Bordertown (Australian TV series) explained

Genre:Drama
Starring:
Music:Guy Gross
Country:Australia
Language:English
Num Seasons:1

Bordertown is a 1995 Australian TV miniseries set in 1952 in a refugee camp located in a dusty, remote Australian town called Baringa. The story depicts a year in the lives of the camp residents, displaced persons from World War II who are learning English and awaiting jobs and new lives in Australia.[1] The series stars Hugo Weaving as an English teacher and also features Cate Blanchett in a smaller role as an albino Italian migrant.[2]

Reception

The series was somewhat controversial for its depiction of life in the migrant camps, and its ratings were not high.[1] Commenting on the 2002 video release, Video Store magazine noted the "inconsistent tone" of the episodes but thought that ultimately, the viewer would become "accustomed to, and fond of, these characters and their microcosm in the middle of nowhere".[3] DVD Talk noted the series' "original setting and generally solid acting" but found the show only "mildly interesting".[2]

The miniseries received the AWGIE Award for Mini-Series Original in 1996.[4]

Cast and characters

Notes and References

  1. Ina Bertrand, "Borders and Boundaries: History and Television in a Post-Modern World" inBook: Tony Barta. Screening the Past: Film and the Representation of History. 1998. Greenwood Publishing Group. 978-0-275-95402-4. 189–203.
  2. Holly Ordway, "Bordertown" (review), DVD Talk, 7 October 2002.
  3. Laura Tiffany, "Bordertown (new video release)", Video Store, 30 July 2002.
  4. Web site: Past AWGIE Award Winners 1968-2016. Australian Writers Guild. 19 February 2017.