Sydney Women's Film Group

The Sydney Women's Film Group (SWFG) was a collective group of women members of the Sydney Filmmakers' Cooperative (SFMC) whose interest was in distributing and exhibiting films by, for and about women. From the beginning a group with feminist intentions and outlook, it was contemporaneous with, and part of, the Women's Liberation Movement in Sydney in the 1970s. In 1978 Feminist Film Workers, a smaller closed group of SWFG members was formed in response to "the growing apolitical and amorphous quality of the SWFG",[1] continuing distribution and exhibition work and making more explicit the group's feminist intentions and outlook.

History

The Sydney Women's Film Group first appeared in the production credits of three films made in the early 1970s, Film for Discussion (1974), Woman's Day 20Cents (1973) and Home (1973)[2], as part of the burgeoning Women's Liberation Movement. The name was then adopted for the distribution and exhibition group that was formed in 1973 within the Sydney Filmmakers Co-op. Sydney Women's Film Group and Feminist Filmworkers effectively ceased to exist once the Co-op's cinema closed in 1981 when the AFC decided to no longer subsidise the cinema's operation.

The Early Films

The personnel involved in the production of Film for Discussion, Woman's Day 20Cents and Home made the decision that no individual credits would appear on any of the three films. This was influenced by the wide-reaching and radical women's liberation critique of individualistic and hierarchical practices which were regarded as contributing to "famous men" notions of history. The production entity was therefore named as the Sydney Women's Film Group for these three films.

Activities

Although the name originated to describe a production entity, subsequently the activities of the group centred on distribution, exhibition, workshops and discussions, and political lobbying.

Workshops

The Womenvision weekend, held at the Sydney Filmmakers Co-operative In November 1973,[3] had a positive influence on the participation of women in the developing Australian film industry. It was billed as "a weekend for women involved in the media, but more importantly it's a weekend for women interested in finding out about being women". Attended by over 200 women, its first practical result was successfully lobbying the newly created Australian Film and Television School for funding for an independently run Women's Film Workshop.[4] The workshop was coordinated by Martha Ansara and Jane Oehr, in early 1974, with 24 participants who learnt the basics of 16mm film production. The 10 films which resulted joined the growing collection of independent films distributed through the SFMC.

Membership

Though there were no formal membership requirements, most women who were active in the group had films in distribution with the Sydney Filmmakers Co-op, particularly after the productive Women's Film Workshop of 1974.

References
  1. Thornley, Jeni (1987). "Sixteen Year of Women and Film Groups: A Personal Recollection". In Blonski, Annette; Creed, Barbara; Freiberg, Freda (eds.). Don't Shoot Darling. Richmond Victoria 3121: Greenhouse Publications Pty Ltd. pp. 89–90. ISBN 0 86436 058 4.CS1 maint: location (link)
  2. Thornley, Jeni (1987). "Past, Present and Future: The Women's Film Fund". In Blonski; Creed; Freiberg (eds.). Don't Shoot Darling. Greenhouse Publications Pty Ltd. pp. 62–3.
  3. Incorrectly cited as occurring in 1974 in several references in Don't Shoot Darling
  4. Grieve, Anna (1987). "Big Mother/Little Sister: The Women's Film Fund". In Blonski; Creed; Freiberg (eds.). Don't Shoot Darling. Greenhouse Publications Pty Ltd. p. 70.
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