AUSTRALIAN MOVIES

Baz Luhrmann's Australia, 2008, stars Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. The movie was filmed in Kununurra and the Kimberley, Western Australia; Darwin, Northern Territory; Bowen, Queensland; Sydney at Vaucluse and Camden, New South Wales. 

Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, 1994, stars Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce and Terrance Stamp was set in Sydney (Imperial Hotel), Broken Hill (Mario's Palace Hotel), Coober Pedy, Alice Springs (Lasseter's Casino), Erns Giles Road and Kings Canyon.

Crocodile Dundee, 1986, stars Paul Hogan was set in the Australian Outback of the Northern Territory.   There were other Crocodile Dundee movies that followed the original one.

Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course stars Steve Irwin.

Other films by Baz Luhrmann:
Romeo and Juliet, 1996
Strictly Ballroom, 1982, reignited interest in ballroom dancing around the world.
Moulin Rouge, 1996, starring Nicole Kidman

Ten Canoes, 2006, was the first full-length feature made entirely in an Indigenous Australian language. It was set in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory.
Yolngu Boy, 2001, was also set in Arhhem Land, NT.
Rogue, 2007, a horror film set in Kakadu National Park, NT.  

Rabbit Proof Fence, 2002, tells the story about three aboriginal girls who escape after being taken away from their families.   It was filmed at Nipena Station and Lake Torrens in South Australia. The story gives you some insight into "The Stolen Generation".

Cry in the Dark, 1988, about the Chamberlain court case.   Their child was stolen by a dingo at Ayers Rock, Northern Territory.
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Opal Dreams was set in Coober Pedy.
The Alice was set in the Northern Territory and Alice Springs and is a story about converging on Alice Springs to witness an eclipse.  

Walkabout, 1971, stars aboriginal actor David Guilpilil.   The story is about the aboriginal rite of passage by which a boy becomes a man of the tribe and is set in the Northern Territory.

The Tracker, 2002, was filmed in the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary in the Flinders Rangers of South Australia.

Japanese Story, 2003, starred Toni Collette and was filmed in Western Australia in the Pilbara region.

 

Mad Max 2, 1981, and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, 1985,  starred Mel Gibson and was filmed around Broken Hill.
Dirty Deeds, 2002, was also filmed at  Silverton, "Hollywood of the Outback" which is outside of Broken Hill, New South Wales.    The film starred Bryan Brown, Toni Collette, Sam Neill and Sam Worthington.

A  Town Like Alice, 1981, was a television mini-series and stars Bryan Brown and was filmed around Silverton outside of Broken Hill.

The Thornbirds, 1983, a television mini-series and starred Rachel Ward and Bryan Brown.

Finding Nemo, 2003, was set around the Great Barrier Reef.  
Scooby-Doo, 2002, was filmed on the Gold Coast in Queensland at Tangalooma Dolphin Resort, Warner Bros. Movie World and Warner Roadshow Movie World Studios.
Babe, 1995, was filmed in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales.
Happy Feet, 2006, an Australian animated feature film.
The Wiggles -There are a lot of DVD's starring The Wiggles who are all Aussies.

Picnic at Hanging Rock, 1975, was filmed in the Macedon Ranges of Victoria.
The Man from Snowy River, 1982, was filmed in the High Country of Victoria.
Ned Kelly, 2003, stars Heath Ledger and Orlando Bloom was also filmed in the High Country of Victoria. Ned Kelly was a bush ranger in Victoria and there are many versions of his life on film, the earliest starting in 1906.
The Club
The Proposition
Danny Deckchair

Mission Impossible 2, 2000, was filmed in The Rocks and also Bare Island in Sydney Harbour.
Muriel's Wedding, 1994, had scenes in St. Mark's Anglican Church in Sydney's Darling Point.
The Matrix, 1999, used the fountain in Martiin Place in Sydney.
Lantana, 2001, was filmed in Sydney.
 Sunday Too Far Away
The Odd Angry Shot
Bad Boy Buddy  

