AustLit logo

AustLit

Serena Formica Serena Formica i(A146751 works by)
Gender: Female
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Works By

Preview all
1 1 y separately published work icon Peter Weir : A Creative Journey from Australia to Hollywood Serena Formica , Bristol Chicago : Intellect , 2012 Z1856933 2012 single work criticism Drawing on contemporary concepts from transnational cinema studies, this book investigates Weir's entire three-decade career, paying particular attention to his journey from his native Sydney, with its largely auteur-driven national cinema, to the multimillion-dollar Hollywood film industry with its many genre conventions. [Book jacket]
1 When It All Started : Politics and Policies of the Australian Film Industry from the Revival to the International Breakthrough Serena Formica , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Studies in Australasian Cinema , 6 April vol. 5 no. 1 2011; (p. 43-57)
'In the late 1960s, the Australian film industry was in crisis: audiences were turning to television programmes, in part because they offered more Australian content, and the commercially successful screen comedies of the so-called Ocker were perceived to be damaging the image of Australia abroad. In the 1970s, realizing the potential of cinema as a cultural flagship, the government invested heavily in the film industry through the establishment of the Australian Film Commission (AFC) for the purpose of promoting of high-quality productions. This article examines the main polices of the AFC, and argues that its role in transforming the film industry from a 'cottage industry into a business' (Murray 1990: 14) has been overestimated by Australian cinema scholars such as Dermody and Jacka, David Stratton and Tom O'Regan. The AFC's role as a government body meant that the Commission was more accountable to the government than to film industry professionals, such as producers and filmmakers. The final section of this article examines the producers' reactions to the AFC's policies, and argues that their role within the revival of the Australian film industry has been overlooked and, possibly, underestimated.' (Author's abstract)
X