gillian armstrong
gillian armstrong was born on december 18, 1950 in melbourne, victoria, australia as gillian may armstrong. she is a director and producer, known for
gillian armstrong on the set of my brilliant career. image courtesy of hlamgt .
director gillian armstrong: ‘orry deserved a film. photograph: tim baure / supplied
navigating the documentaries of gillian armstrong here you can find some information on armstrong’s documentaries. only some of the links work though .
collins, felicity, “the films of gillian armstrong”, the moving image, no. 6, 1999
“an interview with gillian armstrong”, urltoken. note: this page no longer seems to be there .
with the headline: at tea with: gillian armstrong; a lucky director' s daring career .
' gillian armstrong', in internet movie database (imdb), amazon. com, urltoken. details
collins, felicity, the films of gillian armstrong, st. kilda, victoria, australia, 1999 .
gillian armstrong didn' t just open the door for female directors, she ripped it right off the hinges .
stratton, david ,
gillian armstrong ,
in international film guide (london, hollywood), 1996 .
swebster, andy ,
filmography: gillian armstrong ,
in premiere (new york), november 1997 .
gillian armstrong, director of
women he' s undressed .
photo by tim baure / courtesy wolfe video
' armstrong, gillian', the australian women' s register, national foundation for australian women, urltoken. details
grieve, a. ,
gillian armstrong returns to eden ,
in cinema papers (melbourne), may 1987 .
, held from 3 - 21 august. kate jinx will be in discussion with gillian armstrong after the screening on 11 august
collins, felicity, “the films of gillian armstrong”, the moving image, no. 6, published by atom, australia, 1999
gillian armstrong returns to eden ,
an interview with a. grieve, in cinema papers (melbourne), may 1987 .
harker, p. ,
gillian armstrong and three times three ,
in cinema papers (melbourne), november, 1988 .
jo kennedy as jackie mullins – a singer with ‘that little something extra’ – in gillian armstrong’s 1982 rock musical starstruck. photograph: nfsa
mordue, mark ,
homeward bound: a profile of gillian armstrong ,
in sight and sound (london), autumn 1989 .
in gillian armstrong' s film women he' s undressed, costume designer orry - kelly is played by darren gilshenan (centre) .
more than 99. 9 percent of people with the first name gillian are female .
photo: with 1979' s my brilliant career, gillian armstrong became the first australian woman to direct a feature film in almost 50 years .
gillian armstrong’s films are showing at the 2017 melbourne international film festival: starstruck on 11 august and high tide on 13 august. more details .
the brilliant career of gillian armstrong ,
an interview with mary hardesty, in dga (los angeles), september - october 1995 .
gillian armstrong says her last theatrical feature, death defying acts, starring catherine zeta - jones and guy pearce, was not a happy experience .
director gillian armstrong writes about the screening of a new preservation print of her 1992 film' the last days of chez nous' at the nfsa .
armstrong, gillian: interviewed by graham shirley: oral history, 22 november 2011 - 11 january 2012, 1050278; national film and sound archive. details
gillian armstrong was born on december 18, 1950 in melbourne, victoria, australia as gillian may armstrong. she is a director and producer, known for my brilliant career (1979), not fourteen again (1996) and little women (1994). she is married to john pleffer. they have two children .
armstrong, gillian: interviewed by margaret pomeranz at popcorn taxi: 21. 11. 2001, 21 november 2001, 522597; national film and sound archive. details
gillian armstrong’s starstruck is an energetic rock musical comedy, with a kitsch aesthetic that feels like ladies and gentlemen, the fabulous stains, but if the protagonist were cyndi lauper .
award - winning director gillian armstrong has achieved success as the director of my brilliant career, oscar and lucinda, little women, charlotte gray and the last days of chez nous .
gillian armstrong: i said, who is orry - kelly, i am ashamed to admit. i had never heard of him. (laughs) i have since made up for that !
the pioneering women program at this year’s miff contains not one, but two films directed by reputed filmmaker gillian armstrong: the musical starstruck (1982) and the drama high tide (1987) .
with the great gillian armstrong set to interview the dressmaker director, jocelyn moorhouse, on stage as part of sydney’s vivid festival, we name - check a collection of our favourite australian female filmmakers .
director gillian armstrong says she has not made a feature film in almost a decade because the best drama writers have moved to tv and
12 - year - old executives
are running movie studios .
