Australian Documentary History, Practices and Genres

Drawing on interviews with leading industry sources and containing discussion of over 200 documentaries, Australian Documentary: History, Practices and Genres brings to life over a century of documentary making and connects it to international debates in criticism, theory and history. Documentary is the oldest continuous form of screen production in Australia, and today plays a pivotal part in our creative industries. This incisive book covers the development of documentary in Australia from the early days of cinema to the coming of television and to the digital environment. Addressing the issues facing today's documentary makers, the authors explore the role of the documentary in shaping the nation and forming the 'imagined community'.

1. The Documentary Field; 2. Braided Channels - Documentary Voice; 3. Cinematic Scenes of Life; 4. New Waves of Documentary; 5. Australian Television Takes On Independent Documentary; 6. Documentary and the Film Finance Corporation; 7. Changing Relations: The AFC, Film Australia and Documentary in the Era of the FFC; 8. Australian Broadcasting Cultures and Recent Documentary Practice; 9. Documentary and the Edge of Reality; 10. Documentary and Civics; 11. Documentary Present and Future.

Drawing on interviews with leading industry sources and containing discussion of over 200 documentaries, Australian Documentary: History, Practices and Genres brings to life over a century of documentary making and connects it to international debates in criticism, theory and history.

Trish FitzSimons is Associate Professor, Griffith Film School, Queensland College of Art, Griffith University.
Pat Laughren is Associate Professor, Griffith Film School, Queensland College of Art, Griffith University.
Dugald Williamson is Associate Professor, School of Arts, University of New England, New South Wales.