History of the Sydney Film Festival 1954-1983

Webber, Pauline Elizabeth

History of the Sydney Film Festival 1954-1983

Webber, Pauline Elizabeth

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Publication Type:: Thesis
Issue Date:: 2005

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Webber, Pauline Elizabeth
dc.date.accessioned	2007-03-14T01:52:33Z
dc.date.accessioned	2012-12-15T03:51:45Z
dc.date.available	2007-03-14T01:52:33Z
dc.date.available	2012-12-15T03:51:45Z
dc.date.issued	2005
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/20050
dc.description	University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.	en_AU
dc.description.abstract	This study is intended to provide a record of the founding and development of one of Australia's oldest and longest surviving film festivals and to determine the nature and impact of the Festival in its engagement with other cultural, social, and political institutions over the thirty years from 1954 to 1983. I have taken my research from a variety of sources, primarily the archive of Sydney Film Festival papers and ephemera lodged at Mitchell Library, Sydney. I have utilized a number of publications from the period, including daily newspapers, trade papers and specialist film and art journals. These give some indication of the Festival's influence and impact within the wider community and help position it in terms of predominant cultural and social values. I conclude that the Sydney Film Festival has played a significant, and so far somewhat underestimated, role in the development of Australian film culture and industry, and has influenced the nature and reception of films in commercial distribution within the country. In a pedagogical sense, it has influenced contemporary understanding of film and film history, in part by privileging particular movements and filmmakers over others and in part by creating a communal and interactive environment in which films, filmmaking and other aspects of film culture can be discussed, analysed and celebrated. This is a history of an organisation whose membership included some of the major figures in Australian film and related media and I have been committed to bringing a human element to the events and issues explored. To this end, I have utilized the extensive Oral History archive created in 1992 by the Sydney Film Festival in order to commemorate its fortieth anniversary. As is often the case with historical research, some of these personal memories are in conflict with one another and with the documentary record. By a process of referencing and cross referencing, I hope I have arrived at an approximation of a truth about a moment in the life of an Australian cultural icon.	en_AU
dc.format	Thesis (MA)	en_AU
dc.format.extent	610328 bytes
dc.format.extent	1576173 bytes
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf
dc.language	en	en_AU
dc.language.iso	en_AU
dc.relation	https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/20050/1353/02Whole.pdf
dc.relation.replaces	http://hdl.handle.net/2100/252
dc.rights	au.edu.uts.lib/ppc
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.rights	The author owns the copyright in this thesis including all reproduction and reuse rights for the work. The work may not be altered without the permission of the copyright owner. Attribution is essential when quoting or paraphrasing from this thesis.
dc.rights	http://www.lib.uts.edu.au/disclaimer.html	en_AU
dc.rights	Copyright Pauline Webber	en_AU
dc.subject	History.	en_AU
dc.subject	Sydney Film Festival.	en_AU
dc.title	History of the Sydney Film Festival 1954-1983	en_AU
dc.type	Thesis
utslib.copyright.status	open_access

Abstract:

This study is intended to provide a record of the founding and development of one of Australia's oldest and longest surviving film festivals and to determine the nature and impact of the Festival in its engagement with other cultural, social, and political institutions over the thirty years from 1954 to 1983. I have taken my research from a variety of sources, primarily the archive of Sydney Film Festival papers and ephemera lodged at Mitchell Library, Sydney. I have utilized a number of publications from the period, including daily newspapers, trade papers and specialist film and art journals. These give some indication of the Festival's influence and impact within the wider community and help position it in terms of predominant cultural and social values. I conclude that the Sydney Film Festival has played a significant, and so far somewhat underestimated, role in the development of Australian film culture and industry, and has influenced the nature and reception of films in commercial distribution within the country. In a pedagogical sense, it has influenced contemporary understanding of film and film history, in part by privileging particular movements and filmmakers over others and in part by creating a communal and interactive environment in which films, filmmaking and other aspects of film culture can be discussed, analysed and celebrated. This is a history of an organisation whose membership included some of the major figures in Australian film and related media and I have been committed to bringing a human element to the events and issues explored. To this end, I have utilized the extensive Oral History archive created in 1992 by the Sydney Film Festival in order to commemorate its fortieth anniversary. As is often the case with historical research, some of these personal memories are in conflict with one another and with the documentary record. By a process of referencing and cross referencing, I hope I have arrived at an approximation of a truth about a moment in the life of an Australian cultural icon.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/20050