’s senior film historian, graham shirley, reflects on gillian’s films and career ahead of this weekend’s repeat screenings of her engaging films .
gillian armstrong was a guest at miff2017 and featured on the pioneering women: in conversation talking pictures event. her films starstruck (1982) and high tide (1988) played as part of the pioneering women program .
featuring interviews with tony kushner, ousmane sembene, jeanette winterson, andres serrano, faye myenne ng, vernon reid, gillian armstrong, andrew macnair, laurie carlos, srinivas krishna, mira schor, and barbara hammer .
here, revered australian film director gillian armstrong talks about being amongst the “chosen few” at film school; her amazement at learning of unsung australian cinema hero orry - kelly; and the importance of costume design on any director’s work .
i caught up with gillian armstrong during a break in her busy schedule. we discussed hollywood' s golden days, falling way - down research rabbit holes, and how bette davis became kelly' s on - set co - conspirator .
gillian armstrong adds her own personal flair to the proceedings by having actor darren gilshenan portray orry - kelly. this brings life to the film in what otherwise could have been just a collection of film clips or archival interviews. let it be known… orry - kelly was a gay man and as jane fonda in the documentary put it so directly, “he was out. ” here for the rage monthly is an in - depth, thoughtful and fun interview with director gillian armstrong .
armstrong, g. (2012). social media to boost student employability. the guardian .
spoke by armstrong by phone from sydney, days before her film' s stateside dvd debut .
when director gillian armstrong was studying film in 1968 there was no australian film industry. a series of smart moves, lucky turns and an abundance of creative talent landed her in the front seat of the industry just as it was taking off again .
asked her age, gillian armstrong does not immediately answer. she pushes her smooth blond hair away from her face with blunt, sensible fingers and smiles. she takes her time .
just say early 40' s ,
she finally replies .
shocking then to realize that this flourishing of australian women directors came after a near fifty year gap, a gap that began after paulette mcdonagh’s now lost 1933 film two minute silence and finally ended in 1979 with gillian armstrong’s debut film my brilliant career .
or gillian armstrong, making documentaries is like writing detective stories. “you try to find out about this person and then get him right. ” yet even for the accomplished director, following the trail of costume designer orry - kelly was a challenge .
he was incredibly famous in the 1930s and 40s. whenever he came back to australia it was' our orry from hollywood...' once that golden age faded so did his fame. - - director gillian armstrong on designer orry - kelly
' edens lost' - screenplay by seymour from the novel by sumner locke elliott. annotated drafts of screenplay and associated correspondence, 1981 - 82, with gillian armstrong, sumner locke elliott and margaret fink. annotated copy of paperback version of the novel
this weekend, arc cinema has two screenings of the first two documentaries produced by gillian armstrong with the stars of love, lust and lies at age 14 in smokes and lollies (1976) and age 18 fourteen’s good, eighteen’s better (1980) .
an example of the tongue - in - cheek approach taken by gillian armstrong in
women he' s undressed
: a boy plays the young orry - kelly. kiama is the port town where o - k grew up. photo courtesy wolfe video
armstrong believes there is currently a need for affirmative action for women in senior roles in the industry .
in 2001 armstrong directed the feature film charlotte gray, starring cate blanchett. based on the novel by sebastian faulks, it is another of armstrong' s films that centres around a strong female protagonist .
gilliam armstrong’s 1971 graduating short film the roof needs mowing, from the vca film and television film archive .
acclaimed australian director gillian armstrong’s latest documentary women he’s undressed honors the work and life of another aussie; film fashion designer orry - kelly. his name might not ring any immediate bells, but any admirer of classic hollywood movies has surely seen his costume designs over the years .
tags: based on a book, biography, drama, films by women, gillian armstrong, my brilliant career, rebecca hirsch garcia, romance, women directors theme week bookmark the permalink. follow comments with the rss feed for this post. both comments and trackbacks are closed .
gillian armstrong is talking about her dislike for documentaries. it’s not, er, entirely what i was expecting, given that she has forged an internationally acclaimed, award - winning path in the genre and she is in fact talking to me on the eve of premiering a new one .
gave birth to her 1st child, a daughter billie armstrong, with her husband john pleffer. [ 1986 ]
one of australia’s best known filmmakers, gillian armstrong, has been one of the most respected women in her field since making 1979’s unapologetically feminist period film, my brilliant career. along with praise for armstrong and her star, then - newcomer judy davis, the film earned an oscar nomination for best costume design. since then, armstrong has made a career out of telling stories about modern, intelligent, complicated women from the past in films such as little women and oscar and lucinda, both of which also earned nominations for costume designs .
