''Jindalee Lady'' is a 1992 Australian film about an

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia 50,000 to 65,000 year ...

woman who is a successful

fashion design Fashion design is the art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has varied over time and place. "A fashion design ...

er. Directed by

Brian Syron Brian Gregory Syron (19 November 1934 – 14 October 1993) was an actor, teacher, Aboriginal rights activist, stage director and Australia's first Indigenous feature film director, who has also been recognised as the first First Nations feature ...

, it is the first

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

directed by an Aboriginal person in Australia.Ed. Scott Murray, ''Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995'', Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p 92 It is also notable for featuring dancers from the

Bangarra Dance Theatre Bangarra Dance Theatre is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance company focused on contemporary dance. It was founded by African American dancer and choreographer Carole Y. Johnson, Gumbaynggirr man Rob Bryant, and South African-bor ...

Plot

Lauren, a successful and ambitious Aboriginal fashion designer, discovers that her husband David, a white

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

, has been having affairs, and decides to leave him. She meets Greg, a black

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

who inspires her to rediscover her

Aboriginality Aboriginal Australian identity, sometimes known as Aboriginality, is the perception of oneself as Aboriginal Australian, or the recognition by others of that identity. Aboriginal Australians are one of two Indigenous Australian groups of peopl ...

Cast and crew

Lydia Miller Lydia (; ) was an Iron Age kingdom situated in western Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey. Later, it became an important province of the Achaemenid Empire and then the Roman Empire. Its capital was Sardis. At some point before 800 BC, the Lydia ...

as Lauren * Patrick Ward as David * Michael Leslie as Greg *Joanna Lambert as Julia *

as dancers, including ** Raymond D. Blanco as lead dancer ** Silvia Blanco as lead dancer *

Larissa Behrendt Larissa Yasmin Behrendt (born 1969) is an Australian legal academic, writer, filmmaker and Indigenous rights advocate. she is a professor of law and director of research and academic programs at the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education ...

as a model * David Banula Marika as didgeridu player * Larry Yapuma Gurruwiwi as didgeridu player *

Su Cruickshank Susan Cruickshank (31 August 1946 – 8 December 2009) was an Australian jazz singer, actress and writer. She was regarded as one of the finest female jazz singers in Australian history. Early life Cruickshank was born in Newcastle, New South Wa ...

as singer *

Lillian Crombie Lillian Crombie (1958 – 3 January 2024), also known as "Aunty Lillian", was an Aboriginal Australian actress and dancer, known for her work on stage, film and television. Early life and education Lillian Crombie was born in 1958. She was of ...

as a dresser *

Justine Saunders Justine Florence Saunders (20 February 1953 – 15 April 2007) was an Australian stage, television and film actress. She was a member of the Woppaburra, an Australian Aboriginal people, from the Kanomie clan of Great Keppel Island in Queenslan ...

Production

Filming took place in Sydney from 1988 to 1990. Scenes were shot in the Leichhardt Japanese-themed home of renowned chef

Tetsuya Wakuda (born 18 June 1959) is a Japanese-born Australian chef based in Sydney. He was the leading judge in the final episode of the second season of '' Junior MasterChef Australia''. Background Early life Tetsuya Wakuda was born on June 18, 1959, i ...

, while the fashion parades were filmed in the

AFTRS The Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS), formerly Australian Film and Television School, is Australia's national screen arts and broadcast school. Opened to students in 1973 as Film and Television School (FTS), after accredita ...

studios. Owing to funding delays, the first print was only released on 10 September 1992.

Release

The film did not have a

theatrical release An art release is the premiere of an artistic production and its presentation and marketing to the public. Film A film release is the authorization by the owner of a completed film to a public exhibition of the film. The exhibition may be in thea ...

in Australia, but it was given a charity screening in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

at The Playhouse on 13 May 1992 and screened at the

Brisbane International Film Festival The Brisbane International Film Festival (BIFF) is an annual film festival held in Brisbane, Australia. Organised by the Screen Culture unit at Screen Queensland, the festival has taken place since 1992, with the program including features, doc ...

later in the year. It also travelled to the

Hawaii International Film Festival Hawaii ( ; ) is an island state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only state not on the North American mainland, th ...

and was also shown in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, Alberta, in Canada.

Reception

Described as a

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

by several reviewers, the film received a lukewarm reception, but Miller, Ward and Leslie were praised for their performances.

Marcia Langton Marcia Lynne Langton (born 31 October 1951) is an Aboriginal Australian writer and academic. she is the Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne. Langton is an acti ...

, in her work commissioned by the

Australian Film Commission The Australian Film Commission (AFC) was an Australian government agency was founded in 1975 with a mandate to promote the creation and distribution of films in Australia as well as to preserve the country's film history. It also had a product ...

(AFC), ''Well I Heard It On The Radio and I Saw It On The Television'' (1993), gives the film a detailed and somewhat scathing treatment in the context of an academic analysis of black cinema in general, but it is questioned whether she actually saw the film. Because of this, Langton was drawn into the feud that existed at the time between Syron and the AFC.

References

External links

*
Official website
{{Films and television series about Indigenous Australia Australian drama films 1992 films Australian Aboriginal culture Films about Aboriginal Australians 1990s English-language films