Flinders Institute for Research in the Humanities (FIRtH)

Flinders University
School of Humanities
GPO Box 2001, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000, Australia

+618 8201 3169
+618 8201 3407
http://caarp.flinders.edu.au/

Richard Maltby (Matthew Flinders Distinguished Professor of Screen Studies)
Mike Walsh (Associate Professor of Screen and Media, Flinders University)
Kate Bowles (Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication, University of Wollongong)
Dylan Walker (Research Associate, Flinders University)

Our research investigates the significance of Australian cinemas as sites of social and economic activity, examining critical periods in the development of the systems of film distribution and exhibition, including the thirty-year period surrounding the introduction of television in Australia.

Our work combines archival, demographic and spatial data with oral histories to construct a GIS database of cinema venues and their neighbourhoods and generate maps of distribution practices and audience movements in order to analyse the responsiveness of cinemas and their audiences to social and cultural change. The project has been supported by five Discovery grants from the Australian Research Council since its inception in 2005.