The Australian Film Development Corporation was an organisation created and funded by the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...

in the 1970s, intended to allow

filmmakers Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a Film, motion picture is #Production, produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through scr ...

in the

Australian film industry The cinema of Australia had its beginnings with the 1906 production of '' The Story of the Kelly Gang'', arguably the world's first feature film. Since then, Australian crews have produced many films, a number of which have received internat ...

to create

movie A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

s for everyone to see. In 1975 it was replaced with

Australian Film Commission The Australian Film Commission (AFC) was an Australian government agency was founded in 1975 with a mandate to promote the creation and distribution of films in Australia as well as to preserve the country's film history. It also had a producti ...

History

Creation of the Corporation

The AFDC was created so that Australians could create and distribute high-quality Australian films, for everyone to see. In 1970, the

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...

asked five people to become a part of the AFDC. Those people were John Darling, Ronald S. Elliott, Talbot S. Duckmanton, Denys E. Brown, and Barry Jones. John Darling IV was the chairman of Darling & Co., as well as a member of the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

Council. Ronald S. Elliott was a General Manager for the

Commonwealth Development Bank The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), or CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of financial services including retail, busines ...

. T. S. Duckmanton the General Manager of the

Australian Broadcasting Commission The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owned ...

. D. E. Brown was the Producer-in-Chief for the Film Division of the

Australian News and Information Bureau The Australian Information Service (AIS) was one of a series of federal government organisations created to promote the image of Australia, in existence between 1940 and 1996. First created in 1940, the Australian News and Information Bureau (AN ...

, as well as a member of the

Australian National Film Board Film Australia was a company established by the Government of Australia to produce films about Australia in 1973. Its predecessors were the Cinema and Photographic Branch (1913–38), the Australian National Film Board (1939–1955, under diff ...

. Barry Jones was a lecturer in history, a member of the

Australian Council for the Arts The Australia Council for the Arts, commonly known as the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announced in 1967 as the Austr ...

, and a governor of the

Australian Film Institute The Australian Film Institute (AFI) was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry. It is responsib ...

.Gorton, John. "Australian Film Development Corporation". No. 84, The Australian Government, 1970 The AFDC was brought to the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of the ...

in March 1970. The House of Representatives did not hesitate to pass the Corp, which had bipartisan support. Tom Stacey was the manager of the corporation.David Stratton, ''The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival'', Angus & Robertson, 1980 p14

AFDC Replacement: Australian Film Commission

In 1975, the Australian Film Development was replaced by the Australian Film Commission. This was partly due to the fact that the Australian film industry is a fast-paced environment, which endures change quite often.Alony, Irit, et al. "Sharing tacit knowledge: a case study in the Australian film industry." Informing Science: the International Journal of an Emerging Transdiscipline, vol. 10, 2007, p. S41+. Academic OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A199195043/AONE Another reason was that the Australian Film Commission made a point of focusing on cultural and artistic excellence, rather than economic success. With the change to the Australian Film Commission, directors were given more funding in order to create better quality films for the public.

Films funded

Among the films in which the AFDC invested were:“Ozmovies - Australian Film and Television Database.” Ozmovies, www.ozmovies.com.au/ *''

Private Collection A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individual ...

'' (1972) *'' Sunstruck'' (1972) *''

The Adventures of Barry McKenzie ''The Adventures of Barry McKenzie'' is a 1972 Australian comedy film directed by Bruce Beresford and starring Barry Crocker, telling the story of an Australian 'yobbo' on his travels to the United Kingdom. Barry McKenzie was originally a chara ...

'' (1972) *''

Stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

'' (1974) *''

The Cars That Ate Paris ''The Cars That Ate Paris'' is a 1974 Australian horror comedy film, produced by twin brothers Hal and Jim McElroy and directed by Peter Weir. It was his first feature film, and was also based on an original story he had written. Shot mostly i ...

'' (1974) *''

The True Story of Eskimo Nell ''The True Story of Eskimo Nell'' (retitled ''Dick Down Under'' in the United Kingdom) is a 1975 Australian western comedy film produced, directed, and written by Richard Franklin, and starring Max Gillies as Deadeye Dick and Serge Lazareff as M ...

'' (1975) *''

The Man from Hong Kong ''The Man from Hong Kong'' (), originally released in the US as ''The Dragon Flies'', is a 1975 action film written and directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith in his directorial debut and starring Jimmy Wang Yu and George Lazenby, with Hugh Keays-B ...

'' (1975) *''

The Great Macarthy ''The Great Macarthy'' is a 1975 comedy about Australian rules football. It was an adaptation of the 1970 novel '' A Salute to the Great McCarthy'' by Barry Oakley. It stars John Jarratt as the title character (in his film debut) as a local foo ...

'' (1975)

References

{{reflist

External links

Australian Film Development Corporation
at

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

Film production companies of Australia