Media Release: NFSA Marks Fifty Years of Picnic at Hanging Rock

Published Friday 1 August

Celebrated filmmaker Peter Weir has offered new insight into the creation of his 1975 classic Picnic at Hanging Rock in an interview to accompany the National Film and Sound Archive’s celebration of the film’s fiftieth anniversary this month. 

The NFSA will publish the interview today alongside rarely seen outtakes from the film collected by its artistic advisor Martin Sharp, who donated a significant collection of materials to the national collection.  

In the interview, Weir states that the ‘powerful spell’ cast by the book inspired him to translate it to cinema. ‘I had to find a way of recording on film the enchantment I had experienced as a reader.’ 

The outtakes include scenes from the original proposed ending, showing Mrs Appleyard (Rachel Roberts), the principal of Appleyard College, climbing Hanging Rock to retrace the steps of the missing schoolgirls, and encountering a vision of orphan Sara Waybourne (Margaret Nelson). In the alternative ending, discarded by Weir in favour of a close-up shot of Mrs Appleyard, she leaps from the rock to her death.  

Affirming his decision fifty years later, Weir says ‘I can see in my mind that final close-up of the headmistress…so much conveyed by Rachel Roberts, so much meaning in that shot. With all the advances in technique over the decades, the close-up remains the greatest single discovery.’ 

Picnic at Hanging Rock is widely regarded as one of the most era-defining films of Australian New Wave. The adaptation of Joan Lindsay’s 1967 novel was voted best Australian film of all time in a 1996 poll held by the NFSA and the Victorian Centenary of Cinema Committee. A key factor in its lasting appeal is its unresolved ending – the disappearance of several schoolgirls and their teacher is never solved.  The film was a critical and popular success and helped to establish Peter Weir’s international reputation and Australia’s place in world cinema. 

Reflecting on the film, Weir says ‘In my memory “Picnic” is like a foreign country, one I journeyed to as a young man. A very foreign country, strange, beautiful and haunting, and only possible to visit once. The memories of that visit remain vivid and undimmed by time. ‘ 

The NFSA excerpts are taken from reels of 35mm silent colour outtakes, trims of scenes and additional unused material acquired from Martin Sharp. The NFSA has also re-published the film’s original trailers.  

‘So many Australians have their own intense memories of Picnic at Hanging Rock,’ said Tara Marynowksy, curator at the NFSA. ‘Fifty years on, it is very special to be able to share the reflections and insight of the director who made it such an enduring and powerful contribution to Australian cinema.’ 

Audience CTAs

• Watch rarely seen outtakes from the 1975 film Picnic at Hanging Rock and read the full article featuring an interview with director Peter Weir at nfsa.gov.au 

Images and vision available here on Dropbox. 

Media enquiries and interview requests:  
Louise Alley | Communications Manager | 0422 348 652 | louise.alley@nfsa.gov.au