Underplayed Gems

Inauguration of the Australian Commonwealth (1901)

Inauguration of the Australian Commonwealth poster
Original title
Inauguration of the Commonwealth
Directed by
Joseph Perry
Genre
documentary film, silent film
Country
Australia
Runtime
35 min
Rating
6.0 of 10 from 1 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

This documentary captures the first day of the Federation of Australia in 1901. It shows the ceremonies and events of that day, filmed by multiple cameras set up to record the occasion.

historicalformalobservationalslowstatelyearly-film qualityarchivalsilent

What happens

Inauguration of the Commonwealth (also titled Inauguration of the Australian Commonwealth) is a 1901 Australian documentary film commissioned by the Governments of New South Wales and Victoria to record the inaugural day of the Federation of Australia. Directed by cinematographer Joseph Perry, the film was the first to use simultaneous multiple camera coverage and to run for over 30 minutes. The film was produced by the Limelight Department of the Salvation Army in Australia. It was the first feature-length documentary film to be produced in Australia. Although the film quality has degraded over time, much of the footage still survives today. It is currently being held at the National Film and Sound Archive. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

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