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Film Details - Giorgio Mangiamele Productions , 1964
Producers:
Giorgio Mangiamele
Director of Photography:
Giorgio Mangiamele
Editors:
Giorgio Mangiamele
Chris Tsalikis
Composer:
Graham Hair
Music:
Background music was also performed by a quartet of university students.
Cast:
Janine Lebeden, George Dixon, Chris Tsalikis, Claude Thomas, Robert Clarke, Lola Russell.
Release Dates:
25 August 1965
Location:
- Eltham, Victoria
Awards:
- Cannes Film Festival, France (1965) Golden Palm Award - Giorgio Mangiamele (nomination)
- Australian Film Institute Awards (1965) Silver Award - Giorgio Mangiamele (winner)
- Australian Film Institute Awards (1965) Silver Medallion - Giorgio Mangiamele (winner)
- Australian Film Institute Awards (1965) Kodack Silver Trophy - Giorgio Mangiamele (winner)
Notes:
1. Also known as Argile (France).
2. In order to raise the £12,000 needed to make the film, Giorgio Mangiamele mortgaged his home and also devised a co-operative scheme whereby each member of the cast and production crew contributed £200 towards the making of the film. This was to be repaid following the film's release. According to Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper (1980), early reactions to the film were positive. The ABC bought the television rights for £2,600 and the Australian Film Institute (AFI) awarded Mangiamele two awards for photography. When Clay screened at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival, it was also nominated for an award. The critical and public response to the film when it premiered at the Sydney and Melbourne film festivals was not so positive, however. The result was that the film secured no commercial interest. Mangiamele was forced to exhibit the film himself. After a one-week season at the St Kilda Palais, the film was rarely screened again (p. 308).
3. Further reference: Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper. Australian Film 1900-1977, A Guide to Feature Film Production (1980, q.v.), p. 308.
Settings:
- Eltham, Lower Plenty - Eltham area, Melbourne - Northeast, Melbourne, Victoria,
