Black Chicks Talking

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Black Chicks Talking
BlackChicksTalkingBook.jpg
AuthorLeah Purcell
PublisherHodder Headline Australia
Publication date
2002
Pages363
ISBN0-7336-1070-6
Black Chicks Talking
Directed by
Leah Purcell
Produced byBrendan Fletcher
Cinematography
Edited by
Production
company
Release date
  • 2001 (2001)
Running time
52 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish

Black Chicks Talking is an arts project by Australian actress Leah Purcell featuring a 2001 documentary film, a 2002 book, a stage production and an art exhibition. The film is co-directed by and features Indigenous Australian women including Purcell, actress Deborah Mailman and politician Kathryn Hay. Following the book and film, Purcell wrote a fictionalised dramatisation under the same title.[1]

Book[]

Purcell got the idea for a book featuring interviews of Indigenous Australian women following the success of her semi-autobiographical play Box the Pony.[2] After seeing the play someone suggested that Purcell find other indigenous women to tell their stories.[2] Purcell sought out nine other indigenous women who personally inspired her, some professional, some not.[2] The interviewees comprised politician and former Miss Australia Kathryn Hay, actress Deborah Mailman, netball player Sharon Finnan, United Nations youth delegate Tammy Williams, , , Frances Rings, and Rachel Perkins.[1][3] To initiate discussion, Purcell asked each woman the question "Out of the five senses, which one do you relate to and what is your first pleasurable memory of that sense?"[2] Her partner Bain Stewart gave her the idea of filming the interviews and using them as the basis for a documentary.[2] Further interviews were conducted over the telephone, particularly when participants felt uncomfortable opening up on-camera.[1] The interviews explored the topics of identity, family and culture in relation to Indigenous Australian women.[4]

Film[]

Purcell used the documentary footage of the interviews as the basis for the film. Only five of the women from the book are featured in the film — Hay, Mailman, Williams, Angus and Malone.[5] In addition to the solo interviews conducted for the book, Purcell filmed the women talking over dinner at a restaurant in Sydney.[3] The documentary was finished before the book was published.[2]

Release and reception[]

The film premiered at the inaugural Tribeca Film Festival[6] and was shown at the Melbourne and Sydney film festivals.[3][7] It was screened on the Australian network SBS on 30 August 2002.[2] It won the Inside Film Award for Best Documentary.[8] The book was published in June 2002 by Hodder Headline Australia.[7] Realist artist Robert Hannaford painted portraits of each of the ten women[9] which, along with stills from the documentary, made up a travelling art exhibition.[7] A stage adaptation of Black Chicks Talking by Purcell and [who?] opened in December 2002.[4] The play is a fictional story with five female characters, one of whom, Elizabeth, is played by Purcell.[10]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Griffin, Michelle (30 June 2002), "Black chick talking", The Age, retrieved 20 January 2010
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Capp, Rose; Villella, Fiona A. (September 2002), "Interview with Leah Purcell", Senses of Cinema, archived from the original on 8 September 2009, retrieved 21 January 2010
  3. ^ a b c Webb, Carolyn (30 July 2002), "What does being black mean, anyway?", The Age, retrieved 19 January 2010
  4. ^ a b Kermond, Clare (29 August 2002), "Women's business", The Age, retrieved 22 January 2010
  5. ^ Collins, Felicity; Davis, Therese (2004). "Backtracking after Mabo". Australian cinema after Mabo. Cambridge University Press. pp. 17–19. ISBN 0-521-54256-1.
  6. ^ Turner, Tonya (11 April 2008), "There's power in the past", The Courier-Mail, retrieved 19 January 2010
  7. ^ a b c Jopson, Debra (15 June 2002), "Aboriginal chicks decide to let the nation eavesdrop", The Age, retrieved 22 January 2010
  8. ^ "IF Award Winners". Inside Film Awards. Archived from the original on 28 January 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  9. ^ Black chicks Archived 10 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine, www.roberthannaford.com.au
  10. ^ Dunne, Stephen (18 January 2003), "Black Chicks Talking, Drama Theatre", The Sydney Morning Herald, retrieved 22 January 2010

External links[]

Retrieved from ""