The South Australian Film Corporation turns 40 this year. Celebrations kicking off this month include film screenings and an exhibition in Adelaide.
The SAFC was the first of the state film corporations, established in the 1970s. It spearheaded the local film industry revival and re-launched Australian film to international audiences with the success of Sunday Too Far Away (the SAFC’s first dramatic production) and Picnic at Hanging Rock (pictured left, which had SAFC investment support) in 1975. Both screened at the Cannes Film Festival. Other 1970s SAFC films include AFI Best Picture winners Storm Boy (1976) and Breaker Morant (1979).
The NFSA’s Chief Cinema Programmer, Quentin Turnour:
[The SAFC] was an enterprise that would lead the Australian film industry back into regular and sustained production, to international critical appreciation and local audience respect … The SAFC also nurtured an almost film studio-like roster of directing talent, giving established directors like Peter Weir and Bruce Beresford entrée to international suiccess, and supporting an 'Adelaide school’ of directors like Scott Hicks and Rolf de Heer to find their voice.
The SAFC ceased producing films in 1994 but continues to support film production in the state including last year’s Red Dog and Snowtown.
The NFSA’s Arc cinema in Canberra and the State Library of South Australia are each holding anniversary screening programs, including Sunday Too Far Away, Storm Boy and other films featured on our homepage.
'From a Sunday Too Far Away' tells the behind-the-scenes stories of the SAFC through an exhibition of films, never-before-seen photographs and related ephemera. The exhibition is free and runs from 20 October to 2 December at Flinders University City Gallery, State Library of South Australia.
See all SAFC productions on ASO.
Program for SAFC anniversary film screenings at Arc cinema, Canberra and State Library of South Australia.
Read more about 'From a Sunday Too Far Away' exhibition, A Short History of the SAFC and about other SAFC 40th anniversary projects.
