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Monica Pellizzari |
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Monica Pellizzari, Italian-Australian filmmaker, was born in 1960 of north Italian migrants who arrived here in the late 1950s. Growing up in Fairfield, a suburb in the outer-west area of Sydney, she recalls being beaten up at school because of her Italian heritage. As a child she was also angered by the stereotypical portrayal of Italians on the television screen and in film.
Pellizzari progressed on to the University of NSW where she majored in political science and drama and studied cinema. It was here that she discovered a potential weapon against the stereotyping and discrimination of non-Anglo culture within Anglo-Australian society: filmmaking. Her first application to the Australian Film, Television and Radio School was rejected; but instead of waiting and despairing, she took the practical approach and decided to gain some hands-on experience as a production assistant on "The Year of Living Dangerously" (Peter Weir, 1982) and "On the Run" (Mende Brown, 1982); as a unit driver on "Hostage: The Christine Maresch Story" (Frank Shields, 1983); as a casting assistant on "Street Hero" (Michael Pattinson, 1984); and stills photographer on various projects.
At the age of 24, Pellizzari was taken by Il Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, the most famous film school in Italy. While studying in Rome she again took advantage of opportunities, becoming director's assistant on "Notte d'Estate" (dir: Lina Wertmuller), "L'Intervista" (Federico Fellini) and "Oct Ciornie" (Nikita Mikhalkov). Between 1985 and 1987 in Rome, she wrote the script of her first future short, "Rabbit on the Moon."
After finally returning to Australia and gaining admission to the AFTRS, she made her first short "Vero Nero" ("Black Veil"), the first in a series of shorts she would make about alienation and detachment. The film, shot in black and white, is about an Italian youth who questions his own identity after encountering an Italian widow. Vero Nero paved way for Pellizzari's graduation film "Rabbit on the Moon" (1987), a film about a young Italian girl and her experiences growing up in suburbia. Rabbit on the Moon won Pellizzari a number of awards including an AFI award for Best Direction and Best Short Drama at Chicago, as well as being an official entry into the 1990 Academy Awards' short film category.
After these successes Pellizzari proceeded to work on numerous projects for SBS radio and television, including a number of shorts that helped cement her reputation as an important Australian talent; notably her 1989 short "No No, Nonno," about a lonely Italian grandfather living in the suburbs of Sydney who dreams of returning to Naples (this was the first short purchased by Qantas for its in-flight entertainment). However, it was in her 14 minute, 35mm drama "Just Desserts" that Pellizzari first explored the themes of female sexuality and the shifting platitudes of Italian-American upbringing, juxtaposing images of north Italian food with confronting images of female sexuality. Nevertheless, "Just Desserts," won a Baby Lion award at the 50th Venice Film Festival and a guarantee that her film was to be screened on Italian Pay-TV.
Pellizzari's next work, a contribution to SBS's Under the Skin series, was a half-hour short called "Best Wishes," which encompassed another confronting theme: sexual abuse in Catholic Italo-Australian culture. It won her a Strength and Courage award from the Italian-Australian Women's Association, and praise from other human rights sources.
By now the time was ripe to begin production on her debut feature film, "Fistful of Flies" (1996). Fistful of Flies tells the story of a young girl (Mars, played by Tasma Walton) - obsessed with her body, confused about her teenage sexuality, unhappy with the prospect of a traditional future of marriage and children proposed by her Italo-Australian family, a family dominated by a violent, philandering father in a small country town. It chronicles her attempt to rebel against her abusive family life and follow her own dreams. Again, it covers the themes of female sexuality within the confines of traditional Italian culture and dysfunctional families.
About her depiction of women in her films, Pellizzari says:
"I think women are incredibly strong. The things we have to bear as underdog make us that way. If we had it all on a platter, we wouldn't be that way. I don't shy away from calling my films feminist. At least 90% of cinema is boy's stories and I want to redress some of the balance ... We hardly see enough stories about women, it's only token representation."
(quote taken from Colbert, M. "Bicultural Visions: The Films of Monica Pellizzari," in CINEMA PAPERS, no.117, Jun 1997. pp.22-25.)
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References ( click to view )
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| journal - Bi-Cultural Visions: The Films of Monica Pellizzari Cinema Papers 117. pp.22-25 |
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Mary Colbert
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| One of the few lengthy interviews with Monica Pellizzari, in which she reveals growing up in the western suburb of Fairfield and her quest to become a respec...[full record]
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| journal - Fistful of Flies Variety. 11-11-1996. p.62 |
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David Stratton
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| In his review, Stratton clearly appears bemused and bewildered at what "Fistful of Flies" is trying to offer, saying that the lead character of Mars (played ...[full record]
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| journal - The New Breed of Ethnic Filmmakers Cinema Papers 90. pp.24-30 |
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Pat Gillespie
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| Article detailing filmmakers of non-Anglo-Celtic descent in Australia. They give their thoughts on the future of "multicultural" cinema in Australia; the mo...[full record]
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