A HISTORY OF CINEMA: IN 5 FILMS

Which five films would you choose to explain Cinema to an Alien? (or Screen History to a film student!) That's the question for a debate to be moderated by Dr Karen Pearlman, Head of Screen Studies at AFTRS. All welcome to contribute and attend. But you can participate, too.

To participate ONLINE send your selection of five films that illustrate the history of cinema – with your reasons in brief – and the 10 most compelling arguments, the freshest thinking and the lists that come closest to the final list on the night will win a copy of the latest edition of AFTRS’ insider screen culture publication, LUMINA.

The panel:
Julie Rigg, ABC Radio National MovieTime Presenter and film critic 
Neil Peplow – Director of Screen Content, AFTRS 
Kristy Matheson, Film Programmer, ACMI 
Giles Hardie, Entertainment Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald Online

To get your creative juices flowing, here is Urban Cinefile’s list of 5 Films that tell the history of cinema:

The Story of the Kelly Gang - crime
The first feature length film (and it’s Australian)

The Gold Rush – comedy
Charlie Chaplin created a global audience for cinema

Casablanca – romance
Cinema grows more and more sophisticated

Lawrence of Arabia – biography/history
Cinema as epic & document of historic figures

Avatar – sci-fi
Advanced digital tools enable cinema to create credible worlds
Published September 16, 2011