Titles tagged with ‘feminism’
46 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year
1910s
The Woman Suffers feature film – 1918
This has been called ‘Australia’s first feminist feature’ but many of its female characters are ruined by men, a common theme in melodrama.
1930s
Heritage feature film – 1935
Heritage is a thunderous piece of endorsement for the pioneer mythology of Australia, made by the prolific Charles Chauvel.
1960s
Berlei Underwear TV Advertisement: Sarong Body Magic advertisement – 1968
Berlei’s products are known for accommodating women of all shapes and sizes.
1970s
I Am Woman music – 1972
‘I am Woman’ by Helen Reddy was a worldwide hit and the first song by an Australian artist or composer to reach number one in America.
Alvin Purple feature film – 1973
Alvin Purple was hugely popular, partly because it makes fun of powerful institutions like the courts, the press, marriage and psychiatry.
A Film for Discussion documentary – 1973
This black-and-white experimental film was made collectively by members of one of Australia’s first Women’s Liberation groups. It sought to promote Women’s Liberation by engaging viewers in active discussion, hence its name.
Petersen feature film – 1974
Though promoted as a lusty yarn, the frequent and fairly explicit sex scenes between the film’s unhappy characters are hardly titillating.
Certain Women – Episode 166 television program – 1976
The final episode of this long-running serial about a family of strong-minded women who take on a changing world in the 1970s.
Don’s Party feature film – 1976
The off-stage bedroom scenes in the original play became on-screen sex in this film, and the male characters got naked not just drunk.
The Trespassers feature film – 1976
Many films reflected the sexual revolution of the 1970s but few male directors explored what women wanted from it. This one does.
We Aim to Please short film – 1976
We Aim to Please incorporated experimental and feminist ideas and was a bold break away from the narrative films and factual documentaries of the time.
Journey among Women feature film – 1977
Making this film in the 1970s became politically charged: should and could a male director make a meaningful film about women?
Maidens documentary – 1978
Almost four years in the making, Maidens sparked impassioned debate and became compulsory viewing in women and film courses around the country.
Size 10 documentary – 1978
Size 10 is about how four young women break free of the pressure to conform to beauty and fashion norms.
Just Out of Reach short feature – 1979
Brilliantly acted and shot, Just Out of Reach sits comfortably alongside other films produced during this rich and creative period of the Australian film industry.
My Brilliant Career feature film – 1979
This feminist warrior and role model came to life on film in the same year as the road warrior in the masculine fantasy Mad Max.
Patrol Boat – Never Under the White Ensign television program – 1979
Patrol Boat is a television drama about the crew of a navy patrol boat, whose job it is to guard Australia’s coastal waters.
The Plumber television program – 1979
Jill’s discomfort increases as the uninvited plumber destroys the bathroom, but neither her husband nor her friend Meg will take her seriously.
Pussy Pumps Up short feature – 1979
This 2D animated film features a tiny cat-girl heroine who metamorphoses into a muscular, powerful figure.
Ride On Stranger television program – 1979
Bookworm Shannon Jones heads for the Harbour City to learn about life, love and politics in the 1930s.
1980s
Age Before Beauty documentary – 1980
Age Before Beauty cleverly identified an issue that has since become familiar territory for most women in the western world.
Bread and Dripping documentary – 1981
Four women recall raising families during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The film also looks at the activism of women and the beginnings of the early feminist movement in Australia.
Puberty Blues feature film – 1981
When the two teenage girls at the heart of this film buy a surfboard and teach themselves to surf, they become their own role models.
Starstruck feature film – 1982
Gillian Armstrong’s Starstruck is an energetic rock musical comedy, with a kitsch aesthetic very much influenced by the style of early ’80s video clips.
This Woman is Not a Car short film – 1982
An imaginative examination of sexual violence, This Woman is Not a Car turns the suburban dream of marriage and conformity into a nightmare.
For Love or Money documentary – 1983
Using almost totally historical material, For Love or Money encompasses the role of Australian women in both paid and unpaid work, over a 200 year period.
Serious Undertakings documentary – 1983
Serious Undertakings breaks new ground in understanding the construction of meaning and exemplifies the impact of 1970s screen theory on making independent films.
Kylie Tennant documentary – 1986
Determined to experience at firsthand the lives of her characters, Tennant travelled alone in her buggy, camping with swagmen and destitute families.
My Life Without Steve short feature – 1986
Set over a year, in a Sydney inner-west harbourside flat, My Life Without Steve is a challenging examination of the first phase of one woman’s long road to recovery from having loved and lost.
Shame feature film – 1987
Perth lawyer Asta Cadell uncovers a series of sex crimes and dark secrets in a small town in Western Australia.
Snakes and Ladders documentary – 1987
An account of the achievements and setbacks of a ‘shifting landscape’ as Australian women attempt to gain equality in education in the 20th century.
Come In Spinner television program – 1989
Lisa Harrow, Kerry Armstrong and Rebecca Gibney feature in the story of three very different women in wartime.The series won a slew of AFI awards.
Dead Calm feature film – 1989
Nicole Kidman was 20 when she was cast in Dead Calm. Within a year of the film opening, she was in Hollywood – partly as a result of her performance in this film.
Shadow Panic short film – 1989
An experiment in structure, Shadow Panic reflects the influence at the time of French screen theorists on Australian feminist filmmaking.
1990s
Police Rescue – By the Book television program – 1990
Police Rescue was an immensely popular series during the 1990s, starting as a telemovie then spawning a weekly series for five years and even a feature film.
Waiting feature film – 1990
A surrogate mother’s home birth turns out more complicated than expected.
Breathing Under Water feature film – 1991
The director’s preoccupation with humankind’s tendency to self-destruct was one factor that lead to the creation of this complex film.
The Book Show – Germaine Greer television program – 1992
Germaine Greer talks to Andrea Stretton about the mixed reactions of feminists to her latest book, The Change: Women, Ageing and the Menopause.
The Last Days of Chez Nous feature film – 1992
The Last Days of Chez Nous was one of the most interesting films of the early 1990s.
Masterpiece Special – Judy Davis television program – 1996
My Brilliant Career may have been a successful start to a career, but for Judy Davis it is an unhappy memory of an early experience working in film.
Cheap Blonde short film – 1998
A humorous experimental word game which examines gender representation and authorship in the cinema.
Hephzibah documentary – 1998
Levy has painted a portrait of a woman ahead of her time – musician Hephzibah Menuhin was imperfect, passionate, talented and driven by a humanitarian instinct.
Zipper short film – 1998
This tongue-in-cheek live action-animated short blames the zipper for unleashing women’s sexuality.
2000s
Chequerboard Revisited – Episode 3: I Reckon I’m an Average Australian television program – 2000
Kevin and Margaret, filmed three times over a 30-year period, show how attitudes towards marriage have changed in Australia between the 1960s and 2000.
Chinese Take Away documentary – 2002
An adaptation of a physical theatre show by performer Anna Yen, which explores stories about her family.
A Girl, a Horse, a Dream documentary – 2003
This documentary follows the top Australian female jockey for a year to see if men and women can compete equally in horseracing.
