2012 Ken G Hall Award

The NFSA has chosen Susanne Chauvel Carlsson as the recipient of the 2012 Ken G Hall Film Preservation Award for her commitment and active engagement with the archive to preserve, research, and exploit the Chauvel family history in film.

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Born in 1930, Susanne Chauvel Carlsson is the daughter of Charles and Elsa Chauvel. A determined supporter for the collection and preservation of their work, Sue has tirelessly continued to research both her family and her father’s film industry history. She published Charles & Elsa Chauvel: Movie Pioneers in 1989, and is currently writing another book, The Life and Cinema of Charles Chauvel. She has contributed articles to The Australian Women’s Weekly, Metro, Cinema Papers and other publications, and keeps a blog (chauvelcinema.com) where she explores the locations where Chauvel’s films were made.

‘Probably the main motivation in writing the biography has been the number of inaccuracies that have surfaced over the years, from people who had not known the Chauvels,’ says Sue. ‘I believe it is time to tell the full story, to the best of my ability. Inevitably some details will be lost over the years, but as I lived with Charles and Elsa Chauvel for 29 years and witnessed the making of all their major films, I am in a unique position to give first-hand insight into their characters and their story.’

After her mother died in 1983, Sue realised the importance of collating the large amount of photographic and other film-related material she had. Elsa Chauvel had already donated the original films to the NFSA and, over the years, Sue has continued to contribute material and share her research with the NFSA.

‘I sent the major part of her photographic collection to the John Oxley Research section of the Queensland State Library, Brisbane. I have tried wherever possible to identify some of the photographs in the NFSA collection. I still have a large amount of documentation that I am trying to collate and preserve; it has been tremendously valuable to me while writing my father’s biography.’

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‘My parents’ story proves what can be achieved by sheer perseverance and tenacity, and their dedication to the integrity of their work. As old-fashioned as the methods and perhaps the interpretations of story seem today, the films are still a testimony to a desire to put Australia on the world map in filmmaking.

‘I feel honoured to receive the Ken G Hall Film Preservation Award. Although Ken and my father were rivals at the time, five of my father’s feature films were made at Ken Hall’s domain, the iconic Cinesound Studios, with staff trained by Hall.’

By arrangement with the Licensor, The Charles Chauvel Estate,

c/- Curtis Brown (Aust) Pty Ltd.

A selection of Charles and Elsa Chauvel’s work is featured on australianscreen, including In the Wake of the Bounty, Heritage, Rangle River, Uncivilised, Forty Thousand Horsemen , While There Is Still Time , Soldiers Without Uniform, Power to Win, A Mountain Goes to Sea, The Rats of Tobruk, Sons of Matthew, Australian Walkabout and Jedda.

All photographs courtesy of the Chauvel family.

Ken G Hall Film Preservation Award – previous recipients