criticism. Australian film theory and criticism has burgeoned over the past thirty years, but there is no dedicated book-length study of the field. This research project will fill the gap, not only tracing the specificity of Australian film theory and criticism but also reasserting its place on the international scholarly agenda. In tracing the critical positions, personalities and institutions that have shaped film theory and criticism in this country, this project will at once disseminate and preserve (for scholars and the general public alike) the legacy of those critical intellectuals who have striven to understand the nation's most popular art and entertainment form, the cinema. Read moreRead less
Working Together: Indigenous and Non-indigenous Collaboration in Australian Film and Literature. As the first, comprehensive study of Indigenous and non-indigenous collaboration in film and literature this project will make an important contribution to Australian cultural history. It will provide filmmakers, educators and publishers with expanded theoretical findings about the nature of collaboration. In the most general sense, this critical analysis of one of the ways in which Indigenous and ....Working Together: Indigenous and Non-indigenous Collaboration in Australian Film and Literature. As the first, comprehensive study of Indigenous and non-indigenous collaboration in film and literature this project will make an important contribution to Australian cultural history. It will provide filmmakers, educators and publishers with expanded theoretical findings about the nature of collaboration. In the most general sense, this critical analysis of one of the ways in which Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians have and continue to 'work together' will contribute to the national project of Reconciliation.Read moreRead less
Australian Screen Comedy. This project will analyse the different types of screen comedy produced in Australia in order to understand how comedy has shaped a sense of who we are as Australians. It will provide an understanding of why some Australian comedies and comedians succeed at home but not abroad and whether comedy can claim to be representative of an Australian way of life. It will make a contribution to a network of current research projects into the history and aesthetics of Australian ....Australian Screen Comedy. This project will analyse the different types of screen comedy produced in Australia in order to understand how comedy has shaped a sense of who we are as Australians. It will provide an understanding of why some Australian comedies and comedians succeed at home but not abroad and whether comedy can claim to be representative of an Australian way of life. It will make a contribution to a network of current research projects into the history and aesthetics of Australian television and film, producing synergies in national media research.
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The impact of Josephine Baker and Paul Robeson on European modernism and cultural life. The story of how the Black American entertainers Josephine Baker and Paul Robeson became stars in Jazz-Age Europe is the stuff of legend. Lionised by artists and intellectuals and idolised by popular audiences, they embodied the spirit of the age. As an allegory for those times, their story reveals a secret history of cultural intermixing at the heart of European modernism. It also holds up a mirror to our ....The impact of Josephine Baker and Paul Robeson on European modernism and cultural life. The story of how the Black American entertainers Josephine Baker and Paul Robeson became stars in Jazz-Age Europe is the stuff of legend. Lionised by artists and intellectuals and idolised by popular audiences, they embodied the spirit of the age. As an allegory for those times, their story reveals a secret history of cultural intermixing at the heart of European modernism. It also holds up a mirror to our times. By demonstrating the cosmopolitanism and ingenuity of popular culture, the research will simultaneously discomfort multicultural and anti-racist assumptions and deflate the myth of a pure or unchanging cultural identity.Read moreRead less
Redesigning Australian film and television production for Multichannel Environments, 1995-2009. The project has clear national benefits in that it represents a new approach to understanding the difficulties and opportunities confronting Australian situated audio-visual production at a time of profound change. In centering the transformation of the production industry under the impact of structural adjustment to multi-channeling and increasing transnationalization, the study promises new perspect ....Redesigning Australian film and television production for Multichannel Environments, 1995-2009. The project has clear national benefits in that it represents a new approach to understanding the difficulties and opportunities confronting Australian situated audio-visual production at a time of profound change. In centering the transformation of the production industry under the impact of structural adjustment to multi-channeling and increasing transnationalization, the study promises new perspectives on strategic policy and industry priorities which will strengthen the capacity for innovation and international linkages among producers, policy makers and educators. It fits the national priority of 'Frontier technologies for building and transforming Australian industries' related to 'promoting an innovation culture and economy'.Read moreRead less
