Gillian Armstrong

Gillian May Armstrong Template:Post-nominals (born 18 December 1950) is an Australian feature film and documentary director, best known for My Brilliant Career (1979), Mrs. Soffel (1984), High Tide (1987), The Last Days of Chez Nous (1992), and Little Women (1994). She is a Member of the Order of Australia. She has won many film awards, including an AFI Best Director Award, has been nominated for numerous others, and is the holder of several honorary doctorates.

Early life and education

Gillian May Armstrong<ref name=am/> was born on 18 December 1950<ref name=senses>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> in Melbourne, Victoria.<ref name=npg>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Gale Biography in Context">"Gillian Armstrong: Women Filmmakers & Their Films." Gale Biography in Context Template:Webarchive. Gale Cengage Learning. Web. Template:Dead</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She was the middle child of a local real estate agent father and a primary school teacher mother who stopped outside work to rear a family.<ref name="The Australian: Arts">Higson, Rosalie."Gillian Armstrong: The Real Thing"The Australian: Arts The Australian. Template:Dead</ref>

She grew up in the suburb of Vermont,<ref name=senses/> and attended Vermont High School. Her father was a frustrated photographer who wasn't allowed to follow his dreams professionally, yet continued his practice as an amateur. Armstrong reminisces that she grew up in a dark room, learning all about photography. When she first decided to go to art school, Armstrong didn't have a very firm grasp on what she wanted to do.<ref name="The Australian: Arts"/> Armstrong said that her parents were always very supportive of her hopes and dreams, which was not always true for women in the 1960s and 70s.<ref name="The Australian: Arts"/>

She studied general art in her first year and then majored in film, spending four years at Swinburne Technical College<ref name=bear/> from 1968,<ref name=senses/><ref name=nytbio>Erickson, Hal. "Gillian Armstrong – Biography". The New York Times.</ref> which had recently established the beginnings of the Swinburne Film and Television School within the Graphic Art School.Template:Efn Originally she wanted to become set and costume designer, but ended up majoring in filmmaking after becoming interested in films.<ref name=usydcitation/><ref name=bear/> At the college, then an art school, she saw a range of artistic films, different from the commercial cinema and television she was used to.<ref name=bear>Template:Cite interview</ref>

After working for a year as an assistant editor in a commercial film house, she applied for a place on the one-year postgraduate directors course offered under a pilot training scheme at the newly-created national film school, the Australian Film and Television School (now AFTRS) in 1973. Only 12 students were selected, and they were "really tested as directors". Two films that she made there won several awards, and one was screened at an international student film festival. She went overseas with the film, and then travelled around for 18 months.<ref name=bear/>

She started her studies before the Australian film industry had developed. She recalls that when new films were released, the actors sounded strange; for the first time their accents were Australian rather than American.<ref name="Research">Brunette, Peter. "Gillian Armstrong's a Director. Period. So Don't Pigeonhole Her as a Feminist, Please."HighBeam Research. The Washington Post. Web.</ref>

Career

Following a string of short films and documentaries, Armstrong achieved her first directorial recognition through her first full-length film The Singer and the Dancer, shot on 16 mm film, which won the best narrative film award at the 1976 Sydney Film Festival.<ref name=senses/>

Armstrong became a film director at the age of 27.<ref name="The New York Times">Reichl, Ruth. "At Tea With: Gillian Armstrong; A Lucky Director's Daring Career."The New York Times.The New York Times. Web.</ref> During the time of the development of Australian Cinema Armstrong recalls in a Washington Post interview that tremendous tax breaks led to a frightful overproduction. Everybody was interested in doing deals and even stockbrokers were becoming directors. However, very few of them had the commitment to cinema that Armstrong and others had, and the films would be shown for a week or two, or not released at all.<ref name="Research" /> After Armstrong's second film My Brilliant Career, she had offers from Hollywood but quickly turned them all away, preferring to stay in Australia to make a deliberately small film called Starstruck.<ref name="The New York Times"/> After the release of Starstruck, Armstrong went around giving interviews dressed in a large fuzzy blue sweater dress decorated with coloured beads, a black-and-white polka dot blouse, black tights and blue suede shoes all topped by a punk shag haircut.