Breaker Morant, 1981, set in South Africa during the Boer War.
Gallipoli, 1981
Phar Lap , 1983
For the Term of his Natural Life, 1927
On the Beach, 1959
Stone, 1974, about motorcycle gangs
The Dish, 2000, a story about a tracking satellite dish outside of Parks, New South Wales.
Jindabyne, 2006
Sirens
Caddie

The Last Wave, 1977
The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith, 1978
My Brilliant Career, 1979, starring Judy Davis.
The Odd Angry Shot, 1979, about Aussies in the Vietnam war.
Shine, 1996
Eternity, 1994
Romper Stomper, 1992, starring Russell Crowe.
Proof, 1991, stars Russell Crowe and Hugh Weaving.
Red Dog, 2011 - a wonderful film about a dog who adopts a mining camp in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

The Castle, 1997
Two Hands, 1999
The Good Wife , with Rachel Ward, Bryan Brown.
Little Fish with Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving and Sam Neill.
Abba, the Movie - the story of their  Sydney concert
Quigley Down Under
The Last Wave
There are many more Australian films and here is a link to the:
Wilkipedia Listing of Australian films
 

FAMOUS AUSSIES

Nicole Kidman & Keith Urban

Cate Blanchett

Baz Luhrmann, Director, Producer, writer

INXS, an Australia rock group

Hugh Jackman

Naomi Watts

Catherine Martin, Producer and Costume Designer

Peter Carey, writer

Russell Crowe

Eric Bana

Peter Weir, Director

Evonne Goolagong, tennis player

Mel Gibson

Sam Worthington

Steve Irwin, environmentalist, actor

Germaine Greer, Feminist

Toni Collette

Hugo Weaving

Banjo Paterson, poet

Ned Kelly, bushranger

Rachel Griffiths

Guy Pearce

Greg McLean, Wolf Creek Director

Margaret Court, tennis player

Bryan Brown

Geoffrey Rush

Robert Drewe, novelist

Rod Lever, tennis player

Heath Ledger

Jacinda Barrett

Ray Lawrence, Director

Ian Thorpe, swimmer

Olivia Newton-John

Paul Hogan

Elle MacPhearson, model

Rolf de Hees, Director

David Gulpilil

Dame Joan Sutherland

Greg Norman, golfer

George Miller, Director

BOOKS ABOUT AUSTRALIA

The Fatal Shore by David McCullough

Commonwealth of Thieves:  The Improbable Birth of Australia by Thomas Keneally

In the Bush:  Our Holiday at Wombat Flat by Roland Harny

In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson

Books by Colleen McCollough
The Thornbirds, Ladies of Missalonghi, Morgan's Run

Australia's ABC's by Sarah Heiman

The Secret River by Kate Grenville

At Home in Australia by Peter Conrad

Australian Wine Vintages 

Rabbit Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington

Lost World of the Kimberely by Ian Wilson

Where the Forest Meets the Sea by Jeanne Baker

My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin

Australian and New Zealand Wines for Dummies

Reefscape: Reflections on the Great Barrier Reef by Rasleen Love

The White Earth by Andrew McGahan

Frommer's Australia

Going to Live in Australia by Neilson & Collins

At Home in Australia by Peter Conrad

Steve & Me by Terri Irwin
Crikey.  What an Adventure!  An Intimate Look at the Life of Steve Irwin

The Sarah Henderson Books
From Strength to Strength, The Strength in All of Us, Outback Wisdom, Some of My Friends have Tails

True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey

Hill's End by Ivan Southall

Bullo, The Next Generation:   Marlee Ranacher

The Floating Brothel:  The Extraordinary True Story of Australia's 18th century and its cargo of Female Convicts by Sean Rees

The Road from Coorain by Jill Kerr Conway

Books by the Wiggles