Gillian Armstrong - My Brilliant Career

Director Gillian Armstrong talks about her first feature film My Brilliant Career (Australia, 1979) which had just been chosen to screen in competition for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

Armstrong alludes to the fact that she is the first woman to have directed a film in Australia since the McDonagh sisters in the 1930s. She also talks about the contemporary relevance of the themes of Miles Franklin's semi-autobiographical novel published in 1901, upon which the film is based.

Despite Walsh's surprise at the casting of the unknown Judy Davis in the lead role of Sybylla Melvyn, Armstrong promises she delivers.

In viewing the excerpt of the film, the audience sees Davis's masterful, self-assured performance. Davis went on to win the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in 1981.

Please note: the horizontal lines present in this clip are because of the age and condition of the source tape.

Clip taken from The Mike Walsh Show: Episode 9064.

Notes by Beth Taylor