Name: Book Club at the NFSA: The Drover's Wife + Discussion
Start: 2024-10-20T12:00:00+10:00
Location: NFSA Canberra

Book Club at the NFSA: The Drover's Wife + Discussion

You're invited to Book Club at the NFSA in partnership with Canberra Writers Festival - a new series of screenings and discussions exploring how culturally significant books have been adapted and reimagined as films.
Published in 1892, The Drover’s Wife is a portrait of isolation in the Australian outback, penned by one of Australia’s most well-known authors. Henry Lawson’s short story has since been extensively adapted, critiqued and reinterpreted, from visual arts to the screen.
Created as part of her studies at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS), Sue Brooks’ short film (1984, 16mm, 17mins) uses the myth of the drover's wife to explore the portrayal of women – or lack thereof – in Australia’s cultural history. Brooks’ film is based on Murray Bail’s short story adaptation of The Drover’s Wife, and draws on the Russell Drysdale painting of the same name.
Meanwhile, writer-director and creative powerhouse Leah Purcell offers her own reimagining in the feature film The Drover’s Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson. Purcell also stars as the titular Molly, a heavily pregnant woman pushed to her limits and isolated in the remote high country of colonial New South Wales.
Originally adapted for the stage, Purcell’s interpretation invites contemporary audiences to see Lawson’s classic story through First Nations and feminist lenses.
Sue Brooks’ short film The Drover’s Wife is presented on 16mm film prints from the NFSA collection.
The screening will be followed by a discussion of the films and Henry Lawson’s short story The Drover’s Wife.