Brazen Hussies Q&A

Palace Cinemas is proud to invite you to join us for a screening of the powerful and critically-acclaimed documentary, BRAZEN HUSSIES, about the women’s liberation movement in Australia, followed by a special Q&A panel with the filmmakers, including Director Catherine Dwyer, Co-Producer Andrea Foxworthy, historian Marilyn Lake and WEL co-founder Iola Mathews.

First time Director, Catherine Dwyer, was inspired to make a film about the history of the Women’s Movement in Australia through her experience working as Associate Producer – Post Production, Researcher and Assistant Editor on Mary Dore’s critically acclaimed and award winning documentary She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry (2014) – the story of the US Women’s Liberation Movement. Catherine was the Impact Producer on Freedom Stories (dir. Steven Thomas 2016), a documentary that explores the achievements and stories of former ‘boat people’ who arrived in Australian waters seeking asylum. Catherine has also directed and edited music videos and shorts.

Producer Andrea Foxworthy is a highly experienced Producer and Production Manager based in Melbourne. In 2010 Andrea first discovered the chutzpa of the second wave activists of the Australian Women’s Movement, when she produced On Her Shoulders (2011) for UN Women, to commemorate the centenary of International Women’s Day. On Her Shoulders was nominated for an ATOM Award (Best Short Documentary), won ‘Best Short’ at the 2011 La Mirada Film Festival, screened at Revelation Perth International Film Festival, was broadcast on ABC TV, distributed to Australian High Schools and has had over 100,600 YouTube views.

Marilyn Lake AO is Professorial Fellow in History at the University of Melbourne. Her books include ‘Getting Equal: The History of Australian Feminism’, ‘FAITH: Faith Bandler Gentle Activist’ and most recently ‘Progressive New World: How Settler Colonialism and TransPacific Exchange Shaped American Reform’ which has been short-listed for the Prime Minister’s prize for Australian History.

Iola Mathews was one of the ten women who founded the Women’s Electoral Lobby in February 1972. She was a journalist at The Age for many years, writing mainly on Education and Women’s Issues. In 1983-4 she helped establish the Action Plan for Women in the Victorian Public Service, and in 1984 was appointed Coordinator of the Action Program for Women Workers at the Australian Council of Trade Unions. As an Industrial officer and advocate, she specialised in women’s employment for which she was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM). She was an advocate in national test cases to improve wages and conditions for women workers, including the parental leave test case and equal pay cases for child care workers and clerical workers. She has published numerous books and articles and in 2006 established Glenfern Writers’ Studios in Melbourne.