AustLit

Australian film and television is internationally renowned as a diverse, creative and culturally unique national screen industry. Increasingly integrated into a global production system, the local industry and its cultural texts are shaped by both national and international forces. This unit provides a framework for understanding key themes and genres, the policy settings and production systems which shape local screen content, and the ways in which technological change challenge traditional notions of screen content.

The aim of this unit is to introduce the historical, cultural and industrial contexts of Australian film and television. The unit will provide you with the critical literacy to evaluate and assess how industry developments and policy frameworks shape the nature of local content. It will also demonstrate how the notion of a 'national cinema' is increasingly challenged by technological change, globalisation, and the growth of digital media.