armstrong confessed to one plus one that she was among the many australians who had not heard of the gregarious hollywood legend .
gillian armstrong was the first woman in australia to direct a feature length film since the mcdonagh sisters in the 1930s. her debut film, my brilliant career (1979) was an outstanding achievement for a first time director and was met with critical and popular acclaim. an adaptation of miles franklin' s autobiographical novel about an independent woman, set in the 1890s, it was the first of armstrong' s many films with strong female characters .
armstrong has made a significant contribution to the australian film industry and culture and is a role model and inspiration to all filmmakers. “at her best”, molly haskell has written, “gillian armstrong cuts closer to the core of women’s divided yearnings than any other director. ” (20) we have much to learn from her and our film culture has been greatly enriched by her. she should be interviewed, documented and celebrated as an australian artist and treasure .
martin and her husband baz were the only australians armstrong uncovered who recognised orry - kelly’s genius. “after strictly ballroom they were asked to edit an issue of vogue australia and they did a story on orry, ” armstrong says. “catherine’s a huge fan. ”
ms. armstrong has only been seated for a few minutes but it is already a shock to be reminded that she is of average height. gillian armstrong seems tall .
that' s exactly what one of the foreign journalists at the news conference i just came from said !
she laughs as she settles into a chair with her back to the room .
you' re so small! you' re so young! you' re so pretty !
armstrong: absolutely, and that was what i told her, that she looked stunning in those films. and i meant it .
australian film makers series. gill armstrong talks with mike carlton. , 19 april 1979, 5725; national film and sound archive. details
david armstrong, house on edgewood street, 1996, gelatin silver print, 40 × 30 inches. all photos courtesy matthew marks gallery .
her debut feature - length film my brilliant career kickstarted armstrong' s career and became one of many films she made with strong female leads .
born in melbourne in 1950, armstrong attended a local high school before studying at swinburne technical college where she discovered and pursued her passion for film .
armstrong says she has a couple of scripts and drama projects
on the go
but she is in no rush to get another production out .
there’s a fantastically surreal moment early on in women he’s undressed, a new documentary from celebrated filmmaker gillian armstrong that attempts to unravel why so few australians know the name of orry - kelly, the three - time oscar - winning costume designer extraordinaire responsible for such sartorial excellence as worn by ingrid bergman in in casablanca, marilyn monroe in some like it hot and bette davis in jezebel .
gillian armstrong’s debut my brilliant career was the first australian feature to be directed by a woman in nearly half a century and set the path for an outstanding international career. as she looks forward to a festival screening not just of her own films but daughter billie pleffer’s graduating film from the victorian college of the arts, she explains why she’s become a vocal advocate for more women in the industry .
armstrong discusses orry - kelly, the premiere costume designer of hollywood' s golden age, and stories from behind the scenes of classic - film sets .
little women
grew on me. at first, i was grumpy, thinking it was going to be too sweet and devout. gradually, i saw that gillian armstrong (whose credits include
my brilliant career
and
high tide
) was taking it seriously. and then i began to appreciate the ensemble acting, with the five actresses creating the warmth and familiarity of a real family .
producer margaret fink invited armstrong to direct my brilliant career, based loosely on a book by miles franklin. the story centres around sybilla, whose ambition it is to become a writer. “i have always known that i should be a writer, ” she states, perhaps echoing armstrong’s own desire for a creative career .
armstrong cast two unknowns in the lead roles: sam neill as harry beecham and judy davis as sybilla melvin. the film launched davis’ career. armstrong’s choice of unknowns was cause for concern with those funding the film but she was vindicated after the release of the film. however, armstrong upset her critics when sybilla refused to marry harry, despite several proposals from him. greater union (the company who distributed and exhibited the film and so had a significant financial interest in the film), were worried that the female audience would be dissatisfied. so armstrong added a line at the end with sybilla saying “i’m so near loving you, ” implying some sort of ambiguity. the conflict between career, creativity and marriage is a developing theme in armstrong’s work and this is merely her first commentary on it .
i have an 11 year old grand - daughter who is interested in being a film director, she has actually entered tropfest junior for the first time this year and i would really like a contact with m / s gillian armstrong via email to request that she contact my grand - daughter as a source of inspiration. can you help with the email contact? ? regards, (m / s) norma alexander jp
as our time winds down gillian armstrong speaks a fact that is true regardless of color or gender. it remains the driving force of artists, and given all the restrictions, unseen biases, the crapshoot of getting anything made, it has to be the driving force :
i am still passionate about the work. if it doesn' t play out the way you want, you have to find another way .
