“The way a film looks and moves should have some relationship to the way a director thinks and feels…the auteur theory is concerned with interior meaning, the ultimate glory of the cinema as an art.” 

Andrew Sarris, the film critic who first championed the auteur theory of cinema (452)

Auteurs of Australian Cinema explores the work of five celebrated auteurs whose films have transformed our appreciation of film. Stepping beyond the conventional cinemas of their era, these artists have illuminated our cultural shadowlands and broadened the aesthetic possibilities of cinema as an artform. From our early pioneers to our modern mavericks, this program will showcase five unforgettable classics of Australian cinema. 

Our opening night film is a special cinematic event—an incredibly rare screening of the McDonagh Sisters’ The Far Paradise, a revered work of Australian silent film. Their work captures something unique in the silent film era: an expression of artistic vision that reaches beyond the notion of film as pure entertainment. Incredibly, the McDonagh Sisters made this bold artistic statement with an extremely limited budget and as female creators operating in an industry entirely dominated by men. The pioneering nature of our second film, Charles Chauvel’s final film, Jedda, cannot be overstated—as Australia’s first colour film, the first nominated for the Golden Palm (now the Palme d’Or), and the first featuring Indigenous lead actors. Renowned for his uncompromising approach to filmmaking, Chauvel undertook an ambitious program of location shooting, documenting the harsh beauty of remote Northern Territory deserts, mountains, canyons and plains. 

Two of the most significant auteurs to emerge during Australia’s “new wave” cinema revival of the 1970s—Peter Weir and Fred Schepisi—have crafted films that have transformed our film landscape. Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock, a film of dense artistic power and mystery, created a true moment of Australian film that has reverberated with audiences and filmmakers over the four decades since its release (O’Regan). Its cinematic poetry, its originality and its sophistication of style had no precedent in our local cinema, and it remains one of Australia’s most influential films. Schepisi’s The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith was a profound celluloid statement that played a groundbreaking role in encouraging a greater awareness of Indigenous and broader social justice issues. Schepisi propels us into to the harsh world of the Australian frontier at the turn of the century, producing one of the most disturbing and provocative films of the era. 

Our closing night film presents the masterpiece of one Australasia’s most acclaimed auteurs: Jane Campion. The Piano is the first and only Australian-produced film to win the coveted Palme d’Or, and remains the only film directed by a woman to ever win the award. The film has played a transformative role in bringing Australasian cinema to the world stage. Describing herself as an “Australasian filmmaker” (Curtis), Campion, through The Piano and a range of other critically acclaimed works, has helped to span the Pacific—from Australia and New Zealand to the dream factories of the US west coast. A masterclass of acting, it is no surprise the mother and daughter pairing at the core of the story were both awarded Oscars—Holly Hunter for her role as Ada and Anna Paquin for her role as Flora, receiving the award at just 11 years of age.