In order to open up an even wider discussion about films from all around the world, we’re going to begin celebrating holidays of national and international importance at The LAMB. These are going to be far less formal than Foreign Chops and will hopefully continue as annual events.

Our first subject is going to be Australia. Australia Day, the national holiday of Australia, is celebrated each year on January 26. It marks the anniversary of the first British ships arriving on the shores of Australia and has grown to be a large scale celebration of all aspects of Australian history and culture.

Australia has a long cinematic history, including what is considered the first ever feature length film (1906’s The Story of the Kelly Gang). The nation had one of the first movie studios (The Limelight Department, with over 300 produced before 1910) and even won one of the first ever Academy Awards (Best Documentary, Kokoda Front Line!). It continues to be a popular partner and shooting location for international collaborations, such as Babe, Moulin Rouge!, and Happy Feet. Australia is home to some of the most acclaimed actors of all time, including Geoffrey Rush, Cate Blanchett, Peter Finch, and Nicole Kidman. Australia may not produce the largest quantity of films each year, but their industry is so tied to films around the world that you might have seen many Australian films and never even realized it.

So here’s how the Australia Day celebration is going to work at The LAMB. E-mail your write-ups of everything Australian cinema (film reviews, retrospectives, interviews, editorials, etc.) to [email protected] with the subject heading Australia Day. I confirm all submissions, so please contact me if you haven’t heard back in a couple days. The deadline for submissions is going to be midnight EST on Saturday, January 25. The Australia Day celebration will go up on Australia Day, January 26.

Tags: Australia, Australia Day, holiday