''Alex'' is a 1993 Australian-New Zealand

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by Megan Simpson and starring Lauren Jackson,

Chris Haywood Chris Haywood (born ) is an English-born Australian actor, writer and producer, with close to 500 screen performances to his name. Haywood has also worked as a casting director, art director, sound recordist, camera operator, gaffer, grip, l ...

, and Josh Picker. It is based on a popular

young adult novel Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

Tessa Duder Tessa Duder (née Staveley, born 13 November 1940) is a New Zealand author of novels for young people, short stories, plays and non-fiction, and a former swimmer who won a silver medal for her country at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth ...

. The film was never released theatrically in Australia, but shown in some foreign territories and went straight to video.Ed. Scott Murray, ''Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995'', Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p4

Premise

A young headstrong New Zealand woman's (Lauren Jackson) quest against the setbacks, intense rivalry and personal tragedy to win selection for the 1960 Rome Olympic Games in the women's 100m freestyle.

Cast

* Lauren A Jackson as Alex Archer *

as Mr Jack * Josh Picker as Andy * Cathy Godbold as Maggie Benton *

Elizabeth Hawthorne Elizabeth Hawthorne (born 30 April 1947) is a New Zealand actress who is known for her role as Mrs. Macready in the 2005 film '' The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'' and the Peter Jackson supernatural comedy ''Th ...

as Mrs Benton *

Bruce Phillips Bruce Phillips may refer to: * Bruce Phillips (footballer), Australian rules footballer * Bruce Phillips (journalist) James Bruce Ross Phillips (June 6, 1930 – December 6, 2014), known professionally as Bruce Phillips, was a Canadian television ...

as Mr Archer * May Lloyd as Mrs Archer * Patrick Smith as Mr Benton *

Rima te Wiata Heather Rima Te Wiata (born 15 March 1963) is a New Zealand singer, comedian and stage, film and television actress. Early life Te Wiata was born in London, the only child of opera singer Inia Te Wiata and actress Beryl Te Wiata. She is of ...

as Female Commentator * Mark Wright as Male Commentator *

Grant Tilly Grant Leonard Ridgway Tilly (12 December 1937 – 10 April 2012) was a New Zealand stage, movie and television actor, set designer, teacher and artist. Life and career Grant Tilly was educated in Wellington, taking art at Wellington Tech ...

as Mr Upjohn * Greg Johnson as Male Journo *

Alison Bruce Alison Bruce (born 1962) is a New Zealand television and film actress, who starred in the 1999 feature ''Magik and Rose''. She also appeared in the teen series ''Being Eve'', '' Xena: Warrior Princess'' and had a recurring role as Simula in '' ...

as Female Journo

References

*''New Zealand Film 1912-1996'' by Helen Martin & Sam Edwards p165 (1997, Oxford University Press, Auckland)

External links

*
''Alex''
at

NZ on Screen NZ On Screen is a state-funded online promotional showcase of New Zealand television and film. Funded by NZ On Air, it provides free worldwide access to NZ-produced television, film and music videos. Content is streamed and the webpages provide ...

''Alex''
at NZ Videos
''Alex''
at The New Zealand Film Archive (archived 2015) Australian drama films 1992 films New Zealand drama films Films about the 1960 Summer Olympics Films about Olympic swimming and diving 1990s English-language films {{NewZealand-film-stub