Historical information

EDHS Newsletter No. 272 October 2023

Our next meeting will be a special evening, if not a little unusual. On pages 3 and 4 in this newsletter edition there are articles about Eltham Films, with particular reference to the film ‘The Prize’, made by Tim Burstall in 1958/59. As Burstall had strong connections with Eltham it would have been an easy decision for him and his associates to use the local area as the setting for his first film. Following this film Burstall went on to make many more. He became a key figure in Australian postwar cinema and was instrumental in helping to rebuild the Australian film industry, at a time when it had been effectively dead for years. At this EDHS meeting we will view this film, or should we say review this film, stopping at times to attempt to identify the main actors and where certain scenes were filmed around Eltham. Some locations may be more obvious than others. The actors are mainly children playing the characters in the film. So this will be an exercise in identifying people and places, whilst enjoying the rare opportunity to view a valued example of early Eltham film history.

Physical description

1:12:11 duration
Digital MP3 file; 24.7MB