Please tell us a bit about yourself and your work.
I’m from Perth originally but have lived in Melbourne for 15 years. I am 36 years old. I am writing and directing my first feature documentary called ‘BRAZEN HUSSIES’, which tells the story of the bold women who ignited a feminist revolution in Australia in the 1970s.
What compelled you to tell the story of the Australian Women’s Liberation Movement from 1965 – 1975?
In 2012 in New York I undertook an internship on ‘She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry’ (dir. Mary Dore, 2014), a critically acclaimed documentary film about the birth of the women’s movement in the US. This job was life changing. It was an education in documentary film-making, activism and women’s history. By the time the film premiered, I had earned my first onscreen credits of Assistant Editor, Researcher and Associate Producer – Post Production.
When the film was finished I had decided that I needed to return to Australia and find out what happened here during the women’s liberation. I always considered myself a feminist but I was finding that many of my peers thought that the term was unnecessary and confrontational and that women had equality now so what was the big deal? I felt like the struggles that women had been fighting were getting erased by history and that we needed to be reminded that women weren’t always allowed to drink in public bars or get credit cards or home loans and a myriad other things – and that these changes are only very recent.
In 2015 I participated in post-screening Q&As of ‘She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry’ at the Melbourne International Film Festival. The screenings were all sold out and the response to the film confirmed to me that women, young and old, are indeed very interested in seeing ourselves making history on screen.
Why do you think art is an effective medium to spread awareness and effect social change?
For me stories are so powerful for effecting social change because they don’t just reflect the world, they SHAPE it. I’ve always been aware and frustrated that women’s stories are considered ‘niche’, while male narratives are ‘universal’. I grew up watching movies where, to quote John Berger, “men act and women appear”. I learnt about heroic things that men did while the absence of female role models implied that women don’t make history. But we have and we do, and showing and telling those stories is what drives me.
There has never been a documentary that comprehensively covers the Australian Women’s Liberation Movement, despite it being arguably one of the most impacting social and political movements of the 20th century. Because of this movement, laws were rewritten, language was changed, public space and personal liberties were radically redefined. There is a rich history ripe for review. As the activists of the era are getting on in years, it is urgent to record their stories. Their contribution to shaping our society should be recognised and understood as a key part of our ‘official’ Australian history. The support for our film during development and the comments received on our fundraising page, Facebook page and in our inboxes, are a testament to the appetite for this film.
What is your ultimate goal with this project?
My immediate goal with this project is to get it finished! We have just had a successful fundraiser at Nova cinema, showing ‘She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry’ along with our teaser for Brazen Hussies. And we have just handed in our funding application to Screen Australia (fingers crossed!). It is an ambitious project with lots of funds to raise and ground to cover.
My ultimate goal is for the film to be seen widely, to impact on debate, and to empower activism. I would love for the film to be adopted into education curricula. We naturally have a female dominant audience, but I would love for boys and men to also learn this important history of women’s role in shaping Australian society. Schools would be a great opportunity to do so.
Image note: L – R: Writer & Director Catherine Dwyer, Merle Thornton, Sigrid Thornton and Co-Producer Philippa Campey. Some of the Brazen Hussies team with Merle Thornton and her daughter Sigrid Thornton, an icon of Australian screen, television and stage. Merle is best known for kick-starting a wave of feminist direct actions when she and Rosalie Bognor chained themselves to the Regatta Pub bar in 1965. Thornton went on to establish the Equal Opportunities for Women Association which lobbied to overturn the ‘Marriage Bar’ – a law that then required women employed in the Public Service to resign upon marriage.
Learn more at brazenhussies.com.au