with her passion for australian stories, armstrong believes real life is better than fiction, and is driven to ask questions about who we are and what shapes us .
i spoke with armstrong at this year’s tribeca film festival about discovering orry - kelly, his remarkable career, and the importance she places on costumes as a filmmaker .
armstrong says she has no qualms with the script writers moving across to the small screen as she is a huge fan of shows like olive kitteridge and the bridge .
beyond that ms. armstrong is not quite sure what she would like to do .
i have some scripts i' m reading - - i haven' t decided ,
she says noncommittally. will it be in hollywood? ms. armstrong, whose hollywood experiences have not been an unmitigated joy, won' t say .
despite such challenges, armstrong' s husband, john pleffer, is her rock, who comfortably performed the role of father and house husband before the term became mainstream .
armstrong, g. (2012). # twittercritter: extending the reach of studio. in association of architectural educators conference. nottingham trent university, nottingham, uk .
speaking to armstrong now, it' s hard to imagine her as the young, inexperienced director that broke onto the scene with my brilliant career. during her first screening at cannes, armstrong was so certain her film would bomb that she bolted out of the theatre. since then, she has established herself as a successful working director .
with my brilliant career (1979), gillian armstrong became the first australian woman in 50 years to direct a film. let' s just pause and hold onto that statistic .
there were three sisters in the 1930' s who used family money to do society dramas. one was a producer, one was a director and one starred, so i wasn' t the first woman to do it in australia ,
she notes archly .
reilly jj, armstrong j, dorosty ar, emmett pm, ness a, rogers i, et al. early life risk factors for obesity in childhood: cohort study .
played by then unknown jo kennedy in her debut role, jackie mullens is the lead character in gillian armstrong’s 1982 rock musical extravaganza starstruck – the film maker’s second feature after my brilliant career. released in local cinemas around the same time as puberty blues, mad max and the still too - little - seen monkey grip, starstruck made a splash at the box office – but has been all too hard to get a hold of in the post - vhs years .
following the success of my brilliant career, armstrong directed the australian rock - musical starstruck (1982) which proved her ability to tackle more contemporary and experimental subject matter and styles .
gillian’s five documentaries on three adelaide women (kerry, josie and diana), starting with smokes and lollies in 1976 and now with love lust and lies, symbolises the change to australia since the 70s. a thematic cousin to the british seven up! series of documentaries that began in 1964, gillian’s is the only set of australian films that has gone back to the same people five times to capture not only a snapshot of those people at the time of filming but also the changes to them, their lives, lifestyles, attitudes, children and partners between each film .
armstrong' s last film was the 2007 british - australian co - production, death defying acts, which starred guy pearce as harry houdini and catherine zeta - jones as mary mcgarvie .
gillian armstrong: well, the first thing was when damien approached me and i said, “who’s orry - kelly? ” he gave me this outlet and i saw the list of wardrobe he had made in films. my first reaction was, “oh my god, i can’t believe it’s the same person who did all these iconic films. yes, i’ve seen them but i put them somewhere in the back of my mind… 42 nd street and casablanca, auntie mame and so on .
since then i have seen all of armstrong’s films as they were released and have run retrospectives of her australian films for my friends and family, though i was unaware of her work in documentary or that she has worked extensively in the us. this research is an opportunity to revisit films of my childhood and to explore the influence armstrong has had on australian cinema and culture .
. “one of the key things about being a visual artist is actually trying to remember, or to not lose, what you had in the beginning, ” armstrong told filmink in 2006 .
is, well, pretty much brilliant. based on the epochal book by miles franklin, the film tells of sybylla melvyn (judy davis), an early 20th century burgeoning female writer who chooses her career over marriage. the film remains gillian armstrong’s best and most fully realised work, while its feminist themes (coupled with the fact that it was the first australian feature film directed by a woman in nearly fifty years) set the tone for the director’s own groundbreaking career, which includes fine australian works such as
in 1975, armstrong began the first in a series of documentaries following the lives of three working class girls from adelaide over several decades – a concept similar to michael apted' s seven up films .
