Last week’s title, David Hemmings’ Race for the Yankee Zephyr , was an Australian co-production — conceived for filming in Queensland — that was ultimately transplanted to New Zealand. The end result and the film’s overall lack of cultural specificity suggest it could have been made anywhere affording a canvas for its aerial, water, and land-based chase sequences. In contrast, the two titles discussed below — made thirty years apart — could only have been made in Australia. Exhibit A: The titular joey, named Joey, of Ian Barry's 1997 movie Joey is iconically Australian fauna. When Joey becomes orphaned, human pal Billy (Jamie Croft) takes Joey to Sydney to reunite him with his family, befriending a senator’s daughter (Alex McKenna) along the way. Other signifiers of Joey ’s Australianness include sunburnt countryside, a Ute chase with Billy pursued by demented hoons, an Indigenous pal (Tony Briggs), effective location shooting in Sydney, and familiar faces l...
Australia has an impressive and eclectic national cinema, but too often its films struggle to attract attention, receive brief theatrical runs, are ignored by audiences, and simply fall through the cracks. Down Under Flix was created to shine a light, show some love, and where necessary throw shade at obscure, forgotten, neglected, or under-appreciated Australian films