«PUTTING ITALY BACK ON THE MAP» DIASPORIC CINEMA AUDIENCES IN POSTWAR SYDNEY

Abstract

In April 1961, the Sydney screening of Federico Fellini’s latest film La dolce vita (1960) broke all box office records, and the associated scandals attracted the attention of Sydney cinemagoers and the migrant and local press. Over two hundred thousand Italians had migrated to Australia by this time, creating a local demand for Italian film. This article examines the central role that film plays within the social and cultural lives of diasporic audiences and their perceptions of change to show the importance of cinema, not only in cultivating and maintaining cultural and national identity, but in establishing a sense of italianità in 1960s Sydney.