The National Film and Sound Archive’s new exhibition, Australians & Hollywood, opens a cinematic treasure trove that is simply a must-see for cinephiles, casual moviegoers, and anyone in between.

The Archive’s first in-house exhibition in two decades, Australians & Hollywood draws on the national institution’s extensive collection of props, costumes, statuettes, footage and ephemera, along with items lent out from private collections that have never been displayed publicly.

Personal treasures have come from some of Australia’s most celebrated creatives in cinema, including Baz Luhrmann, George Miller, Dean Semler, Canberra’s own Mia Wasikowska, Norma Moriceau, Eric Bana and Paul Hogan.

Highlights include the spectacular costumes from Moulin Rouge!, the iconic knife, hat and leather vest from Crocodile Dundee, customised steering wheels from Mad Max: Fury Road, art concept books for Romeo + Juliet, and a commissioned video essay on filmmaker Warwick Thornton, produced by Garuwa Creative.

A bevy of candid on-set photographs taken on polaroids and disposable cameras litter the exhibition, lending a personal element to the display.

Additionally, early drawings, storyboards, and a host of materials outlining the process and what goes on behind the scenes are displayed prominently.

“We really wanted to show the creative process,” Archive curator, Tara Marynowsky, told Canberra Daily, “a behind-the-scenes look rather than the final production, which you can see at the cinema.”

At the launch last week, Archive CEO, Patrick McIntyre said the exhibition has been two years in the making.

“As you can imagine, creating a major public event during COVID has enough twists and turns to fill a feature-length film,” he smiled.

Australians & Hollywood makes ‘collection come alive’

Being an in-house production, Marynowsky said Australians & Hollywood required “all hands on deck” from conservation through to production.

Old archival footage had to be digitised, while new interviews with the likes of Eric Bana were recorded specifically for the exhibition.

“It’s a joy to see the collection come alive,” she said.

“It’s really important for us to activate materials … we wanted to create a really fun and entertaining cinematic experience.”

McIntyre said Australians & Hollywood taps into “the enduring pull, appeal and fascination of Hollywood in the screen industry”, and how Australia’s relationship to tinsel town has changed over the past 50 years.

“Whereas once, Australian talent had to essentially relocate to LA to be part of the international screen industry at that level, increasingly, Hollywood is coming to Australia,” he said.

“We’ve got the depth of talent here, we’ve got the production and post-production facilities here, and so, increasingly, this idea of Hollywood is becoming more distributed around the world.”

Marynowsky said while so many Australian filmmakers go overseas, they “bring Hollywood back with them”.

 “All these actors you see in the show, they do homegrown stories and the big blockbusters,” she said.

Australians & Hollywood: a tale of craft, talent, and ambition is open at the National Film and Sound Archive, Acton until 17 July; nfsa.gov.au/hollywood

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