David Stratton: Stories of Australian Cinema (ATOM Study Guide)

Synopsis

In this three-part documentary series respected critic David Stratton tells the story of Australian cinema, focusing on the films that capture the nation’s true nature with candour, emotion and humour.

While he adapted to a new country and turned his passion for cinema into a profession as a film festival director and film critic, a growing band of courageous Australians turned their enthusiasm for storytelling into an extraordinary body of work.

Some of Australia’s movie greats help tell this story, including the actors Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Geoffrey Rush, Judy Davis, Hugo Weaving, Sam Neill, Rachel Griffiths, Eric Bana and Jacki Weaver, and the directors Gillian Armstrong, George Miller, Fred Schepisi, Bruce Beresford, David Michôd, Rachel Perkins and Warwick Thornton.

They tell of their intentions at the time they made the films that are now part of Australia’s history and culture. They also reflect on each other’s work and discuss how the national cinema slate is shaped by Australia and also plays a part in shaping Australia. David has played a pivotal role nurturing filmmakers and helping them find audiences for their films locally and internationally. Margaret Pomeranz was at his side for a lot of that time as his television co-host of 28 years, most recently on At The Movies on ABC TV.

Each episode runs for about 59 minutes and is defined by a theme that groups the films and filmmakers featured.

Curriculum links

David Stratton’s STORIES OF AUSTRALIAN CINEMA is relevant to the following curriculum:

• VCE Media, especially Units 1, 2 and 3 in Victoria
• Years 11 and 12 Media Arts and Film, Television and New Media in Queensland
• Years 11 and 12 Media Production and Analysis in Western Australia
• Media Arts in the Australian Curriculum- Years 9 and 10 Content
• English-Year 10 Language and Literacy
• History- Year 10, specifically in the content- ‘The modern world and Australia- Popular culture (1945 – present)
• International Baccalaureate Diploma Program- Film- Textual Analysis, Film Theory and History