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Strikebound

Strikebound
Directed byRichard Lowenstein
Written byRichard Lowenstein
Based onOral history interviews published by Wendy Lowenstein
Produced byMiranda Bain
Timothy White
StarringChris Haywood
Carol Burns
CinematographyAndrew de Groot
Edited byJill Bilcock
Music byDeclan Affley
Distributed byRonin Films
Release date
  • 20 September 1984 (1984-09-20)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
BudgetA$750,000
Box officeA$157,000 (Australia)

Strikebound is a 1984 Australian film directed by Richard Lowenstein. It is based on the experiences of real people during the 1937 coal-miners' strike in Victoria, Australia, the Korumburra miners' strike.

Synopsis

Strikebound is the dramatised story of a coal-miners' strike in 1937, in the small south Gippsland town of Korumburra. The story is told through the struggles of Agnes and Wattie Doig, two Scottish immigrants, who were real people.[1][2]

Cast

Production

Richard Lowenstein had made a short film, Evictions, about unemployed Australian people during the Depression, but felt slightly unsatisfied by the experience and wanted to have another attempt at the subject matter. During the making of the short film he had met Wattie and Agnes Doig and heard stories about unionism in coal mining in Victoria. He spent the next two years researching the story,[1] 15 months of it while on the dole.[3]

Lowenstein's mother, historian Wendy Lowenstein, published Weevils in the Flour in 1978, an oral history about the Depression, including many interviews. Lowenstein used the interviews from Weevils in the Flour when writing his script in 1980-81, and his mother started writing another work based on this, called Dead Men Don't Dig Coal, which was never completed. However, the title of the unpublished manuscript was used in the film credits.[2]

The film was originally envisioned as a 50-minute dramatised documentary called The Sunbeam Shaft but evolved into a feature film. The film was partly shot at a real disused mine in Wonthaggi,[4] and Maldon, in Central Victoria.[citation needed]

The film was co-produced by Victorian filmmaker Miranda Bain[a] and New Zealand producer Timothy White.[6] Cinematography was by Andrew de Groot, and the film was edited by Jill Bilcock.[7]

It was made on a budget of A$750,000.[4]

Release

The film premiered at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival in May 1984,[b] where it played to sold-out audiences, garnered a full-page re view in Le Matin newspaper, and received many invitations to other film festivals.[3]

It screened at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in Czechoslovakia, followed by Venice Film Festival, where it was given an ovation at 's Critics Week, which is unusual. It went on to screen at the Edinburgh, London, New York, and Pia Film Festivals.[3]

It was released in Australian cinemas in September 1984.[9]

In 1985 it screened at Sundance and Seattle Film Festivals, and continued to be screened at other events and festivals in the 1990s.[10]

Box office

Strikebound grossed $157,000 at the box office in Australia.[11]

Accolades

Strikebound won the main award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.[3]

In Australia, film won the AFI Award for Best Achievement in Production Design (Tracy Watt, Harry Zettel, McGregor Knox, and Neil Angwin). It was also nominated in the following categories:[7]

  • Best Film (Miranda Bain, Tim White)
  • Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Chris Haywood)
  • Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Carol Burns)
  • Best Adapted Screenplay (Richard Loewenstein)
  • Best Achievement in Cinematography (Andrew de Groot)
  • Best Achievement in Editing (Jill Bilcock)
  • Best Achievement in Sound (Dean Gawen, Gethin Creagh, Frank Lipson, Martin Oswin, Rex Watts)
  • Best Achievement in Costume Design (Jennie Tate)

Footnotes

  1. ^ Who now works as a strategic advisor in justice and the courts, and was nominated for an Australian of the Year Award in 2018.[5]
  2. ^ Where Lowenstein first met Michael Hutchence, leading to friendship and collaborations on later films.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b Scott Murray. "Richard Lowenstein", Cinema Papers, August 1984 pp. 211–213, 291
  2. ^ a b "Papers of Wendy Lowenstein". Trove. 25 June 1927. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d "Film-making Director is dolebound no longer". The Bulletin with Newsweek. 106 (5435). Sydney: Australian Consolidated Press. 25 September 1984. ISSN 1440-7485. nla.obj-1707153883. Retrieved 13 January 2025 – via Trove.
  4. ^ a b David Stratton, The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry, Pan MacMillan, 1990 p. 41
  5. ^ "Miranda Bain". OzFish Unlimited. 27 June 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
  6. ^ "Strikebound (1984)". Screen Australia. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
  7. ^ a b "Winners & Nominees (1984)". AACTA. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
  8. ^ "A Conversation With Richard Lowenstein ("Mystify: Michael Hutchence")". Magnet Magazine. 30 January 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  9. ^ "Theatre", Education : Journal of the N.S.W. Public School Teachers Federation., 65 (16), Sydney: The Federation, 24 September 1984, ISSN 0013-1156, nla.obj-727786447, retrieved 13 January 2025 – via Trove
  10. ^ "Strikebound (1984)". Screen Australia. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  11. ^ Film Victoria – Australian Films at the Australian Box Office

Further reading

  • Murray, Scott, ed. (1994). Australian Cinema. St.Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin/AFC. p. 297. ISBN 1-86373-311-6.
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