1910 - 1969, an american in paris, behind the screen: how gays and lesbians shaped hollywood, cary grant, cary grant gay, documentary, full service: my adventures in hollywood and the secret sex live of the stars, gillian armstrong, good stuff: a reminiscence of my father, les girls, mrs. soffel, my brilliant career, orry - kelly, randolph scott, randolph scott gay, scotty bowers, some like it hot, the last days of chez nous, women he' s undressed
comprises over 600 pieces of correspondence pertaining to personal and business matters; notebooks; research notes; drafts of published and unpublished screenplays, novels, and plays including the one day of the year; reviews; newspaper clippings; photographs; printed material; papers relating to alan seymour' s travels and domestic life. major correspondents include seymour' s sisters, nieces, nephews, ron baddeley, sumner locke elliot, margaret fink, gillian armstrong, michael thornbill, katharine brisbane, brandon lunney, shiela geddes and laurence collinson .
it is easy to imagine that armstrong was filled with a similar feeling as she crafted her debut film. women filmmakers today still face an uphill battle having their work financed and distributed. at this point in time, gender parity for directors, at least in the u. s. , seems like an unrealistic dream. but at the time in which armstrong was filming, it wasn’t even a matter of a few women directors fighting to get in the room to pitch their ideas to studios or struggling for financing. in armstrong’s case, there was very little australian cinema to speak of and a gap of nearly 50 years separating her from the last feature length australian film directed by a woman. like her audacious main character, armstrong carved her work out of pure ambition, uncertain of the future but willing to try .
in 1994, armstrong achieved her greatest hollywood success with little women, starring winona ryder, susan sarandon, gabriel byrne, christian bale, claire danes and kirsten dunst. this adaptation of louisa may alcott' s novel of the same name 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 .
ms. armstrong was unimpressed with the accolades and unimpressed with herself :
i know that making a film is a team effort, and it was only my second film. why would i want the stress and strain with a whole lot of strangers ?
ms. armstrong turned down every hollywood offer, staying in australia to make a deliberately small film about a teen - ager trying to become a rock star .
of course, i was 11 or 12 then, but the novel seems to have grown up in the meantime - - or maybe director gillian armstrong finds the serious themes and refuses to simplify the story into a
family
formula .
little women
may be marketed for children and teenagers, but my hunch is it will be best appreciated by their parents. it' s a film about how all of life seems to stretch ahead of us when we' re young, and how, through a series of choices, we narrow our destiny .
as high - tech companies start offering women the chance to put their fertility on ice, christine armstrong talks to a range of high - flying mothers about whether it' s best to have children early or late .
armstrong: right. she was a woman who would throw off her hat and gloves and run outside, getting her dress dirty. and that was somewhat true of judy davis’s character in my brilliant career as well .
oscar and lucinda is based on the book by australian writer peter carey and celebrates, yet again, the collaboration between armstrong, beauman, turnbull, arrighi and simpson. armstrong describes it as “an epic and odd love story that also deals with faith and fate and chance. ” (14) it begins with the lush production values of little women, demonstrating the breadth of experience these filmmakers bring to their collective craft. the cast support the story well, and armstrong once again shows her intuition for picking stars by casting ralph fiennes (before he became famous for the english patient [ anthony minghella, 1996 ]) as oscar, and cate blanchett as lucinda .
armstrong’s films demonstrate a diversity and breadth of story - telling. she has alternated between shooting in australia and the us, between period and contemporary drama, films for theatrical release and television and also between documentary and drama .
when i made my first feature film, being a woman was all anyone ever asked me about. it really, really annoyed me and i found it quite sexist in the end. i thought, ‘you know what – i’m just me and this is a gillian armstrong film’. not all women are going to do the same films and the same stories, and i was really put in this box, because it was a feminist story in a lot of ways, they thought that’s all i ever wanted to talk about. so yes, initially it was frustrating to talk about .
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 and the film was nominated for an academy award in best costume design .
her research interests are in the use of big data consumer analytics and have been supported by a range of research funders (daera, invest ni). gillian has published in a range of academic journals, including the international small business journal, the journal of small business and enterprise development and was part of the ref 2014 business and management studies unit of assessment .
armstrong has directed eight feature length dramas, two feature length documentaries and many short films. i will briefly describe the feature films of most importance to the australian film industry. further information is available through references listed in the bibliography .
the scones appear, finally. ms. armstrong scoops up some strawberry jam and a bit of whipped cream and sighs .
there' s nothing like a fresh scone ,
she says before returning to the business at hand .
what' s happened to drama in the last 12 years, is that all the drama writers have left the feature industry and gone to tv and [ are ] writing for hbo, showtime and netflix ,
armstrong says .
