Based on the epic novel by Marcus Clarke, Australia’s most famous silent film is set during a prison escape at Port Arthur, with a controversial cannibalism subplot.

Lost for decades, this 1927 classic – which made use of cutting-edge motion picture technology for its time – was painstakingly reconstructed in 1981 from incomplete versions released in Australia and America, and stills held by the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA). It remains one of the highlights of the NFSA’s collection of early Australian cinema.

In 1978, artist Sidney Nolan completed 31 crayon pastel drawings based on Clarke’s novel. In 1981, Nolan’s drawings were exhibited for the first time in Canberra, while Dawn’s reconstructed silent film screened at the Sydney and Melbourne film festivals, reflecting the renewed interest in Australia’s convict history in the lead-up to the bicentenary.

‘It was Australia’s Ben Hur… the most expensive silent film ever made in this country – it had state-of-the-art effects, a prominent American director, huge sets and some spectacular scenes’ – The Daily Telegraph

Join us for a screening of Norman Dawn’s reconstructed film at the National Film and Sound Archive’s Arc Cinema, followed by a post-screening discussion about these two adaptations of Clarke’s novel with Graham Shirley, the historian who reconstructed Dawn’s film in 1981; reconstruction colourist Dominic Case; and Canberra Museum and Gallery (CMAG) curators Virginia Rigney and Nicole Sutherland.

Presented in collaboration with CMAG alongside Nolan: For the Term of His Natural Life. On display at CMAG until 23 February 2025, this exhibition brings together all 31 of Nolan’s crayon pastel drawings based on Clarke’s novel.

Digitised in 4K from the NFSA collection.