Australian
Screen

an NFSA website




We’re All Independent Now (1995)

Synopsis

The Family Law Act was enacted in 1975. Twenty years later, filmmaker Don Parham questions its effectiveness and relevance with particular reference to its effect on children. Parham narrates the documentary and uses interviews with experts and children. He also intercuts readings from Hansard with images of happy marriages and vandals at work.

Curator’s notes

Filmmaker Don Parham makes a personal statement with this documentary. He appears on camera with his family, telling us that his marriage is twenty-years-old and that making the documentary led him to realise that the effect of divorce on children should be at the heart of the matter. Parham’s credits include Riot or Revolution, Why Men Pay For It, Life Is Too Serious, Love’s Tragedies, Big Hair Woman, The Great Australian Dreaming and Deadly Hurt.