Fifty classicAustralian films made from 1955 through to 1992 have benefited from a preservationproject begun five years ago. Theproject combines the expertise and resources of film stock supplier Kodak (Australasia), laboratory AtlabAustralia and the National Film and Sound Archive(NFSA). The films selected included: Jedda, Breaker Morant, The CarsThat Ate Paris, My Brilliant Career, The Devil's Playground, Don's Party, The Man From Snowy River, Crocodile Dundee, Storm Boy, Sunday Too Far Away and The Year My Voice Broke.

Last nightin Sydney it was announced that high qualityrelease prints of a further 25 significant Australian films will be struck inthe second phase of this preservation project. The additional titles in thesecond batch are not yet known but one of the first will be the 1985 film Bliss, the debut of director RayLawrence, whose third film is the much anticipated but not yet seen Jindabyne. While the NFSA has preservedthe negatives of the majority of Australian films, the films are notnecessarily accessible because there may not be prints available.

Director PhillipNoyce has been credited with inspiring the creationof what is known as the Kodak/Atlab Cinema Collectionafter he saw a 1997 Sydney Film Festival screening of his debut film Newsfront and had been disappointed by thedeterioration of the print. Newsfront was subsequently selected to be part of the firstgroup of 50 films.

Formerdeputy director of the NFSA, Ray Edmondson, played a big part in getting thepartners together, and former staffer Jane Adam co-ordinated the project.

Noyce waslast week honoured with the NFSA's annual Ken G HallAward for his contribution to preservation.

Pastrecipients include director Peter Weir, producers Anthony Buckley and JoanLong, filmmaker and historian Graham Shirley, film historian Judy Adamson, Atlab managing director Murray Forrest, film preservationexpert Tom Nurse from Kodak Australasia, and the joint inaugural winners, Alan Rydge of the Greater Union Group and Rupert Murdoch of NewsCorporation.

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