Cirrus@Austlit

The proposal presented by Collins and Davis throughout this book is 'that the post-Mabo era in Australian cinema can be read through the metaphor of backtracking. This intermittent activity of reviewing, mulling over and renewing icons, landscapes, characters and stories defines contemporary Australian national cinema.' The conclusion that the authors draw from their analysis of Australian cinema is that 'in the post-Mabo context, this brooding passion for raking the national repetoire of icons serves as a vernacular mode of collective mourning, a process involving both grief-work and testimony.' Source : Australian Cinema after Mabo (2004).