Margaret Pomeranz (born 14 July 1944) is an Australian film critic, writer, producer and television personality.

Early life

Pomeranz was born Margeret Anne Jones-Owen on 14 July 1944 in

Waverley Waverley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Waverley'' (novel), by Sir Walter Scott ** ''Waverley'' Overture, a work by Hector Berlioz inspired by Scott's novel * Waverley Harrison, a character in the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Stree ...

, a suburb of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. She was educated at the

Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney The Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney (PLC Sydney) is an independent school, independent Presbyterian Church of Australia, Presbyterian Single-sex school, single-sex Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primary and Secondary sc ...

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

, the then newly-opened Macquarie University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in German and

social psychology Social psychology is the scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people or by social norms. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the r ...

, and the Playwright's Studio at the

National Institute of Dramatic Art The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is an Australian educational institution for the performing arts is based in Sydney, New South Wales. Founded in 1958, many of Australia's leading actors and directors trained at NIDA, including Cat ...

(NIDA). In her early twenties, she left Sydney to escape the "banality" and travelled around Europe, before returning to Australia and settling in Sydney.

Career

Pomeranz joined the

Special Broadcasting Service The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World ...

(SBS) in 1980 as writer/producer, and was appointed producer for

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, ...

's film presentations. Together with Stratton, she hosted the long-running SBS TV program ''

The Movie Show ''The Movie Show'' is an Australian film review program which was broadcast on SBS TV. Its history is divided into three parts, until it finally wound up in 2008. History The original format, which ran from 30 October 1986 to 12 May 2004, had ...

'' from 1986 until 2004. She appeared on the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

(ABC) version of the program, '' At the Movies'', again with Stratton, beginning in 2004 and concluding on 9 December 2014. In addition to being a critic, Pomeranz is also an anti-censorship campaigner. She was a prominent attendee and was briefly detained by police at an attempted 2003 protest screening of the controversial film ''

Ken Park ''Ken Park'' is a 2002 erotic drama which revolves around the abusive and dysfunctional lives of several teenagers, set in the city of Visalia, California. It was written by Harmony Korine, who based it on Larry Clark's journals and stories. Th ...

'', banned in Australia. She has been critical of the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification (now the

Australian Classification Board The Australian Classification Board (ACB or CB) is an Australian government statutory body responsible for the classification and censorship of films, video games and publications for exhibition, sale or hire in Australia. The ACB was establis ...

), the Australian censorship body, on a number of occasions. She has also spoken out against production companies refusing to give preview screenings for critics. On 29 January 2015, it was announced that Pomeranz had signed with

Foxtel Foxtel is an Australian pay television company—operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995. The service was establi ...

to present film and television programs on

Foxtel Arts Foxtel Arts was a subscription television arts channel available in Australia on the Foxtel platform. History Foxtel Arts replaced the SBS owned arts channel Studio, and became the third iteration of a dedicated arts channel on Foxtel in six ...

, along with

Graeme Blundell Graeme Blundell (born 7 August 1945) is an Australian actor, director, producer, writer, playwright, lyricist and biographer Early life Blundell was born on 7 April 1945 in Melbourne; he grew up in the suburb of Clifton Hill. He was educated a ...

, in a new series called ''Screen''. The series was renewed in 2018. , Pomeranz continues to appear in ''Screen'', and past episodes are uploaded to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Recognition

Pomeranz was made a Member of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

in the 2005

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port Ja ...

Honours. In 2017, Pomeranz became the first woman to be honoured with a star on Winton's Walk of Fame during The Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival in

Winton, Queensland Winton is a town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Shire of Winton in Central West Queensland, Australia. It is northwest of Longreach, Queensland, Longreach. The main industries of the area are sheep and cattle raising. Th ...

Cameos

Pomeranz had an uncredited role in the 1994 film ''

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert ''The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'' is a 1994 Australian road comedy film written and directed by Stephan Elliott. The plot follows two drag queens, played by Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce, and a transgender woman, played by Tere ...

'' as Adam's mother. She has also appeared as herself in several Australian comedy programs and promotions, including: *''

Lawrence Leung's Choose Your Own Adventure ''Lawrence Leung's Choose Your Own Adventure'' is a six-part Australian television comedy series, starring and primarily written by Melbourne comedian Lawrence Leung and produced by Chaser Broadcasting. The series was filmed over nine weeks fr ...

'' (2009), where she and David Stratton review

Lawrence Leung Lawrence Leung (born 25 August 1977) is an Australian comedian, writer, director and actor from Melbourne. He is best known for his television series ''Lawrence Leung's Choose Your Own Adventure'' based his one-man shows on stories about his obs ...

's attempt to set a world record for solving the

Rubik's Cube The Rubik's Cube is a Three-dimensional space, 3-D combination puzzle originally invented in 1974 by Hungarians, Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik. Originally called the Magic Cube, the puzzle was licensed by Rubik t ...

whilst

sky diving Parachuting, including also skydiving, is a method of transiting from a high point in the atmosphere to the surface of Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or parachutes. For ...

, as they sit on the landing site in their trademark armchairs. *A 2010 video promoting the new

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

breakfast team of

Tom Ballard Thomas Colin Ballard (born 26 November 1989) is an Australian comedian, radio and television presenter. Early life Ballard was born to parents Judy and Neil Ballard and grew up in Warrnambool, Victoria. He attended Brauer Secondary Colle ...

and

Alex Dyson Alexander Edward Dyson (born 22 June 1988) is an Australian radio presenter who presented the breakfast show on Australian youth radio station Triple J from 2010 to 2016, alongside Tom Ballard and then with Matt Okine. He is also a small busin ...

, where she joined the two men to "satisfy the female demographic". * A 2000 episode of Australian comedy show ''

Pizza Pizza (, ) is a dish of Italian origin consisting of a usually round, flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and often various other ingredients (such as various types of sausage, anchovies, mushrooms, onions ...

'', a show known for celebrity cameos. * Australian sketch comedy show '' Full Frontal'' in a 1995 episode. * 1993 Australian comedy film ''

Hercules Returns ''Hercules Returns'' is a 1993 Australian comedy film directed by David Parker, starring David Argue, Michael Carman, Bruce Spence and Mary Coustas. The film has a cult following in Australia and other countries. It has been released in DVD fo ...

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pomeranz, Margaret Australian Presbyterians Australian media personalities Australian film critics Australian women film critics Members of the Order of Australia People from Sydney Macquarie University alumni Living people 1944 births People educated at the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney