Strikebound

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.

• Chris Haywood as Wattie Doig
• Carol Burns as Agnes Doig
• Hugh Keays-Byrne as Idris Williams
• Rob Steele as Charlie Nelson
• Nik Forster as Harry Bell
• David Kendall as Birch
• Anthony Hawkins as Police Sergeant
• Marion Edward as Meg
• Tiriel Mora as Militant Miner

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,Scott Murray. "Richard Lowenstein", Cinema Papers, August 1984 pp. 211–213, 291 15 months of it while on the dole.{{Cite journal | title=Film-making Director is dolebound no longer | journal=The Bulletin with Newsweek | issn=1440-7485 |volume= 106| issue= 5435 |date= 25 Sep 1984 | location=Sydney | publisher=Australian Consolidated Press | url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1707153883 | id=nla.obj-1707153883 | access-date=13 January 2025 | via=Trove}}

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 However, the title of the unpublished manuscript was used in the film credits.{{cite web | title=Papers of Wendy Lowenstein | website=Trove | date=25 June 1927 | url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-369339175/findingaid | access-date=11 January 2025}}

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, and Maldon, in Central Victoria.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

The film was co-produced by Victorian filmmaker Miranda Bain{{efn|Who now works as a strategic advisor in justice and the courts, and was nominated for an Australian of the Year Award in 2018.{{cite web | title=Miranda Bain | website=OzFish Unlimited | date=27 June 2024 | url=https://ozfish.org.au/team-member/miranda-bain/ | access-date=11 January 2025}}}} and New Zealand producer Timothy White.{{cite web | title=Strikebound (1984) | website=Screen Australia | url=https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/the-screen-guide/t/strikebound-1983/666 | access-date=9 January 2025}} Cinematography was by Andrew de Groot, and the film was edited by Jill Bilcock.

It was made on a budget of A$750,000.David Stratton, The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry, Pan MacMillan, 1990 p. 41

The film premiered at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival in May 1984,{{efn|Where Lowenstein first met Michael Hutchence, leading to friendship and collaborations on later films.{{cite web | title=A Conversation With Richard Lowenstein ("Mystify: Michael Hutchence") | website=Magnet Magazine | date=30 January 2020 | url=https://magnetmagazine.com/2020/01/30/a-conversation-with-richard-lowenstein-mystify-michael-hutchence/ | access-date=13 January 2025}}}} 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.

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.

It was released in Australian cinemas in September 1984.{{Citation | title=Theatre | journal=Education: Journal of the N.S.W. Public School Teachers Federation | issn=0013-1156 |volume= 65 | issue= 16 |date=24 Sep 1984 | url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-727786447 | access-date=13 January 2025 | via=Trove}}

In 1985 it screened at Sundance and Seattle Film Festivals, and continued to be screened at other events and festivals in the 1990s.{{cite web | title=Strikebound (1984) | website=Screen Australia | url=https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/the-screen-guide/t/strikebound-1984/666/ | access-date=13 January 2025}}

Strikebound grossed $157,000 at the box office in Australia.[http://film.vic.gov.au/resources/documents/AA4_Aust_Box_office_report.pdf Film Victoria – Australian Films at the Australian Box Office]

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

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:{{cite web | title=Winners & Nominees (1984)| website=AACTA | url=https://www.aacta.org/aacta-awards/winners-and-nominees/range/1980-1989/year/1984/ | access-date=11 January 2025}}

• 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)

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{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |editor-last=Murray |editor-first=Scott |title=Australian Cinema |publisher= Allen & Unwin/AFC |location= St.Leonards, NSW |year=1994 |page=297 |isbn= 1-86373-311-6 }}

• {{IMDb title|0088198|title=Strikebound}}
• [https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/strikebound/ Strikebound] at Australian Screen Online
• [http://www.ozmovies.com.au/movie/strikebound Strikebound] at Oz Movies

{{Richard Lowenstein}}

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Category:1984 films

Category:Australian drama films

Category:1984 drama films

Category:1980s English-language films

Category:Films directed by Richard Lowenstein

Category:1980s Australian films