ABSTRACT
What kind of national cinema is the Australian cinema? How is it like some national cinemas and unlike others? I begin by emphasizing the broader English language cultural milieu of Australia, stressing how much the cinema market in Australia is like that of other English-speaking countries. Hollywood, as the dominant English language cinema, places insistent pressure upon non-American Anglophone producers. Producing in English presents Australian, British, New Zealand and English-Canadian cinema with advantages and disadvantages alike. I then emphasize the consequences for Australian cinema of being a medium-sized cinema. Like all medium and small countries, Australia has a minor place in the international trade in national symbolic images. Australian and English-Canadian cinemas face particular problems by virtue of sharing a similar exhibition market, market size, producing in English, and being a minor place in the international trade in national images. The chapter concludes by considering Australian cinema’s antipodal identity-its implication in and negotiation of unequal cultural exchanges.
