''The Love Letters from Teralba Road'' is a 1977 Australian

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

directed by Stephen Wallace. In 1980

David Stratton David James Stratton (born 10 September 1939) is an English-Australian award-winning film critic, as both a journalist and interviewer, film historian and lecturer and television personality and producer. Life and career Born in Trowbridge, ...

called it "not only the most moving love story given to us by the Australian cinema, but also probably the best featurette of the decade."David Stratton, ''The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival'', Angus & Robertson, 1980 p. 286

Plot

Len (

Bryan Brown Bryan Neathway Brown AM (born 23 June 1947) is an Australian actor. He has performed in over eighty film and television projects since the late 1970s, both in his native Australia and abroad. Notable films include '' Breaker Morant'' (1980), ...

) and his wife Barbara ( Kris McQuade) have separated after he beat her in a drunken rage. He tries to get her back with a series of letters.

Cast

* Kris McQuade as Barbara *

as Len *

Gia Carides Gia Carides (born 7 June 1964) is an Australian actress. She portrayed Liz Holt in '' Strictly Ballroom'', Susy Connor in '' Brilliant Lies'', and Cousin Nikki in ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding.'' Early life Carides was born in Sydney, Australia, ...

as Maureen * Joy Hruby as Len's Mother *Kevin Leslie as Barbara's Father *Ashe Venn as Norma *Don Chapman as Foreman

Production

Wallace found a number of letters in a Sydney flat in 1972 which had been written by a man living in Newcastle in 1959. He had beaten up his wife, who subsequently moved to Sydney, and was asking for her forgiveness.Danny Torsh, "Love Letters and Stephen Wallace", ''Cinema Papers'', January 1978 pp. 221–223 Wallace drew from these to write and direct the short film. The film is Bryan Brown's screen debut. The budget was provided in part by the Creative Development Branch of the Australian Film Commission. The film won three awards at the 1977 AFI Awards (Best Cinematography in a Non-Feature Film, Best Short Fiction Film, Special Award) and in 1978 the Interfilm Award at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...

.IMDb awards
/ref> The original woman to whom the letters had been written was tracked down by a journalist and was upset by the film and threatened to sue. She eventually agreed to not to after seeing the movie and meeting Wallace.

References

External links

* *''The Love Letters from Teralba Road'' at th
Australian screen
*''The Love Letters from Teralba Road'' a
Senses of Cinema''Love Letters from Teralba Road''
at Oz Movies 1977 films 1977 drama films Australian drama short films Films directed by Stephen Wallace 1970s English-language films 1970s Australian films {{short-drama-film-stub