School in the mailbox

By plane, train, buggy, bike, camel and car, school reaches the children of the Australian outback. Correspondence schooling is available for outback children from primary to high school standard, and for many Australians, the school lessons the mailman brings are the only ones they ever receive. Directed by Stanley Hawes, this documentary was produced in a remarkably short time and was sent to Paris as Australia’s contribution to the 1946 UNESCO conference. It was also nominated for an Academy Award for the best documentary short of 1947. Photographed by William Trerise, music by John Antill.