Martha Ansara

Senses of Cinema

As notions of civil rights transformed across the world, so was the screen landscape reformed by the ascension of grassroots film movements seeking to challenge the mainstream. Some aspired to push form to its limit; others worked to destabilise what they saw as a homogenous industry, or to provoke questions around gender, sexuality, migration and race.

Brazen Hussies

Reveals a revolutionary chapter in Australian history, the Women’s Liberation Movement (1965 -1975). Interweaves fresh archival footage, personal photographs, memorabilia, and personal accounts from activists all around Australia to show how a daring and diverse group of women joined forces to defy the status quo, demand equality, and create profound social change. These women defined one of the greatest social movements of the 20th century, sometimes at great personal cost.

On Guard

Set against the backdrop of modern-day Sydney, this heist-style thriller involves four politicised women from varying backgrounds, who conspire to sabotage the research programme of a multi-national firm, Utero, which is engaged in reproductive engineering. One of the women loses her diary which contains information and diagrams about the raid only a few days to count down. Will the diary fall into the wrong hands leading to the detection of the women before they have a chance to complete their mission? As the tension mounts, so the wider context of the women's lives as mothers, lovers and providers is also shown under strain indicating the many other considerations women have to take into account when embarking on any form of public activity.

Third Person Plural

Four young people get to know each other by spending weekends on a yacht stationed in Sydney's Pittwater area.