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SYNOPSIS
A feature documentary about the origins of Australia’s Folk & Oral History movement as seen through the prismatic eyes of two remarkable women, oral historian Wendy Lowenstein and dance historian & pioneering Indigenous Rights 1967 Referendum Activist, Shirley Andrews. The film recounts both women’s early years in Melbourne’s New Theatre, the Australian Communist Party, the Eureka Youth League and founding contributions to the Australian Folk & Oral History movements. In 1969, Wendy undertook a year-long oral history ‘collecting trip’ around Australia entitled ‘The Australian Folklore Expedition’ in which she pioneered the collection of stories, songs, descriptions of working conditions, etc from a uniquely diverse range of informants from a variety of backgrounds. She authored numerous books, including the definitive record of Australian lives during the Great Depression, ‘Weevils In The Flour’, ‘The Immigrants’ – immigrants arriving in Australia between 1890 – 1970, & ‘Under The Hook’ – a history of the Australian waterfront written and told by wharfies themselves. Shirley’s book, ‘Take Your Partners’ became the definitive work on Australian traditional social dancing, and in 1994, she was awarded an Order of Australia (OAM) for her contribution to Australian dance. A remarkable story about the often ignored aspects of Australian cultural history.
RICHARD LOWENSTEIN has produced, written and directed the dramatic feature films, STRIKEBOUND, DOGS IN SPACE, SAY A LITTLE PRAYER & HE DIED WITH A FELAFEL IN HIS HAND, and the feature documentaries AUTOLUMINESCENT: ROWLAND S. HOWARD, WE’RE LIVIN’ ON DOG FOOD, ECCO HOMO and MYSTIFY: MICHAEL HUTCHENCE along with producing the 2015 feature documentary IN BOB WE TRUST. He is a partner in the Melbourne-based production company GHOST PICTURES and the production company FANDANGO AUSTRALIA with producers Domenico Procacci and Sue Murray. He currently developing a scripted drama series ‘THE EXPERIMENT’ as co-production with FANDANGO ITALY producers of HBO’s hit TV series MY BRILLIANT FRIEND.
