Polyphony and performance: integrating the theatre into cinema's modernity

My research explores film’s nascent relationship to the late nineteenth century stage. It argues that the emergence of digital culture has seen a focus on the technological rather than performative history of film and new media. This means that what we accept as ‘the cinema’ often denies or elides the theatrical practices that were brought into the nascent media. My interest, in particular, is the narrative theatrical film before World War One. Particularly in Australia, which is credited with having ushered in the longer playing feature film format with the release of The Story of the Kelly Gang, these pre-teen years are fundamental to a proper understanding of our larger contribution to the global film industry.