''Strikebound'' is a 1984 Australian film directed by

Richard Lowenstein Richard Lowenstein (born 1 March 1959) is an Australian filmmaker. He has written, produced and directed: feature films, including '' Strikebound'' (1984), ''Dogs in Space'' (1986) and ''He Died with a Felafel in His Hand'' (2001); music videos ...

and based on the

Wendy Lowenstein Wendy Lowenstein (born Katherin Wendy Robertson Lowenstein; 1927—2006) was an Australian historian, author, and teacher notable for her recording of people's everyday experiences and her advocacy of social activism. She pioneered oral history ...

novel ''Dead Men Don't Dig Coal''. The film got several

AFI Award The Australian Film Institute (AFI) was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry. It is responsi ...

nominations and won in the Best Achievement in Production Design category. ''Strikebound'' is the dramatised story of a coal-miners' strike in 1930s Australia, in the small south Gippsland town of

Korumburra Korumburra is a town in the Australian state of Victoria. It is located on the South Gippsland Highway, south-east of Melbourne, in the South Gippsland Shire local government area. At the Korumburra had an urban population of 3,639. Surroun ...

. The story is told through the struggles of Agnes and Wattie Doig, two Scottish immigrants, who were real people.

Cast

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 ...

as Wattie Doig *

Carol Burns Carol Ann Burns (29 October 1947 – 22 December 2015) was an Australian actress, theatre director and patron of the arts, with a career spanning 50 years. She worked extensively in theatre and television serials, as well as telemovies and min ...

as Agnes Doig *

Hugh Keays-Byrne Hugh Keays-Byrne (18 May 1947 – 2 December 2020) was a British-Australian actor and film director. A former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he was best known for playing the main antagonist in two films from the ''Mad Max'' franchise ...

as Idris Williams * Rob Steele as Charlie Nelson *Nik Forster as Harry Bell *David Kendall as Birch *

Anthony Hawkins Anthony Hawkins (30 September 1932 – 23 September 2013), was an English-born, Australian-based television actor. He was best known for his roles as Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Smith in the police procedural '' Special Squad (1984)'' and ...

as Police Sergeant *Marion Edward as Meg

Production

Richard Lowenstein had made a short film ''Evictions'' about the unemployed during the Depression. He felt slightly unsatisfied by the experience and wanted to have another attempt at the subject matter. During the making of the short film he had mt Wattie and Agnes Doig and heard stories about unionism in coal mining in Victoria. He spent the next two years researching the story.Scott Murray, "Richard Lowenstein", ''Cinema Papers'', August 1984 pp. 211–213, 291 The film was originally envisioned as a 50-minute dramatised documentary called ''The Sunbeam Shaft'' but evolved into a feature film. The film was partly shot at a real disused mine in

Wonthaggi Wonthaggi is a seaside town located south east of Melbourne via the South Gippsland and Bass Highways, in the Bass Coast Shire of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Known originally for its coal mining, it is now the largest town in South Gippsl ...

, and Maldon, in Central Victoria. Lowenstein was only 23 years old when he made the film.

Box office

''Strikebound'' grossed $157,000 at the box office in Australia.''Film Victoria – Australian Films at the Australian Box Office''
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References

External links

*
''Strikebound''
at

Australian Screen Online The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

''Strikebound''
at Oz Movies 1984 films Australian drama films 1984 drama films 1980s English-language films Films directed by Richard Lowenstein 1980s Australian films {{1980s-Australia-film-stub

Cast

Production

Box office

See also

References

Further reading

External links