Following this success, Armstrong was commissioned by the South Australian Film Corporation to make a documentary exploring the lives of young teenage girls living in Adelaide, South Australia. This became Smokes and Lollies (1976), her first paid job as director.<ref name=senses/>

Armstrong's own interest in the girls led her to revisit them at ages 18, 26, 33 and 48, resulting in four more films in the style of the popular "Up Series". These are Fourteen's Good, Eighteen's Better (1980), Bingo, Bridesmaids and Braces (1988), Not Fourteen Again (1996), and her most recent film Love, Lust & Lies (2009)<ref name=senses/>

Armstrong's first feature-length film My Brilliant Career (1979), an adaptation of Miles Franklin's novel of the same name, was the first Australian feature-length film to be directed by a woman for 46 years. Armstrong received six awards at the 1979 Australian Film Awards (previously the Australian Film Institute Awards, or AFI's) including Best Director. The film also brought considerable attention to its two main stars, Judy Davis and Sam Neill who were relatively unknown at the time.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Following the success of My Brilliant Career, which was nominated for an Academy Award in Best Costume Design, Armstrong directed the Australian rock-musical Starstruck which proved her ability to tackle more contemporary and experimental subject matter and styles.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

She has directed a number of rock music videos in the early 1980s, including 1984's "Bop Girl" by Pat Wilson, which featured Nicole Kidman.

Since then, Armstrong has specialised in period drama. She was the first foreign woman to be approached by the American film company MGM to finance her direction of a big-budget feature, which became Mrs. Soffel (1984) starring Mel Gibson and Diane Keaton.<ref name=bear /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This film tells the true story of an affair between a prisoner and a prison warden's wife, and was relatively well received by audiences and critics.<ref name=hal>Erickson, Hal. "Gillian Armstrong", "The New York Times", New York, 2010. Retrieved 5 May 2012</ref>

On returning to Australia, Armstrong continued to make both documentaries and feature films. She earned great recognition for High Tide (1987) and The Last Days of Chez Nous (1992), for which she was nominated for Best Director at the 1987 and 1992 Australian Film Institute Awards (AFIs). The Last Days of Chez Nous also earned her a nomination at the Berlin Film Festival. Despite this, both films were largely unrecognised internationally<ref name=hal />

In 1994, Armstrong achieved her greatest Hollywood success with the adaptation of Little Women, starring Winona Ryder, Susan Sarandon, Gabriel Byrne, Christian Bale, Claire Danes and Kirsten Dunst.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref> This adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's novel was one of the most popular films of the year, and emphasises Armstrong's focus on portraying the intimate lives of strong female characters and their relationships with one another.

She followed this success three years later with the film Oscar and Lucinda (1997), starring Ralph Fiennes and a relatively unknown Cate Blanchett. This film, based on the novel by Australian writer Peter Carey, tells the story of a mismatched love affair in 19th-century Australia. It received mixed reviews both locally and internationally, despite its high production value and strong performances by the film main actors.<ref name=hal />

In the 2000s, Armstrong went on to direct the feature films Charlotte Gray (2001), starring Cate Blanchett, and Death Defying Acts (2008), starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Guy Pearce. Based on the novel by Sebastian Faulks, Charlotte Gray is another of Armstrong's films that centres around a strong female protagonist.

Removed from Armstrong's usual subject matter, Death Defying Acts portrays a moment in the life of 1920s escape artist Harry Houdini in the style of a supernatural, romantic thriller. It received a modest earning at the box office, and was part of a special screening at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival<ref name=senses />

Despite the success of these more commercial films, it was Armstrong's lesser-known documentary Unfolding Florence: The Many Lives of Florence Broadhurst (2006), which earned her the most critical recognition during this time, and a nomination for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

Film themes and style

Themes

Armstrong has voiced her desire to reach a wide audience in her interviews, one that includes both men and women of all nationalities. However, her work continually addresses sexual politics and family tensions. Films focused on the escape and struggle with traditional sex roles and its related drawbacks and progressions such as One hundred a Day, My Brilliant Career, High Tide, and Oscar and Lucinda continue to reflect the theme.<ref name="Gale Biography in Context"/> Furthermore, many people have called her a creator of "strong females" but she insists that she is simply making films about complex characters and the choices that they make.<ref name="The Australian: Arts"/>

