Movies

Black Chicks Talking

Synopsis

Black Chicks Talking is a compilation of interviews with five women, interviews during which they reveal memories of their pasts as well as their future aspirations.

They come from different walks of life and are an actress, a netballer, a dancer, a businesswoman, a mother, a lawyer, a community police warden or even a former Miss Australia.

The interviews are casual in tone, but they do reveal depths of truth. While the discussions reflect current political and social issues, they offer, just as strongly, a series of real and personal insights into uncomfortable aspects of Australian history.

In doing so, these women's personal stories reveal a wide range of emotions. Experiences such as losing siblings and children to foster homes, and living with alcoholism and domestic violence bring forth tears, while childhood antics, travelling tales and general 'gabbing on' lighten the load. Each woman's story does, however, reveal a pride for heritage, although this is heavily laced with the sense of searching for a lost culture.

The five women are:

Rosanna Angus, community warden and cultural tour guide in her traditional Western Australian community of One Arm Point.

Kathryn Hay, from Tasmania, who was the first Aboriginal Miss Australia.

Deborah Mailman, award-winning actress (Radiance), born and bred in Mount Isa, Queensland.

Cilla Malone, mother of six who lives in Cherbourg, an Aboriginal settlement in southeast Queensland.

Tammy Williams, from Gympie, a lawyer who aims to be the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Details

Cast
All women play themselves.
Release dates
July 18th, 2002 - Australia
Awards
Best documentary (2002 IF Awards) Best documentary (2002 Lexus IF Awards)
Rating
MA 15+ - Mature accompanied
Distributor
Film Australia
Notes

Leah Purcell grew up in Murgon, Queensland and is an Aboriginal woman of the Wakka Wakka people.

Leah Purcell has featured in the films Jindabyne, Lantana, Somersault and The Proposition. She has also written a semi-autobiographical play, Box the Pony.

Black Chicks Talking is based on a book with the same title also by Leah Purcell (Hodder Headline, 2002; ISBN 0733610706).

Black Chicks Talking was adapted as a play at the 2002 Sydney Festival by Leah Purcell and Sean Mee.

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Cite this page

Korff, J 2020, Black Chicks Talking, <https://www.creativespirits.info/resources/movies/black-chicks-talking>, retrieved 7 December 2024

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