First Contact (1983 film)
"First Contact" is the first documentary in what later became known as "The Highland Trilogy". The other two films are "Joe Leahy's Neighbours" (1989) and "Black Harvest" (1992). These three films, between them, have won some thirty major awards, included each film winning both the Grand Prix at the Festival Cinéma du Réel in Paris and AFI Award for Best Documentary.
Cinema of Australia
The Athanaeum Hall in Collins Street, Melbourne, was a dance hall from the 1880s, which from time to time would provide alternative entertainment to patrons. In October 1896, it exhibited the first movie shown in Australia, within a year of the first public screening of a film in Paris on 28 December 1895 by the French Lumière brothers. The Athanaeum would continue screenings, but these early screenings were all short films. The earliest feature length narrative film in the world was the Australian produced "The Story of the Kelly Gang" (1906), also shown at the Athenaeum. The film was written and directed by Charles Taitand included several of his family. The film was also exhibited in the United Kingdom, and was commercially very successful.