Kodak/Atlab Cinema Collection

A new 35mm print of the feature film, THE CHANT OF JIMMIE BLACKSMITH, is now available - Courtesy of Fred Schepisi and the sponsors, Kodak (Australasia) and Atlab Australia.

The National Film and Sound Archive. National Collection Title number 44726

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith

THE CHANT OF JIMMIE BLACKSMITH (1978)
Classification: M rating

Director: Fred Schepisi

Year of Production: 1977

Duration: 120 minutes
Format: 35mm, Colour. Mono optical soundtrack.

Production: Produced with the assistance of the Australian Film Commission and the Victorian Film Corporation.
Producer/Screenplay: Fred Schepisi, adapted from the novel by Thomas Kenneally.
Director of Photography: Ian Baker
Production Designer: Wendy Dickson
Costume Designer: Bruce Finlayson
Editor: Brian Kavanagh
Composer: Bruce Smeaton
Sound Recordist: Bob Allen.
Sound Editors: Peter Burgess, William Anderson and Dean Gawen
Mixer: Gerry Humphries.

Cast: Tommy Lewis (Jimmie), Freddy Reynolds (Mort), Ray Barrett (Farrell), Jack Thompson (Rev. Neville), Angela Punch McGregor (Gilda), Steve Dodds, Peter Carroll (McCready), don Crosby (Newby) Elizabeth Alexander (Miss Graf), Peter Sumner (Dowie Stead), Tim Robertson (Healey), Ray Meagher (Dud Edmonds), Brian Anderson (Hyberry), Jane Harders (Mrs Healey), Jack Charles (Uncle Tabidgi), Arthur Dignam (man in the butcher shop), Robyn Nevin (Mrs McCready), Bryan Brown (shearer), Ian Gilmour (Eddie), John Jarratt (Michaels).

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith

Synopsis

Jimmie Blacksmith was the half-caste son of an Aboriginal mother and a white father. A missionary shows him what it means to be white - already he is only too aware of what it means to be black. Jimmie is exploited by his white employers and betrayed by his white wife until Jimmie cannot take any more. He must find a way to express his rage.

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith is based on an actual incident that occurred at the turn of the century.

Background

Made on a budget of $1.28 million, The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith was the most expensive film ever made in Australia at that time. As well as support from the AFC and the Victorian Film Corporation, Hoyts Theatres also backed the film, making its first production investment. The film was a commercial failure at home, but it won critical acclaim in Britain and America. The film was invited into the official Competition at Cannes in 1978. Shot on locations in NSW including Dubbo, Gulgong, Scone, Armidale, Kempsey, Dorrigo, Bundarra and Mudgee. Angela Punch McGregor won Best Actress, Ray Barrett won Best Supporting Actor and Bruce Smeaton won Best Original Score at the 1978 AFI Awards.

'One of the most important of all Australian films and one of Schepisi's finest achievements'. – David Stratton

Preservation

The colour original picture negative and sound negative are preserved in the National Screen and Sound Archive and the new print will be processed from these two components.

Further information: http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/00/9/cteq/chant.html