A City's Child
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| A City's Child | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Brian Kavanagh |
| Written by | Don Battye |
| Based on | a story by Brian Kavanagh |
| Produced by | Brian Kavanagh |
| Starring | Monica Maughan Sean Scully |
| Cinematography | Brian Kavanagh |
| Edited by | Brian Kavanagh |
| Music by | Peter Pinne Mayfield B. Anthony |
Production company | Kavanagh Productions |
| Distributed by | British Empire Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 80 minutes |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $30,000[1] |
A City's Child is a 1972 Australian film directed by Brian Kavanagh.
A woman cares for her aging and bedbound mother. One day, the woman brings home a stray kitten and later that day, her mother dies. Left alone, the woman then starts drifting into a fantasy world. She begins collecting Barbie dolls and meets a young man who may or may not be real, though the two of them become lovers. The film leaves it ambiguous as to what has actually occurred.
Cast
- Monica Maughan as the woman
- Sean Scully as the man
- Moira Carleton as the mother
- Vivean Gray as first neighbour
- Marguerite Lofthouse as second neighbour
- Beverley Heath as shopgirl
- Michael Howell as doctor
- Roger Scales as man on beach
- Donna Drake as girl on beach
- Mary Marshall as woman on train
Production
The film was shot on 16mm with some financial assistance from the Experimental Film and Television Fund. Shooting took place over four weeks, half in a small studio belonging to Cambridge Films, half on location in various suburbs. After completion of filming, the Australian Film Development Corporation provided $5,000 to enable the film to be blown up to 35mm.[1]
The National Film and Sound Archive contains a 1970 black-and-white film made by Chris Löfvén called The making of the film A City's Child: Home movie.[2]
Release
The film played in the London, Edinburgh, Chicago and Sydney Film Festivals. Monica Maugham won Best Female Actor at the 1972 AFI Awards. However the film was not widely screened, in part because the movie was refused registration under the quality clause of the New South Wales Film Quota Act.[1]
