Memory Film: a filmmaker's diary

“Set against the backdrop of radical feminism, Aboriginal land rights and widespread social upheaval, Memory Film: A Filmmaker’s Diary is a ‘road movie’ of sorts, tracing its maker’s inner journey towards liberation. Adopting the lenses of psychotherapy and Eastern spirituality, and incorporating footage from Thornley’s earlier works ‘Maidens’, the collaborative feature ‘For Love or Money’, ‘To the Other Shore’ and ‘Island Home Country’, this hyper-intimate opus contemplates gender fluidity, sexual politics, the pleasure and pain of motherhood, and the desire for a world free of war and colonisation. With a sweeping score by Egyptian-Australian multi-instrumentalist Joseph Tawadros and inspired by the minimalist sensibility of silent cinema as a dialogue-free piece, Thornley’s “farewell film poem to life” unfolds with a haunting tactility: along with the celluloid’s visible grain…Memory Film: A Filmmaker’s Diary is a lovingly crafted, lucid meditation on resistance, legacy and carving out one’s place amid constant transformation.” (MIFF Program Notes 2023).

  • 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
  • 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
  • Melbourne International Film Festival, Nominated Australian Innovation Award (Black Magic)
    Melbourne
    Australia
    August 20, 2023
    World Premiere
    Official Selection MIFF Premiere Fund
Distribution Information
  • Antidote Films Executive Producer Gil Scrine
    Distributor
    Country: Australia
    Rights: All Rights
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' and 'Island Home Country' 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. 'memory film' is a tribute to the silent era and her pioneering ‘film-fathers’. She is currently a Visiting Scholar in the School of Communication, UTS, writes about film regularly and is distributing 'memory film' with Antidote Films.

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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.