Australian Film Institute Awards Film Tipping Competition

AUSTRALIAN CINEMA COLLECTION Vol 1
From prestige heritage dramas through to bawdy drive-in flicks, the story of Australian cinema of the early '70s through to the early '90s is particularly varied and fertile. Selected here are twelve of the most outstanding films from this era. Included in this boxset are not only acclaimed and award-winning titles such as Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Devil's Playground and The Getting of Wisdom, but also such disreputable delights such as The Adventures of Barry McKenzie and FJ Holden. Many of Australia's most admired directors are represented on this set, including Peter Weir, Fred Schepisi, Bruce Beresford (Barry McKenzie, Puberty Blues,The Getting of Wisdom), Nadia Tass (Malcolm, The Big Steal). Icons of the Australian film industry such as screenwriter David Williamson (Travelling North, Don's Party) and actors Colin Friels (Malcolm, Monkey Grip) and Jack Thompson (Mad Dog Morgan) feature in this collection as well as many others who have contributed to one of the world's most vital screen cultures. Vol 1 includes; Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Getting of Wisdom, The Devil's Playground, Travelling North, Malcolm, Puberty Blues, The Big Steal, Monkey Grip, Don's Party, The Adventures of Barry McKenzie, The FJ Holden and Mad Dog Morgan.

BUDDIES
Mike (Colin Friels - Malcolm) and his buddy, Johnny (Harold Hopkins - Don's Party), are miners in search of sapphires in the Emerald region of Central Queensland. They are likeable battlers who take on the might of the big corporate dollar who move in on their turf with the new machines, bulldozers, and guns! But with the help of a travelling city doctor (Norman Kaye - Lonely Hearts), these unyielding buddies play the big new miners at their own game. Shot on location near Emerald and Rubyvale, this rollicking Aussie favourite won the Australian Film Institute Award in 1983 for Best Screenplay and was the follow-up to John Dingwall's classic screenplay Sunday Too Far Away (1975). Also stars Bruce Spence (Mad Max)

DOGS IN SPACE
The late 1970s in Australia, and inner city youth subsist on punk, Countdown, cigarettes and sex. In a chaotic two-storey house in inner Melbourne, a group of young punks and hippies include Sam (Michael Hutchence), the schizoid lead singer of band, Dogs in Space, his lover Anna (Saskia Post), and eccentric keyboard player Tim (Nique Needles). Booze, drugs and parties fill their lives until heroin forebodes darker times for Sam and Anna.
Writer/Director Richard Lowenstein - who based the film on his real-life experiences in Melbourne's "little bands" scene - wrote the part of Sam for Hutchence, who howls the hit theme song, Rooms for the Memory, and is brilliant as the symbol of reckless youth.

DON'S PARTY
Adapted by David Williamson from his own hit stage play, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Bruce Beresford ("Breaker Morant", "The Club"), and starring the A-list of local talent (including Graham Kennedy, John Hargreaves, Graeme Blundell and Ray Barrett), "DON'S PARTY" is a crowd-pleasing Aussie favourite.

PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK
Boasting visually hypnotic photography by Oscar winner Russell Boyd, a haunting score by Bruce Smeaton and the timeless ethereal beauty of Anne Louise Lambert as Miranda, this classic helped revive the Australian film industry and established Director Peter Weir as a major international talent.