Writers Victoria

The Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship and Writers Victoria invite you to join us for a special biography event on Wednesday 13 March 2024 at the Wheeler Centre, Melbourne. Preceding the announcement of this year’s Fellow, Mandy Sayer will be in discussion with Adolfo Aranjuez about her biography Those Dashing McDonagh Sisters: Australia’s first female filmmaking team (NewSouth Books, 2022). These three extraordinary sisters wrote, directed and acted in their own silent movies – forming their own film production company. Between 1926 and 1933 the McDonagh sisters produced four feature films and transformed Australian cinema from outback films to urban modernity. Paulette, the youngest, was one of only five women film directors in the world, Phyllis produced and directed, and Isabel, the eldest, acted superbly in all the female leads. The conversation will include clips from the McDonagh sisters’ films as restored by the National Film and Sound Archive.