Experiencing Interruptions?

Memory Film: a filmmaker's diary

'Memory Film' is an immersive, poetic documentary by Jeni Thornley based on her silent Super 8 archive (1974-2003), filmed during the decades of her personal and political filmmaking producing 'Maidens', 'To the Other Shore', 'Island Home Country' and the collaborative feature 'For Love or Money'. Accompanied by a sweeping score by Egyptian-Australian oud maestro, Joseph Tawadros, ‘Memory Film’ is a lovingly crafted, lucid meditation on resistance, legacy and carving out one’s place amid constant transformation. Documenting the activism of three decades, amidst the intense sexual politics of radical feminism and social change, 'Memory Film' is also a road movie of an inner journey of liberation – gender fluidity, utopian feminism, love and its tribulations, the pleasure and pain of motherhood, violence against women and the desire for a world free of war and colonizing. Thornley’s ‘Farewell film poem to life’ unfolds with haunting tactility: along with the celluloid’s visible grain, foregrounding both impermanence and the inexorable passage of time.
SCREENINGS & AWARDS
World Premiere Melbourne Int Film Festival (MIFF) Official Selection 2023
Conversations & Connections Documentary Festival ‘Storytelling on the Ground’, Macquarie University SLNSW Dec 2023
Sydney Premiere, Antenna Documentary Film Festival Official Selection 2024
Melbourne Women in Film Festival (MWFF) Official Selection March 2024
Hazelhurst Arts Centre, Sydney May 2024
Madrid Arthouse Film Festival Semi Finalist June 2024
Sacramento Independent Film Festival Semi Finalist 2024
Revelation Perth Int Film Festival Official Selection July 2024
ARC Cinema with Q&A NFSA Canberra August 2024
New York International Women’s Film Festival Semi Finalist 2024
Edinburgh Film Awards Semi Finalist 2024
Paris Women CineFest Semi Finalist 2024
Melbourne Cinematheque ‘Contested Histories: The Documentaries of Jeni Thornley’. A Retrospective ACMI October 30 2024
Visible Evidence Conference XXX, Plenary & Screenings Monash Uni Dec 2024
Spotlight Documentary Awards Winner Silver Award Atlanta USA 2024
Adelaide Premiere & Q&A Palace Nova East End Cinema 3 Feb 2025
USA Super 8 Film & Video Festival Honourable Mention New Jersey Feb 2025
Blow-up Arthouse FilmFest Chicago Semi Finalist 2025
Experimental Forum Los Angeles USA Honourable Mention 2025
Orion International Film Festival Best Feature Documentary Finalist 2025
Cinematography & Photography Awards London Nomination 2025
Semi Finalist Tokyo Women Film Festival 2025

JOTZ Productions with Anandi Films. In association with Melbourne International Film Festival Premiere Fund; Screen Australia; Documentary Australia; Lesbians Inc.
Australian Distributor: Antidote Films

