The Forerunner is a 1957 Australian documentary directed by John Heyer. It looks at floods, droughts and the impact of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme. The film has three sections. After an introduction by Professor C. H. Munro from the Water Research Foundation it has a section on floods. Second comes drought and then the film shows the Snowy Mountain scheme. The film has no narration and only has dialogue from two addressees to camera.[1][2][3] Filming began in 1955, covering many different locations.[4]

The Forerunner
Directed byJohn Heyer
Written byJohn Heyer
Produced byTom Nurse
CinematographyRon Horner

Harry Malcolm
George Heath

Ross Wood
Running time
34 min
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish

The film won the 1958 Australian Film Institute award in the Open category[5] and was awarded a Silver Award, the highest level awarded that year[6][7] In 1959 it was picked by the British Film Academy as one of the six best documentaries of the previous year.[8]

References

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  1. ^ De Souza, Poppy. "The Forerunner (1957)". National Film and Sound Archive.
  2. ^ "Simultaneous Release of New Film on TV", The Age, 13 March 1958
  3. ^ "Too much, too little". The Beverley Times. 23 May 1958.
  4. ^ Manzie, Keith (1 October 1955). "Snowy River has a theme song". The Argus.
  5. ^ "Winners & Nominees".
  6. ^ "Australian Oscars at Film Festival Opening", The Age, 27 May 1958
  7. ^ "National Award For Shell Film". The Beverley Times. 4 July 1958.
  8. ^ "Heyer film among best", The Sydney Morning Herald, 11 January 1959
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