Migration Documentary Films in Post-War Australia By Liangwen Kuo

Migration Documentary Films in Post-War Australia By Liangwen Ku ...

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depression, and, on the other, ‘made imaginative use of camera work, editing and sound to do so’ (van Leeuwen, 1991, p. 94). In the context of the Australian post-war reconstruction period, an effort to industrialise the nation’s economy and to build the national identity by means of documentary films was highly desired. Grierson’s exemplary work Industrial Britain then became a model of documentary filmmaking for the ANFB and CFU from the late 1940s.

Before the establishment of the Department of Information in the early days of World War II, the production and distribution of official Australian films was attached to the Department of Commerce and was carried out by a small unit within the Cinema and Photographic Branch (ANFB, 1962).

Not until Grierson made a visit to Australia did the Australian government start to think seriously about establishing an independent film production unit to make non-theatrical and documentary films for the purpose of promoting Australia and the Australian nation to both its people and the outside world. Moran (1991) observed,

To foster post-war reconstruction in Australia, an integrated view of national policies and a significant increase in the labour force were regarded by the Australian Government as imperatives to survive and succeed. The initiative to establish a film committee to help achieve these goals began with John Grierson’s visit to Australia…He was to advise on the role of film in national life and in strengthening empire ties…develop the sector of educational and documentary films as an alternative to theatrical exhibition…[These] films could strengthen the war effort, highlight the general work of government, and project a national image to people inside and outside the country. (p. 3)

In ‘Memorandum to the Right Honourable, the Prime Minister’, Grierson (1940) wrote, ‘The film is a powerful medium of information and if mobilised in an orderly way under a determined government policy, is of special value to the Australian Government at the present juncture’ (p. 72). Grierson further emphasised the important function of the documentary films by commenting that ‘There is more seating capacity outside