CHINA> About Australia
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CHINA> About Australia
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Arts in Australia
(wikipedia)
Updated: 2009-08-28 11:24 Cinema Australia has a long history of film production. The world's first feature-length film was the Australian production The Story of the Kelly Gang. However, the purchase of virtually all cinemas by U.S. distribution companies saw an almost total disappearance of Australian films from the screens. A notable exception was Charles Chauvel's classic Jedda (1955). During the late 1960s and 1970s an influx of government funding saw the development of a new generation of directors and actors telling distinctively Australian stories. Films such as Picnic at Hanging Rock and Sunday Too Far Away had an immediate international impact. The 1980s is regarded as perhaps a golden age of Australian cinema, with many very successful films, from the dark science fiction of Mad Max to the comedy of Crocodile Dundee, a film that defined Australia in the eyes of many foreigners despite having remarkably little to do with the lifestyle of most Australians. The 1990s saw a run of successful comedies such as Muriel's Wedding, The Castle and Strictly Ballroom, which helped launch the careers of Toni Collette, P. J. Hogan and Baz Luhrmann. The indigenous film industry continues to produce a reasonable number of films each year; also, many U.S. producers have moved productions to Australia following the decision by Fox head Rupert Murdoch to utilise new studios in Melbourne and Sydney where filming could be effectively completed well below US costs. Notable productions include The Matrix, Star Wars episodes II and III, and Australia starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. Music The music of Australia ranges across a broad spectrum of styles and genres. Some modern trends in Australian music is based on, or concurrent with, similar trends from the United States or United Kingdom and elsewhere, and the music is generally influenced by cross pollination of music from elsewhere; though traditional indigenous music is an unique, as it dates back more than 60,000 years to the prehistory of Australia and continues the ancient songlines through contemporary artists as diverse as: Jimmy Little, Warumpi Band, Yothu Yindi, Tiddas, Wild Water, Christine Anu, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, Saltwater Band, Nabarlek, Nokturnl, the Pigram Brothers, Coloured Stone, Blek Bala Mujik, Kev Carmody, Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter.
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