Burke and Wills

Australia, 1985

An epic journey from a turbulent chapter in Australia’s past, ‘Burke and Wills’ is the story of the explorers Burke and Wills’ expedition across the Australian continent in 1860. Jack Thompson is Robert O’Hara Burke, a strong Irishman obsessed with the desire to ‘write the map’; Nigel Havers is William John Wills, the archetypal Victorian gentleman explorer.

The film explores the changing relationship between the two men as they struggle with the harsh Australian environment they are attempting to chart.

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Collection

In ACMI's collection

Previously on display

22 April 2019

ACMI Viewing Booths

Credits

writer

Michael Thomas

director

Graeme Clifford

producer

John Sexton

Graeme Clifford

production company

Hoyts Edgley

Australian Film Investment Corporation

Duration

02:14:26:00

Production places

Australia

Production dates

1985

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

302181

Language

English

Audience classifications

Mediatheque - all ages (ACMI classified)

Subject categories

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Burke, Robert O'Hara, 1821-1861

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Explorers - Australia

Drama

Feature films

Feature films → Feature films - Australia

Historical films

History → Australia - History - 1851-1891

History → Burke, Robert O'Hara, 1821-1861

History → Explorers - Australia

History → Wills, William John, 1834-1861

People → Burke, Robert O'Hara, 1821-1861

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Holdings

VHS; Access Print (Section 1)

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/81113--burke-and-wills/ |title=Burke and Wills |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=28 May 2023 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}