Sydney Film Festival and the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) are delighted to announce today a program of 10 essential films directed by pioneering Australian women filmmakers, curated by David Stratton.
Entitled Essential Australian Women Directors – 10 Trailblazers Selected by David Stratton, the program is presented by Sydney Film Festival and the NFSA. The curated films will screen as a retrospective program at the Art Gallery of New South Wales (5-10 June) as part of the66th Sydney Film Festival (5-16 June). The retrospective will also screen in Canberra at NFSA’s Arc cinema (28 June-7 July).
The retrospective consists of ten films, each marking a great milestone in Australian film history, including: silent melodrama The Cheaters by pioneering filmmaker Paulette McDonagh, digitally restored by the NFSA and screening with a score performed live by the virtuosic Jan Preston; winner of the prestigious Camera d’Or, Love Serenade by Shirley Barrett; the iconic cult comedy Malcolm by AFI Award-winning director Nadia Tass; and Bedevil, the first and only feature by Aboriginal artist Tracey Moffatt.
Selections include early works from highly-acclaimed film stars, including High Tide, the second collaboration between icons Gillian Armstrong and Judy Davis; Waiting by acclaimed filmmaker Jackie McKimmie, which stars TV legend Noni Hazlehurst; and Sweetie by New Zealand-born Australian filmmaker Jane Campion – to this day, the only woman to have received the prestigious Palme d’Or.
Influential films from more recent years include The Babadook, the thrilling debut of Jennifer Kent; the achingly moving Blessed by Ana Kokkinos, starring Miranda Otto and Wayne Blair; and Golden Globe-nominated filmmaker Rachel Ward’s debut feature Beautiful Kate.
Renowned critic and broadcaster, David Stratton, a former director of the Sydney Film Festival (1966 to 1983) will introduce the Sydney screenings, and take questions along with filmmaker guests.
David Stratton said, “Rather than highlighting one director, we’re celebrating the vital work of ten remarkable women. This retrospective pays tribute to not only these pioneering filmmakers, who tirelessly forged their own path forward, but to all the talented women who have crafted important and enduring films in this country.”
“In the era of the #MeToo movement, the barriers that once faced women filmmakers are perhaps crumbling at a quicker pace – in the meantime, let’s celebrate the titanic achievements of our women filmmakers, and these landmark works that have irrevocably shifted the industry landscape forever.”
Sydney Film Festival Director Nashen Moodley said, “From an influential silent masterpiece, to the only feature film by artist Tracey Moffatt, these works are immaculately-crafted showcases of truly revolutionary women filmmakers. The films are brought to life with performances from the highest calibre of Australian acting talent, including Miranda Otto and Frances O’Connor, Bryan Brown and Ben Mendelsohn – all who have delighted audiences at the Festival in previous years.”
NFSA General Manager, Collection and Access Meg Labrum said, “Women have been an essential driving force in our film industry since its early days. From the pioneering McDonagh Sisters to Jennifer Kent, David Stratton’s selection truly is an abridged history of Australian film through a female gaze. We hope Sydney and Canberra audiences, particularly the new generations of aspiring female filmmakers, will feel empowered by the work of these fierce creative minds that came before them.”
A recipient of the Australian Film Institute’s Raymond Longford Award and named Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, David Stratton AM has also served as President of the FIPRESCI (International Film Critics) jury in Cannes and served on the international juries of both Venice and Berlin film festivals, authored three books and lectured in Film History at the University of Sydney. He co-hosted The Movie Show and At the Movies with Margaret Pomeranz for 29 years. He recently published his fourth book 101 Marvellous Movies You May Have Missed (2018).
Featured pic – A still from Jane Campions’s film ‘Sweetie’