Australian New Wave

In the early 1970s, with government support from new film bodies, Australia began making its own films for the first time in decades. The directors of the Australian New Wave, including Peter Weir, Gillian Armstrong, George Miller, Bruce Beresford and Fred Schepisi, turned to the country's own landscape, history and identity. Weir's Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) and The Last Wave found mystery in the bush, Armstrong's My Brilliant Career (1979) followed a young woman's ambition, and Miller's Mad Max (1979) invented a global genre. The movement made Australian film an international force.

Where

Australia

When

1970s to the 1980s

Key figures

Peter Weir, Gillian Armstrong, George Miller, Bruce Beresford, Fred Schepisi

Landmark films

Walkabout (1971), Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), My Brilliant Career (1979), Mad Max (1979)

Legacy

Created a national cinema and an international reputation within a decade

What to look for

• Vast landscape as a character, often menacing or mysterious
• National myth, colonial history and Aboriginal themes
• A mix of art-house films and tough genre cinema