This text provides an introduction to the products and context of the new Australian film industry which arose toward the end of the 1960s. The development of Australian film, in terms of prominent directors and stars, consistent themes and styles and evolving genres, is traced through analysis of the most successful and best known feature films. The evolution of the film genres peculiar to Australia, and the adaptation of conventional Hollywood forms (such as the musical and the road movie) are examined in detail through textual readings of landmark films. Clear and concise, it joins Contemporary French cinema and Contemporary Spanish cinema as an introductory textbook for students of film and those with an interest in cinema.