One of the most curious chapters in Australia's cinematic history began in 1948 when petroleum group Shell Company of Australia formed its own film production unit.
'Shell Film Unit Australia' produced hundreds of promotional and educational films about mining, roads, infrastructure, sports and motoring and other similar topics. While films like The Back of Beyond (1954), which won the Grand Prix Absolute at the Venice Film Festival, provided a fascinating snapshot of 'remote' mid century Australia, its depictions of life in the Red Centre and the First Nations people who lived there, were often clouded with desires to further the colonial project – and oil.
With her three-channel artwork Beneath Roads, ACMI Curator Jenna Rain Warwick has produced a poetic response to these works, intercutting archival government films, iconic Australian road movies and newly captured footage of the Aboriginal motorcycle club The Southern Warriors, to reinsert First Peoples knowledge legacies and representation into our cinematic canon and recontextualise our relationship to history, culture and Country.
Jenna was joined by Art Gallery of New South Wales' curator of Film, Ruby Arrowsmith-Todd to discuss the Shell Film Unit and the nature of its travelogues, and the making of Beneath Roads, in a recorded conversation that took place at ACMI in July 2024.
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One of the most curious chapters in Australia's cinematic history began in 1948 when petroleum group Shell Company of Australia formed its own film production unit.
'Shell Film Unit Australia' produced hundreds of promotional and educational films about mining, roads, infrastructure, sports and motoring and other similar topics. While films like The Back of Beyond (1954), which won the Grand Prix Absolute at the Venice Film Festival, provided a fascinating snapshot of 'remote' mid century Australia, its depictions of life in the Red Centre and the First Nations people who lived there, were often clouded with desires to further the colonial project – and oil.
With her three-channel artwork Beneath Roads, ACMI Curator Jenna Rain Warwick has produced a poetic response to these works, intercutting archival government films, iconic Australian road movies and newly captured footage of the Aboriginal motorcycle club The Southern Warriors, to reinsert First Peoples knowledge legacies and representation into our cinematic canon and recontextualise our relationship to history, culture and Country.
Jenna was joined by Art Gallery of New South Wales' curator of Film, Ruby Arrowsmith-Todd to discuss the Shell Film Unit and the nature of its travelogues, and the making of Beneath Roads, in a recorded conversation that took place at ACMI in July 2024.
Making Short Films with Writer/Director Greta Nash
ACMI Stories & Ideas
22 minutes 51 seconds
2 years ago
Making Short Films with Writer/Director Greta Nash
Greta Nash's most recent short film, Heart Throb (2023), is about an 18-year-old, Gray (Gabriel Cali), whose love for his best friend Angelo is complicated by his desire for TikTok stardom.
Last year, Greta underwent a Director's Attachment on Run Rabbit Run, funded by Screen Australia, and in the year prior, they wrote a polished draft of their first feature, School Camp, funded by Screen Tasmania.
Greta wrote and directed the winning Tropfest film Two Piece in 2018, and their previous short film Locker Room premiered at the 2017 Melbourne International Film Festival and has since had over 9 million views online.
ACMI Stories & Ideas
One of the most curious chapters in Australia's cinematic history began in 1948 when petroleum group Shell Company of Australia formed its own film production unit.
'Shell Film Unit Australia' produced hundreds of promotional and educational films about mining, roads, infrastructure, sports and motoring and other similar topics. While films like The Back of Beyond (1954), which won the Grand Prix Absolute at the Venice Film Festival, provided a fascinating snapshot of 'remote' mid century Australia, its depictions of life in the Red Centre and the First Nations people who lived there, were often clouded with desires to further the colonial project – and oil.
With her three-channel artwork Beneath Roads, ACMI Curator Jenna Rain Warwick has produced a poetic response to these works, intercutting archival government films, iconic Australian road movies and newly captured footage of the Aboriginal motorcycle club The Southern Warriors, to reinsert First Peoples knowledge legacies and representation into our cinematic canon and recontextualise our relationship to history, culture and Country.
Jenna was joined by Art Gallery of New South Wales' curator of Film, Ruby Arrowsmith-Todd to discuss the Shell Film Unit and the nature of its travelogues, and the making of Beneath Roads, in a recorded conversation that took place at ACMI in July 2024.
