Okay, everyone who is not from Bendigo: stand by to be outraged. Having defended our claim to be the Home of The One True Chiko Roll, fending off impertinence from Castlemaine and Wagga Wagga, today, DTM officially lays claim to Bendigo as The Birthplace of Australian Film Making.
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This is possibly on a par with our claim to be the Birthplace of the Nation because of our role in federation and the fact that Bendigonians Sir John Quick and Barkly Hyett had more than a passing role in drafting the Australian constitution.
No, this could be much more significant. See, Bendigo is the birthplace of Orizaba George Perry – who was quite probably relieved most people called him Orrie. Orrie was born in Bendigo on September 14 1888. He was an actor and the cinematographer for the 1906 film The Story of the Kelly Gang. It was the first hour-long narrative film in the world and took up 1200 metres of film. Films of that era were usually five or six minutes’ duration.
The film is now on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. Sadly, only 17 minutes of the film survives in rescued bits and pieces. Orrie went on to help found the Australian film industry, shooting 11 feature films including The Squatter’s Daughter, the Lost Chord and Breaking The News.
(Footnote: We will, for the sake of a good argument dismiss the facts that his dad, Joseph Perry, was a travelling Salvation Army preacher and just happened to be in Bendigo at that time. But Joseph went on to become a film-maker and Orrie followed in his steps. Details schmetails! If the place of birth is good enough for Castlemaine’s outrageous claim to the Chiko Roll, it’s good enough for us to claim Orrie.)
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Finally, a plea to our mayor Peter Cox: stick with the policy, Pete. After the last anti-mosque/pro-mosque rally shut down our CBD and cost our traders a fortune in lost sales, the mayor called for us all to get out the following weekend and shop ‘till we drop. And we did. Well, this time, another looming blooming rally has forced the cancellation of our much-loved Heritage Uncorked wine and heritage festival. So, Mr Mayor, how should we react this time? Pop ‘till we drop? I’m ready.