Style

Armstrong has a distinctive style in her work that resists easy categorisation. Most of her films cannot simply be stated as being either "women's films" or Australian ones which are the two most generalised categories for women in her line of work.<ref name="Gale Biography in Context"/> Armstrong's films are described as mixing and intermingling genres in ways that recreate them as something vastly different than what they have been considered. Nevertheless, the films that Armstrong creates can also be considered conventional films in their appeal to the audience. Her films possess sensitive and delicate cinematography, fluid editing, an evocative feel for setting and costume, and a commitment to solid character development and acting.<ref name="Gale Biography in Context"/> According to film scholar Gwendolyn Audrey Foster, Armstrong has a "strong feminist bent" and a "mordant sense of humor".<ref name=twsGAF>Gwendolyn Audrey Foster, 1995, Greenwood Press, Westport (CT) & London, Women Film Directors: An International Bio-Critical Dictionary, retrieved 15 December 2014, see page(s): 114</ref>

Personal life

Template:As of Armstrong is married to John Pleffer,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and they have two daughters.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Recognition and awards

Armstrong is a Member of the Order of Australia, "In recognition of service to the film industry".<ref name=am>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

She has won many awards, including an AFI Best Director Award, and has been nominated for numerous other awards, including a Palme D'Or<ref name=":2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and two Golden Bear Awards.<ref name=":3">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":4">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She has received multiple hdoctorates, including an honorary doctor of letters from University of Sydney, and an honorary doctorate from Swinburne University of Technology.<ref name=usydcitation>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Film awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Film	Result	Notes
1979	Cannes Film Festival	Palme d'Or	My Brilliant Career	Template:Nom	<ref name=":2" />
1981	Golden Globe Awards	Best Picture - Foreign Film		Template:Nom	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1979	Australian Film Institute Awards	Best Director		Template:Won
1981	London Critics Circle Film Awards	Special Achievement Award		Template:Won
1985	Berlin Film Festival	Golden Bear	Mrs. Soffel	Template:Nom	<ref name=":4" />
1987	Australian Film Institute Awards	Best Director	High Tide	Template:Nom
1992			The Last Days of Chez Nous	Template:Nom
	Berlin Film Festival	Golden Bear		Template:Nom	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":3" />
1995	Brisbane International Film Festival	Chauvel Award		Template:Won
	Women in Film Crystal Awards	Dorothy Arzner Directors Award		Template:Won
1996	Australian Film Institute Awards	Best Documentary	Not Fourteen Again	Template:Won
2006		Best Direction in a Documentary	Unfolding Florence: The Many Lives of Florence Broadhurst	Template:Nom
	Sundance Film Festival	Grand Jury Prize		Template:Nom
2007	Australian Directors Guild Awards	Outstanding Achievement		Template:Won
2010			Love, Lust & Lies	Template:Won
2015	Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts	Best Feature Length Documentary	Women He's Undressed	Template:Nom

Filmography

Year	Title	Type	Notes
1970	Old Man and Dog	short
1971	Roof Needs Mowing	short
1973	Satdee Night	short	also writer
1973	One Hundred a Day	short	also writer
1973	Gretel	short	also writer
1975	The Singer and the Dancer	short	also co-writer, producer
1976	Smokes and Lollies	Documentary
1979	My Brilliant Career	Feature film	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1980	Touch Wood	Documentary
1980	Fourteen's Good, Eighteen's Better	Documentary	also producer
1982	Starstruck	Feature film	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1983	Having a Go	Documentary
1984	Mrs. Soffel	Feature film	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1986	Hard to Handle	Documentary	Concert video of Bob Dylan's 1986 True Confessions tour with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Screened as an HBO special. Released only on VHS.
1987	High Tide	Feature film	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1988	Bingo, Bridesmaids & Braces	Documentary
1991	Fires Within	Feature film
1992	The Last Days of Chez Nous	Feature film	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
1994	Little Women	Feature film	<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" />
1996	Not Fourteen Again	Documentary
1997	Oscar and Lucinda	Feature film	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2001	Charlotte Gray	Feature film	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2006	Unfolding Florence: The Many Lives of Florence Broadhurst	Documentary
2007	Death Defying Acts	Feature film	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2009	Love, Lust & Lies	Documentary	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2015	Women He's Undressed	Documentary	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

External links

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• Template:Australian Women and Leadership
• Video Gillian Armstrong Video Compilation
• "Armstrong and Cox: if a Picture Paints a Thousand Words" Dual Interview Big Ideas
• Literature on Gillian Armstrong
• Gillian Armstrong AM from National Portrait Gallery (Australia)