The Weird of Oz

In the early 1970s, Australian cinema bloomed into life after decades of desert-like silence. All manner of movies appeared to express the contradictions of Australia; then barely seventy years old as a modern nation yet superimposed unthinkingly over the planet’s oldest living culture. As its cinema woke up and cried out, Australia began to describe its own weirdness: its extremely plural cultures, vast and mysterious environment, laconic humour laced with bite, an elastic sense of time. Australian ideas, themes and character all emerged quickly, to be captured with vigour by both popular and art cinema. In this special Fanomenon programme, you’ll see Australian ideas repeat themselves in various ways: the highway adventures of Mad Max 2, Road Games and Stone; the hyperreal pop images styles of BeDevil and Razorback; vengeful nature in Lost Weekend and The Last Wave; individuals against the world in Celia and Wake in Fright. For about 20 years the Australian new wave of cinema was wild and distinctive, expressing the growing pains of the country and garnering attention around the world. And 53 years since the production of the first of these films (Wake in Fright), Australia remains confident, conflicted, contrarian, and still pretty weird.