T H E M A K IN G O F SUNDAY T O O FAR AWAY resulted from a unique set of government-initiated circumstances. In the late 1960s, the Dunstan Labor Government had taken advice from columnist and film critic Phillip Adams and political analyst Barry Jones on the feasibility o f funding film production through state incentives. The result of their researches was to lead to the setting up of the South Australian Film Corporation, a state initiative. In broad outline, the plan was to create a viable industry in the state by consolidating government short-film and documen tary production to provide a pool of experienced film crews, and, at the same time, to lay down plans for feature film production using loan finance. Adams’ account of the process (in 1980) is succinct: “I devised the South Australian Film Corporation [SAFC] which C I N E M A P A P E R S • DECEMBER 1996
against all logic continues to survive [...] when Dun stan found the money, the money found the talent.”1 In this d eterm ined e ffo rt at state cap italism , described by Albert M oran in 1 9 8 3 , the SAFC was designed to “Reflect our way of life with truth and artistry [...] to provide opportunity for Australian artists and craftsmen to develop and express them selves within the film medium.”2 The first feature from the SAFC was to be Sunday T oo Far Away , but before this production could be launched there were to be a number of false starts to the plan to make feature films. The prospects of finan cial success, for any feature project, were not great. Experienced producer Gil Brealey, appointed as first
Gil Brealey and Matt Carroll have expressed to the author some reservations about this article appearing. Cinema Paprs has taken note of these concerns/ but has decided to publish as it believes the article is written without bias/ and goes to great lengths to represent and fairly discuss the views of all the key players. Equally imprtant/ Sunday Too Far Isay is one of the few true icons of Australian cinema. Whatever problems the filmmakers had along the way/ whatever courageous steps Brealey believed he had to take to rightly fulfil his role as a producer/ the result is a classic that continues to gain in stature with the years. Only in celebration of this beloved film is this article printed.
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