The Films

Welcome to Generation Starstruck! Named after the 1982 film by Gillian Armstrong, this is place to bring together and read about some of the feature films made by Australian women filmmakers between 1980-1999. This project in part formed the basis of the ‘Pioneering Women’ program at the 2017 Melbourne International Film Festival. 

This is an ongoing project supported by the AFI Research Collection and undertaken by Melbourne film critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas in the spirit that there are many more films - and filmmakers - who worked during this period left to discover. 

Some feature films made during this period include:

Starstruck (Gillian Armstrong 1982)

On Guard (Susan Lambert 1984)

On The Loose (Jane Oehr 1984)

Silver City (Sophia Turkiewicz 1984)

Mrs Soffel (Gillian Armstrong 1984)

Fran (Glenda Hambly 1985)

The More Things Change (Robyn Nevin 1985)

Malcolm (Nadia Tass 1986)

Two Friends (Jane Campion 1986)

The Right Hand Man (Di Drew 1986)

The Still Point (Barbara Boyd-Anderson 1986)

My Life Without Steve (Gillian Leahy 1987)

High Tide (Gillian Armstrong 1987)

Back to the Beach (Lyndall Hobbs 1987)

To Market, To Market (Virginia Rouse 1987)

Belinda (Pamela Gibbons 1988)

Celia (Ann Turner 1988)

Rikky and Pete (Nadia Tass 1988)

The Pursuit of Happiness (Martha Ansara 1988)

Sweetie (Jane Campion 1989)

Luigi’s Ladies (Judy Morris 1989)

Tender Hooks (Mary Callaghan 1989)

The Big Steal (Nadia Tass 1990)

Aya (Solrun Hoaas 1990)

An Angel at My Table (Jane Campion 1990)

Proof (Jocelyn Moorhouse 1991)

Breathing Under Water (Susan Murphy Dermody 1991)

Fires Within (Gillian Armstrong 1991)

The Girl Who Came Late (Kathy Mueller 1991)

Waiting (Jackie McKimmie 1991)

The Last Days of Chez Nous (Gillian Armstrong 1991)

Seeing Red (Virginia Rouse 1992)

beDevil (Tracey Moffatt 1993)

Dallas Doll (Ann Turner 1993)

Hammers Over the Anvil (Ann Turner 1993)

Broken Highway (Laurie McInnes 1993)

Gino (Jackie McKimmie 1993)

The Piano (Jane Campion 1993)

Traps (Pauline Chan 1994)

Little Women (Gillian Armstrong 1994)

Only the Brave (Ana Kokkinos 1994)

Talk  (Susan Lambert 1994) 

How to Make an American Quilt (Jocelyn Moorhouse 1995)

Vacant Possession (Margot Nash 1995)

Dating the Enemy (Megan Simpson Huberman 1996)

Mr Reliable (Nadia Tass 1996)

Floating Life (Clara Law 1996)

Fistful of Flies (Monica Pellizzari 1996)

Love and Other Catastrophes (Emma-Kate Croghan 1996)

Love Serenade (Shirley Barrett 1996)

Parklands (Kathryn Millard 1996)

The Portrait of a Lady (Jane Campion 1996)

Road to Nhill (Sue Brooks 1997)

Thank God He Met Lizzie (Cherie Nowlan 1997)

The Well  (Samantha Lang 1997)

Oscar and Lucinda (Gillian Armstrong 1997)

A Thousand Acres (Jocelyn Moorhouse 1997)

Amy (Nadia Tass 1998)

Radiance (Rachel Perkins 1998)

Head On (Ana Kokkinos 1998)

The Missing (Manuela Alberti 1999)

Soft Fruit (Christina Andreef 1999)

Strange Fits of Passion (Elsie McCredie 1999)

Strange Planet (Emma-Kate Croghan 1999)

Dogwatch (Laurie McInnes 1999)

Envy (Julie Money 1999)

Holy Smoke! (Jane Campion 1999)

Feeling Sexy (Davida Allen 1999)

Me Myself I (Pip Karmel 1999)