Utilitarian Filmmaking in Australia 1945 - 1980. The project plans to discover, document, analyse and compile a lasting archive of utilitarian filmmaking in Australia. 'Utilitarian' describes client-sponsored, instructional and governmental filmmaking existing outside the conventional theatrical contexts by which cinema is usually defined. Focused on the post-World War Two decades before the proliferation of video in the late 1970s, the project aims to highlight previously-unstudied aspects of t ....Utilitarian Filmmaking in Australia 1945 - 1980. The project plans to discover, document, analyse and compile a lasting archive of utilitarian filmmaking in Australia. 'Utilitarian' describes client-sponsored, instructional and governmental filmmaking existing outside the conventional theatrical contexts by which cinema is usually defined. Focused on the post-World War Two decades before the proliferation of video in the late 1970s, the project aims to highlight previously-unstudied aspects of the media industries. This is designed to deliver new knowledge of the skills and subject matter that sustained filmmaking, communication and education in Australia during a time when conventional scholarship assumes there was almost no significant filmmaking.Read moreRead less
The Democractisation of Documentary Cinema in China. The Democratisation of Documentary Cinema in China has cultural, political, economic, and research benefits for Australia. Culturally, the Project provides an analysis of the ways China views itself and the world. Politically, the Project enriches Australia's understanding of how media control in China has been transformed from 1949 to the age of globalisation. Economically, the Project enhances Australia's chances of finding a niche in the wo ....The Democractisation of Documentary Cinema in China. The Democratisation of Documentary Cinema in China has cultural, political, economic, and research benefits for Australia. Culturally, the Project provides an analysis of the ways China views itself and the world. Politically, the Project enriches Australia's understanding of how media control in China has been transformed from 1949 to the age of globalisation. Economically, the Project enhances Australia's chances of finding a niche in the world's largest documentary film market. As a contribution to research, the Project will produce the first in-depth study of Chinese documentary film, its industry and politics and so offers Australia a new perspective on how political change is reflected in one of China's leading media productions.Read moreRead less
Cinema and the Senses: Temporality of the films of Stanley Kubrick, Terrence Malick and Kumar Shahani. The resulting monograph, articles and seminars will provide new methodologies for Australian cinema studies which has tended to depend on Euro-American models. The project offers three distinct ways of thinking about an ecology of the human senses in and through cinema. The ideas on cine-synaesthesia would link up with current research on this topic in other disciplines such as neurophysiology, ....Cinema and the Senses: Temporality of the films of Stanley Kubrick, Terrence Malick and Kumar Shahani. The resulting monograph, articles and seminars will provide new methodologies for Australian cinema studies which has tended to depend on Euro-American models. The project offers three distinct ways of thinking about an ecology of the human senses in and through cinema. The ideas on cine-synaesthesia would link up with current research on this topic in other disciplines such as neurophysiology, painting and music. The interdisciplinarity of the project offers, to the public sphere of Australian cinema, cross-cultural and cross-media perspectives on film aesthetics. Read moreRead less
Only at the movies: mapping the contemporary Australian cinema market. Only at the movies? is a three-year project that asks: What is the enduring appeal of cinemagoing and how is it changing? It will provide detailed analyses of formal film exhibition and distribution in Australia by combining economic, cultural and geospatial research with industry expertise.
Superheroes: Creative Force, Cultural Zeitgeist and Transmedia Phenomenon. Since their emergence in 1938 comic book heroes have become imbedded in our popular culture, becoming part of our modern mythology. In each form and every generation these characters serve as cultural signposts, articulating our loftiest ideals and deep-seated anxieties. The project aims to explore the historic, creative and artistic development of the genre across multiple media and its political and social significance. ....Superheroes: Creative Force, Cultural Zeitgeist and Transmedia Phenomenon. Since their emergence in 1938 comic book heroes have become imbedded in our popular culture, becoming part of our modern mythology. In each form and every generation these characters serve as cultural signposts, articulating our loftiest ideals and deep-seated anxieties. The project aims to explore the historic, creative and artistic development of the genre across multiple media and its political and social significance. The genre has been enormously successful in film, with the top 100 films accounting for approximately $13 billion in profit for the companies that produced them. The project will explore how the successful transmedia crossover further offers insight into the strategies that drive creative industries such as film, television, video games and comics. The project will work with the Australian Centre for the Moving Image to develop a Melbourne Winter Masterpiece exhibition and a series of research projects, public events and an international conference to engage both the general public and academics.Read moreRead less