Cinematic landscapes, dark tourism and the ghosts of Port Arthur

Port Arthur, once a notorious penal settlement, has become a significant heritage site and dark tourism destination in Australia. This study reveals how cinema, particularly through travelogue films from the 1930s to 1950s, shaped its evolution by encouraging visitors to engage with its convict past. These films uniquely promoted Tasmanian tourism while drawing on audiences' prior knowledge of Port Arthur's role in early silent films, reinforcing its image as a site of dark tourism and influencing visitor experiences. The research demonstrates how cinema facilitated confrontations with contentious convict histories, impacting tourism, identity, and place. This finding underscores the power of film in shaping public perceptions of heritage sites.

Findlay, J. (2019). Cinematic landscapes, dark tourism and the ghosts of Port Arthur. History Australia, 16(4), 678–694. https://doi.org/10.1080/14490854.2019.1670072