  • JENI THORNLEY
    Director
    'Maidens’, ‘To the Other Shore’, ‘Island Home Country’ and the collaborative feature ‘For Love or Money’, Island Home Country
  • JENI THORNLEY
    Writer
  • TOM ZUBRYCKI
    Producer
    Gulpillil - One Red Blood, The Weather Diaries, Ablaze, Senses of Cinema, Kindred, The Carnival.
  • JENI THORNLEY
    Producer
    SEE ABOVE
  • LINDI HARRISON
    EDITOR
    I am a Girl, Sherpa, Embrace, Salt, Wik vs Queensland, Incarceration Nation- 2022 winner Logie Awards - Most Outstanding Documentary. Lindi’s 2023 editing credits include, Kindred, The Carnival and memory film
  • JOSEPH TAWADROS
    COMPOSER
    14 albums of original music, with 14 ARIA nominations and 4 ARIA Awards
  • TRISTAN MEREDITH
    SOUND DESIGN
    CARBON, ABLAZE, THE DOCTOR BLAKE MYSTERIES
  • NICHOLAS HOWER
    COLORIST
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Feature, Television
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 21 minutes 19 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 30, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    200,000 AUD
  • Country of Origin:
    Australia
  • Country of Filming:
    Australia
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    SUPER 8 DIGITIZED PRO-RES DCP
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • Melbourne International Film Festival. MIFF Premier Fund
    Melbourne
    Australia
    August 20, 2023
    World Premiere
    Australian Innovation Award (Black Magic) Nomination
  • Top Ten Australian Films of 2023
    Adelaide
    Australia
    The State of Australian Cinema, Mousoulis
  • Australian Academy Cinema Television Arts- Best Documentary Sound (nomination)
    Gold Coast
    Australia
    February 8, 2024
    Award Ceremony
    AACTA Award for Best Sound in a Documentary-Nomination Tristan Meredith
  • Antenna Documentary Film Festival
    Sydney
    Australia
    February 9, 2024
    Sydney Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Melbourne Women's Film Festival
    Melbourne
    Australia
    March 25, 2024
    Women's Film Festival Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Australian Film Critics Association
    Melbourne
    Australia
    Nomination
    Best Documentary Nomination 2023
  • Revelation International Film Festival
    Perth, WA
    Australia
    July 3, 2014
    Official Selection
  • Women's Film Festival, Arc Cinema, National Film & Sound Archive
    Canberra
    Australia
    August 28, 2024
    Official Selection Arc Cinema
  • Melbourne Cinematheque: ‘Contested Histories: The Documentaries of Jeni Thornley', Retrospective
    Melbourne
    Australia
    October 30, 2024
    Official Selection
  • Visible Evidence Conference, Monash University
    Melbourne
    Australia
    December 21, 2024
    Official Selection
  • USA Super 8 Film & Video Festival
    New Jersey
    United States
    February 15, 2025
    North America Premiere
    Honorable Mention
  • Blow-up Arthouse FilmFest
    Chicago
    United States
    January 12, 2025
    Semi Finalist
  • Madrid Arthouse Film Festival
    Madrid
    Spain
    October 30, 2024
    Semi Finalist
  • Sacramento Independent Film Festival
    Sacramento, California
    United States
    September 27, 2024
    Semi Finalist
  • New York International Women’s Film Festival
    New York
    United States
    October 1, 2024
    Semi Finalist
  • Edinburgh Film Awards
    Edinburgh
    United Kingdom
    November 25, 2024
    Semi Finalist
  • Paris Women CineFest
    Paris
    France
    October 31, 2024
    Semi Finalist
  • Spotlight Documentary Awards
    Atlanta
    United States
    January 31, 2024
    Silver Award
  • Adelaide Premiere & Q&A
    Adelaide
    Australia
    February 15, 2025
    Adelaide Premiere
  • Experimental Forum
    Los Angeles
    United States
    Honorable Mention
  • Orion International Film Festival
    Berlin
    Germany
    March 29, 2025
    Finalist
  • Cinematography & Photography Awards
    London
    United Kingdom
    June 3, 2025
    Finalist
  • Tokyo Women Film Festival
    Tokyo
    Japan
    June 5, 2025
    Premiere
    Finalist
Distribution Information
  • Antidote Films https://antidotefilms.com.au/
    Distributor
    Country: Australia
    Rights: Internet, Video on Demand, Pay Per View, Theatrical, Free TV, Paid TV
Director Biography - JENI THORNLEY

Writer Director Producer - Jeni Thornley was born in Launceston, Tasmania, educated in Melbourne and lives and works in Sydney. She is a documentary filmmaker, writer and film valuer. Her award-winning documentaries 'Maidens', the collaborative feature 'For Love or Money', 'To the Other Shore', 'Island Home Country' and 'Memory Film' are landmark films in Australian independent and feminist cinema, widely distributed and screened on national television (ABC TV and SBS). Jeni was active in distribution and exhibition at Sydney Filmmakers Co-operative, worked on many independent films, wrote for Filmnews, was Manager of the Women’s Film Fund and Project Coordinator, Documentary (AFC). Jeni lectured in documentary at UTS from 2002-2013 and completed her doctorate. She traces her passion in film to her father’s family, who exhibited films in cinemas across Australia during the silent period, the ‘talkies’, and the TV era. She is currently a Visiting Scholar in the School of Communication, UTS, writes about film regularly and is distributing 'memory film' with Antidote Films. 'Memory Film' is currently streaming on SBS On Demand, Australia's leading public broadcaster.

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Director Statement

A silent film with music. 'memory film' is an experiential, lyrical documentary expressing cinema’s power, not via ‘issues’, but with a poetic sensibility blending images, music and sound. The superb soundtrack counterpoints the grainy textural quality of the Super 8. Original music by oud maestro Joseph Tawadros and creative sound design by Tristan Meredith interweaves with the images. As there are no speaking voices, narration or interviews, the film offers an immersive experience of the interplay between public and private – transforming lives. 'memory film' is unique as its legacy harks back to the silent movie era. Tawadros’ expressive music score and Meredith’s sensitive use of sound offers viewers a meditative, inner experience of social change. As editor Lindi Harrison and I initially layered guide track music and sound into the rough cut, the ‘affect’ was compelling, confirming my instinct that the ‘silent film’ conventions of image and music with no speaking voices was the perfect mode for Super 8 film in the digital era.