Robin Anderson (1950 – 2002) was an Australian award-winning documentary filmmaker.

Career

Anderson was in born in

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

in 1950. After graduating from high school in 1967 she spent a year in Europe including 6 months in Paris. Back in Australia she studied economics at the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

and graduated three years later with honors and a federal government scholarship to study for master's degree in sociology at the

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. There she studied under Herbert J. Gans and during her time in New York she developed a greater interest in cinema and ultimately decided to become a filmmaker.Robin Hughes
''Robin Anderson – A Tribute''
Sense of Cinema, May 2002Richard Philipps

at wsws.org on 18 March 2002 Anderson returned to Australia after the graduating from Columbia and started to work for the Australia broadcaster ABC. Through her work at ABC she met the documentary filmmaker

Bob Connolly Bob Connolly is an Australian film director, cinematographer and author. He is best known for his documentaries produced over the past 30 years, including '' The Highlands Trilogy'' and '' Rats in the Ranks''. More recent films include '' Facin ...

, who soon became her husband and the father of her two future daughters. Together with her husband she produced five extensively researched documentaries set in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

and Australia, which were positively received and garnered several awards. Ian Aitken: ''Encyclopedia of the Documentary Film''. Routledge, 2013, , pp
60-61
/ref> Their first documentary '' First Contact'' about the Australian Leahy brothers and their relation to natives of the remote highlands of

was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...

in the category

Best Documentary Feature Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation, ...

in 1984. Anderson died of a rare form of cancer on 8 March 2002, aged 51 in Sydney. The following day her work appeared at the

Sydney Film Festival The Sydney Film Festival is an annual competitive film festival held in Sydney, Australia, usually over 12 days in June. A number of awards are given, the top one being the Sydney Film Prize. the festival's director is Nashen Moodley. Hist ...

Filmography

*1982: First Contact *1989:

Joe Leahy's Neighbours ''Joe Leahy's Neighbours'' is a 1989 Australian documentary film, created by Robin Anderson and Bob Connolly, looking at Papua New Guinean business man Joe Leahy and relationship to those around him. It is some ways a sequel to ''First Contac ...

*1992:

Black Harvest Black Harvest may refer to: * Black Harvest (1993 film), a Danish drama film * Black Harvest (1992 film) ''Black Harvest'' is a 1992 Australian-Papua New Guinea documentary directed by Australians Bob Connolly and Robin Anderson. It is the thi ...

*1996: Rats in the Ranks *2001: Facing the Music

Notes

References

*John Phillips
''Robin Anderson, 51, Creator Of Documentaries on Australia''
The New York Times, 23 March 2002 *Robin Hughes
''Robin Anderson – A Tribute''
Sense of Cinema, May 2002 *Ian Aitken: ''Encyclopedia of the Documentary Film''. Routledge, 2013, , pp
60-61
*Richard Philipps

at wsws.org on 18 March 2002 * Brian McFarlane (ed.), Geoff Mayer (ed.), Ina Bertrand (ed.): ''The Oxford Companion to Australian Film''. Oxford University Press, 1999, , p. 13

External links

* *http://www.der.org/films/filmmakers/robin-anderson.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Robin Australian film directors Australian women film directors 1950 births 2002 deaths