“if they’d had an oscar for costume design before 1949, he definitely would have outdone catherine, ” armstrong bets. “all those early films he did with bette, they would have been ringing it in. that was bad luck. ”
gillian is currently head of the department of accounting, finance and economics within the ulster university business school. the department has a strong professional practice focus, whilst also ensuring active engagement in applied research. it has a staffing complement of 30 academic staff and works closely with the professional and financial services sectors to actively support the supply of skills and the attractiveness of northern ireland as a location to do business. the department’s professional accreditations and reputation for high quality teaching and student support continues to secure long standing partnerships with overseas universities, particularly in china. long standing partnerships have been established with dongbei university of finance and economics (dufe), south china agricultural university (scau) and more recently, with hebei geo university (hui), where gillian is a visiting professor .
it turns out that the pedigree behind the footage is rather illustrious. gillian armstrong of my brilliant career, oscar and lucinda and charlotte gray fame helmed the women he' s undressed. while exploring her current concentration on documentaries, talk led to the many minor infringements that women directors endure that can accumulate to become unseen hurdles in their quest to direct film. at a time when only 6% of films are directed by women and only one woman has won a best director oscar, (kathryn bigelow), the conversation resonated, and may help to shine a light on entrenched mindsets and issues that have nothing to do with gender .
will the success of
little women
mean that she now has that power? ms. armstrong answers carefully .
i haven' t spoken to my lawyer so i don' t know. but certainly promotional success gives artistic power .
whilst mainly known for her feature length work, armstrong has also had considerable success as a documentary film maker. unfolding florence: the many lives of florence broadhurst (2006), earned armstrong a nomination for the grand jury prize at the 2006 sundance film festival. additionally, her series of films that have documented the lives of three women she first met as teenagers in adelaide in 1975 for smokes and lollies has continued with four subsequent documentaries, all of which have been met with positive reviews .
despite the difficulty and randomness of this film, armstrong presents a warm, compassionate view of the lives of these women and their daughters. by the final film, she has started interviewing the next generation of children, who are by now teenagers, and the film is so emotionally compelling that one wonders how she can stop here. armstrong says this film is the final part of the series, but perhaps one day her own daughters will continue the story of the teenagers and their lives. (9 )
born in melbourne in 1950, armstrong attended her local high school before going to swinburne technical college, originally intending to study theatre design; however she soon found her passion in film. after completing her degree at swinburne, armstrong moved to sydney to pursue work in the film industry. despite some early setbacks she gained valuable experience as an assistant editor at kingcroft. her further education was completed when she was one of 12 students selected as the inaugural class at the australian film and television school in sydney .
“at the end of the' 60s, suddenly there was easy rider and midnight cowboy, ” armstrong says. “everything was gritty, with ripped blue denim and handheld cameras. the golden age was gone and dead, bette davis and barbara stanwick were passé. ”
armstrong was always modest when discussing her achievements but there can be no denying that she was a trailblazer for women in the film industry. prior to her success, many women were encouraged towards continuity or administrative roles. armstrong herself had to battle with many in the male dominated industry in the 1970s and 1980s. she has spoken of her frustration at all the males in her graduating class at swinburne receiving job offers from film australia and the abc. when she asked the abc for work they were only interested in her typing speed .
kelly' s personal life and career were each fascinating in their own right. armstrong would struggle to pack it all into a 99 - minute film .
the amount of work he' s done was also extraordinary ,
she added. for her film, armstrong had the unenviable task of narrowing down kelly' s 300 film resume - - including casablanca, some like it hot, and les girls - - to a few movies that best represent him .
so to really choose the top, i think we chose, finally about 20 - 25 films ,
she said. throw in kelly' s celebrity relationships - - bette davis and cary grant to name a few - - and his battles with drinking and you have what armstrong describes as ,
a very rich story .
embarking on a detective - like mission to uncover every detail of orry - kelly’s life, armstrong and her team poured over letters, interviews and biographies from contemporaries including davis, with whom he forged an enduring relationship. she considered him her right arm at warner bros .
perhaps best known for her 1994 adaptation of little women, armstrong continues to work in film to this day, and has directed cinematic luminaries like cate blanchett, catherine zeta - jones, kirsten dunst, and diane keaton. by anyone’s standards she has had a brilliant career .
armstrong' s research wasn' t limited to dusty old books. she also watched countless hours of classic films in search of imagery that best represents kelly' s talents. armstrong stated ,
i had to start selecting clips that i thought,' well this would be great to show his talent in this area or that area.' i did a lot of movie watching and finally caught up with a lot the classics of the golden age. a lot of them i had never seen all the way through. that was very enjoyable .
made on a tiny budget and heavily subsidized by the australian film commission, the award - winning the singer and the dancer was a precocious study of the toll men take on women' s lives that marked the onset of armstrong' s mature style. on the strength of this and one hundred a day, producer margaret fink offered armstrong the direction of my brilliant career. daunted at first by the scale of the project and a lack of confidence in her own abilities, she accepted because she
thought it could be bungled by a lot of men .
the movie may leave sybylla and the audience forever waiting and wondering as to whether she was able to write her way to a better life. but in terms of armstrong and her career, the answer is much clearer. my brilliant career became a seminal part of what was later termed the australian new wave (a movement that also included george miller and his mad max series, the first film of which coincidentally was also released in 1979). armstrong and the film went on to play in competition at the cannes film festival, something that to this day is exceedingly rare for women directors. the film would go on to be nominated for an oscar, a bafta, a golden globe and win several awards at the australian film institute (afi) awards including best director for armstrong making her the first of many female best director afi winners .
armstrong, g. (2016). reusing rumours: a review of research citing barriers to adaptive reuse stemming from building code. in proceedings of the aasa 2016 9th international conference: project to practice: innovating architecture (pp. 7 pages). university of technology, sydney .
you don' t get your good marks ,
she says bitterly ,
and it gets taken over .
she retreated to australia to make
the last days of chez nous ,
on a very low budget .
and ,
says ms. armstrong triumphantly ,
i had total control over it .
the film, which won a number of awards in australia, did well in most of the united states .
except ,
adds ms. armstrong ,
new york - - thank you vincent canby, who hated it .
armstrong also spoke to costume and set designer catherine martin, who eclipsed kelly in 2014 as the australian with the most oscars in their career. martin credits kelly with setting the path for her and other award - winning australian costume designers kym barrett and michael wilkinson, who appear in the film. indeed there have been numerous successful australian costume designers who followed kelly including janet patterson and luciana arrighi, who both worked with armstrong. armstrong herself set out to be a costume or set designer. “i realised i only had about six ideas. i tried them out in art school and that was the end. ” instead she channeled her love of design into her films, from her breakout hit my brilliant career to oscar and lucinda and little women through to her acclaimed documentary unfolding florence: the many lives of florence broadhurst, and now women he’s undressed .
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 the 2000s and a nomination for the grand jury prize at the sundance film festival .
at that time ms. armstrong was single, had no children, and told one interviewer that she thought directing and children were incompatible because directing required such an enormous commitment. today she says she has two daughters, 6 and 9, and a husband whose name she will not reveal .
i was thrilled to sit down with armstrong last month on the eve of the sydney film festival 2015, where her new film women he’s undressed made its world premiere – and opens in cinemas across australia this week. to hear more from the filmmaker herself, read our full chat below .
in many ways little women is the convergence of armstrong’s film making experiences. armstrong says, “little women is a film i was personally affected by when watching it, but i don’t think my approach to the film was in any way consciously different to that of any of my other films. ” (13) it includes all of her themes and motifs from earlier films, including scenes of children playing the piano together, oranges, cherished kittens, a desire for some other better life and unrequited love. jo and sybilla both lean on gates at the threshold of their family homes .
it is the story of unrequited love, restrained passion and friendship between men and women, which i believe is at the heart of all armstrong films. sybilla can never marry harry, anymore than jo could marry laurie. and lucinda is fated to lose oscar with no more than a kiss between them. they will love each other dearly but never be more than friends or mates. of her own partner, armstrong says, “i’ve been lucky that i’ve had a partner who has really made the sacrifice. it is thanks to his generosity that i’ve achieved the balances. ” (17 )
over and over, armstrong praises her actors and her production crew. she tells me that, as with karvan’s surfing lessons, jo kennedy had to learn to walk the tightrope for starstruck. to armstrong, every person on the set is an equal, so i asked her how she felt about the evolution of women’s roles in the film industry. armstrong refuses to be categorised as a ‘woman director’ it’s a label that she has been entangled with since she directed her first feature, my brilliant career, forty years ago. quite rightly, she feels as though the term itself is sexist, and discourages people from asking her about her work as a person. still, she acknowledges that the industry has a long way to go. “to think we’ve only increased the number of women directors so slightly, something is definitely wrong. ” there are times when she wishes she could have been credited as g. armstrong instead, if only to avoid unconscious bias. “unconscious bias is a poison”, she says seriously. “when my first features came out, all anyone ever asked me was: what was it like to be a ‘woman director’? well, actually, that hasn’t changed. ”
( 1973), with its striking, well - composed black - and - white images and an atmosphere that compellingly drew audiences back into the sydney of the early 1930s. out of all 12 students, i think that gillian was always the most thorough when it came to preparing for a shoot. her attention to detail was highly impressive, and i remember one veteran cameraman telling me he had never before worked with a director so decisively able to express what they wanted .
