AustLit
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Screen cap from promotional trailer
Adaptation of
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith
1972
single work
novel
Issue Details:
First known date:
1978...
1978
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith
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Film Details - The Film House , 1978
Producers:
Fred Schepisi (Producer)
Roy Stevens (Associate Producer)
Production Companies:
The Film House
Finance Organisations:
Australian Film Commission
Hoyts Theatres Limited
Victorian Film Corporation
Director of Photography:
Ian Baker
Editors:
Brian Kavanagh
Production Designers:
Wendy Dickson
Composer:
Bruce Smeaton
Cast:
Incl. Tommy Lewis (Jimmie Blacksmith), Freddy Reynolds (Mort Blacksmith), Ray Barrett (Farrell), Jack Thompson (Rev. Neville), Angela Punch McGregor (Gilda Marshall), Steve Dodds (Tabidgi), Peter Carroll (McCready), Ruth Cracknell (Mrs Heather Newby), Don Crosby (Newby), Elizabeth Alexander (Petra Graf), Peter Sumner (Dowie Steed), Tim Robertson (Healey), Ray Meagher (Dud Edmonds), Brian Anderson (Hyberry), Jane Harders (Mrs Healey), Julie Dawson (Martha Neville), Jack Charles (Harry Edwards), Arthur Dignam (Man in Butcher Shop), Robyn Nevin (Mrs McCready), Gregory Apps (Smith), Jillian Archer (Young Nun), John Bowman (Mullett), Bryan Brown (Shearer), Michael Carman (J.C. Thomas), Bill Charlton (Jones), Liddy Clark (Kate), Matthew Crosby (Timmy Newby), Ian Gilmour (Eddie), Ken Grant (Wilson), Alan Hardy (Carmichael), John Jarratt (Michaels), Thomas Keneally (Cook), Marshall Crosby (Peter Newby), Mervyn Drake (Kelly), Rose Lilley, Lorraine Mafi-Williams, Ray Marshall, Terry McDermott, Kevin Miles (Knoller), Karlene Rogerson (Girl at Brentwood), Justine Saunders, Alexandra Schepisi, Rob Steele, Barbara Wyndon.
Release Dates:
1. 21 June 1978 (Australia). Screened at the 1978 Toronto Film Festival (Canada) and 2007 ERA New Horizons Film Festival (Poland). Released commercially in Norway (14 May 1979), and the USA (3 September 1980 - New York City),
2. Released on videocassette format in 1982 by Thorn EMI Video Australia. Re-released on DVD format in 1995 by Thorn EMI Video Australia. 30th Anniversary Collectcors DVD edition released by Umbrella Entertainment in 2008.
Location:
- Filmed on location in various areas of New South Wales, notably Armidale, Dorrigo (incl. Dorrigio State Forest), Bundarra, Dubbo, Gulgong, Kempsey, Mudgee, Port Macquarie, Rylstone, and Scone. Some additional scenes were also shot in Melbourne, Victoria.
Awards:
- Australian Film Institute Awards (1978), Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Ray Barrett (winner)
- Australian Film Institute Awards (1978), Best Best Actress in a Lead Role - Angela Punch McGregor (winner)
- Australian Film Institute Awards (1978), Best Original Music Score - Bruce Smeaton (winner)
- Australian Film Institute Awards (1978), Best Achievement in Cinematography - Ian Baker (nomination)
- Australian Film Institute Awards (1978), Best Achievement in Costume Design - Bruce Finlayson (nomination)
- Australian Film Institute Awards (1978), Best Best Achievement in Editing - Brian Kavanagh (nomination)
- Australian Film Institute Awards (1978), Best Achievement in Production Design - Wendy Dickson (nomination)
- Australian Film Institute Awards (1978), Best Achievement in Sound - Bob Allen, William Anderson, Peter Burgess, Dean Gawen and Gerry Humphreys (nomination)
- Australian Film Institute Awards (1978), Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Peter Carroll (nomination)
- Australian Film Institute Awards (1978), Best Director - Fred Schepisi (nomination)
- Australian Film Institute Awards (1978), Best Film - Fred Schepisi (nomination)
- Cannes Film Festival (1978), Golden Palm Award - Fred Schepisi (nomination)
Notes:
1. Also known as Die Ballade von Jimmie Blacksmith (West Germany); Misos Kai Aima (Greece); O Cântico de Jimmie Blacksmith (Portugal); and Spiew Jimmiego Kowala (Poland).
Settings:
- New South Wales,
- Bush,