armstrong and her team were thrilled with the discovery, quickly polishing them up to shoot for the film. but the director confesses they’d hoped to find a much - gossiped about memoir the costume designer was rumoured to have been writing. in it, kelly was said to spill the beans on his long - standing but secret friendship with actor cary grant. their relationship is at the heart of the film. “it’s a story about friendship and loyalty, ” says armstrong. “it’s a story about two young mates starting out and helping each other, it’s about fame, money, power and homophobia. ”
her quest not to be seen as more or less, but simply to be able to demonstrate her talent, reflects kelly’s story. an openly gay man at a time when studios demanded that their heads of costumes departments be married, orry never hid his sexuality. that he was close friends with archie leach – the two arrived in new york together and shared an apartment for years – has led to much speculation. gillian doesn’t back away from the implications that some may draw .
so there was something, as we started to explore and find out about who was orry - kelly, he kept reminding me so much of my oldest best friend. we met at swinburne in the dark room when we were both learning photography, when we were both 18…. he died too young, four years ago. he was a wonderful photographer, an exhibition of his work was at the national portrait gallery. (see gillian’s own portrait in the exhibition here. )
her first american film ,
mrs. soffel
( 1984), featured diane keaton as a turn - of - the - century warden' s wife who abandons her children and respectability to go on the road with an escaped convict (mel gibson). ms. armstrong was pleased with the film, but although it was a critical success it was not a hit at the box office. her next american film ,
fires within ,
was a disaster that ms. armstrong describes as
a total waste of my life .
when the film did not do well with a preview audience it was recut .
“this man deserves to be known in his own country, ” armstrong says, hoping women he’s undressed and an up - coming book will help to restore orry - kelly’s legacy. “the original premise was simple, ‘how did this person from nowhere make it in hollywood? ’ but we found out so much more. ”
saying no is not hard for ms. armstrong, who has been doing so ever since
my brilliant career
established her as a force to be reckoned with. the movie, about a young australian woman at the turn of the century who rejects love for literary ambition, was a hit. hollywood came calling .
when
starstruck
opened in new york in 1982, janet maslin of the new york times noted its
dizzy, impudent high - spirited glory
and opined that ms. armstrong
may be an original .
ms. armstrong seemed set on proving it. she went around giving interviews dressed in a large fuzzy blue sweater dress decorated with colored beads, a black and white polka dot blouse, black tights and blue suede shoes. her blond hair was cut in a punk shag. faced with the tailored woman in subdued brown silk who now sits across the table pouring tea, it is hard to imagine. other things have also changed .
“with orry there was a great deal of input into the character, and that’s what bette really liked about him, and why they became a team, ” armstrong says. “they had to fight against the studio, because they always wanted to make her look glamorous in inch - thick makeup and bleach her hair like jean harlow .
due to her tenacity and talent, armstrong broke down barriers and led the way for other women to participate in the film industry and is often credited as an inspiration for many women, not only directors but composers, designers and cinematographers. she continues to enjoy her own brilliant career and has a new feature film due in 2013 .
a struggle with alcoholism, exacerbated by his conscription at 46 into the us army during wwii, may have taken the shine off his later years – he was also fired from wb for punching out an executive - but armstrong notes that in the dying days of his career, the curtain was coming down on the end of an era .
what she also has is a man around the house .
my girls have a fantastic dad ,
she says .
he' s taken leave when i' m shooting. it helps .
she also thinks it helps to have a producer who' s a woman: when ms. armstrong' s younger daughter started school during pre - production for
little women ,
the producer, denise di novi, said ,
you' ll always regret it if you' re not there for her first day of school .
ms. armstrong flew home .
and denise said,' no male producer would ever have allowed you to go.'
gillian may armstrong ( born 18 december 1950 ) is an award-winning australian feature film and documentary director , who specializes in period drama . her films often feature female perspectives and protagonists . 
gillian may armstrong (born 18 december 1950) is an award-winning australian feature film and documentary director, who specializes in period drama. her films often feature female perspectives and protagonists.
gillian may armstrong (born 18 december 1950) is an award-winning australian feature film and documentary director, who specializes in period drama. her films often feature female perspectives and protagonists.