Strikebound
title: "Strikebound" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1984-films", "australian-drama-films", "1984-drama-films", "1980s-english-language-films", "films-directed-by-richard-lowenstein", "1984-australian-films", "english-language-drama-films"] topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strikebound" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox film"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Strikebound |
| producer | Miranda Bain |
| Timothy White | |
| director | Richard Lowenstein |
| writer | Richard Lowenstein |
| based_on | Oral history interviews published by Wendy Lowenstein |
| starring | Chris Haywood |
| Carol Burns | |
| music | Declan Affley |
| cinematography | Andrew de Groot |
| editing | Jill Bilcock |
| distributor | Ronin Films |
| released | |
| runtime | 101 minutes |
| country | Australia |
| language | English |
| budget | A$750,000 |
| gross | A$157,000 (Australia) |
| :: |
| name = Strikebound | image = | caption = | producer = Miranda Bain Timothy White | director = Richard Lowenstein | writer = Richard Lowenstein | based_on = Oral history interviews published by Wendy Lowenstein | starring = Chris Haywood Carol Burns | music = Declan Affley | cinematography = Andrew de Groot | editing = Jill Bilcock | distributor = Ronin Films | released = | runtime = 101 minutes | country = Australia | language = English | budget = A$750,000 | gross = A$157,000 (Australia) Strikebound is a 1984 Australian film directed by Richard Lowenstein. It is based on the experiences of real people during the 1937 coal-miners' strike in Victoria, Australia, the Korumburra miners' strike.
Synopsis
Strikebound is the dramatised story of a coal-miners' strike in 1937, in the small south Gippsland town of Korumburra. The story is told through the struggles of Agnes and Wattie Doig, two Scottish immigrants, who were real people.
Cast
- Chris Haywood as Wattie Doig
- Carol Burns as Agnes Doig
- Hugh Keays-Byrne as Idris Williams
- Rob Steele as Charlie Nelson
- Nik Forster as Harry Bell
- David Kendall as Birch
- Anthony Hawkins as Police Sergeant
- Marion Edward as Meg
- Tiriel Mora as Militant Miner
Production
Richard Lowenstein had made a short film, Evictions, about unemployed Australian people during the Depression, but 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 met Wattie and Agnes Doig and heard stories about unionism in coal mining in Victoria. He spent the next two years researching the story, 15 months of it while on the dole.
Lowenstein's mother, historian Wendy Lowenstein, published Weevils in the Flour in 1978, an oral history about the Depression, including many interviews. Lowenstein used the interviews from Weevils in the Flour when writing his script in 1980-81, and his mother started writing another work based on this, called Dead Men Don't Dig Coal, which was never completed. However, the title of the unpublished manuscript was used in the film credits.
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, and Maldon, in Central Victoria.
The film was co-produced by Victorian filmmaker Miranda Bain and New Zealand producer Timothy White. Cinematography was by Andrew de Groot, and the film was edited by Jill Bilcock.
It was made on a budget of A$750,000.
Release
The film premiered at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival in May 1984, where it played to sold-out audiences, garnered a full-page re view in Le Matin newspaper, and received many invitations to other film festivals.
It screened at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in Czechoslovakia, followed by Venice Film Festival, where it was given an ovation at 's Critics Week, which is unusual. It went on to screen at the Edinburgh, London, New York, and Pia Film Festivals.
It was released in Australian cinemas in September 1984.
In 1985 it screened at Sundance and Seattle Film Festivals, and continued to be screened at other events and festivals in the 1990s.
Box office
Strikebound grossed $157,000 at the box office in Australia.
Accolades
Strikebound won the main award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
In Australia, film won the AFI Award for Best Achievement in Production Design (Tracy Watt, Harry Zettel, McGregor Knox, and Neil Angwin). It was also nominated in the following categories:
- Best Film (Miranda Bain, Tim White)
- Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Chris Haywood)
- Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Carol Burns)
- Best Adapted Screenplay (Richard Loewenstein)
- Best Achievement in Cinematography (Andrew de Groot)
- Best Achievement in Editing (Jill Bilcock)
- Best Achievement in Sound (Dean Gawen, Gethin Creagh, Frank Lipson, Martin Oswin, Rex Watts)
- Best Achievement in Costume Design (Jennie Tate)
Footnotes
References
References
- [[Scott Murray (filmmaker). Scott Murray]]. "Richard Lowenstein", ''Cinema Papers'', August 1984 pp. 211–213, 291
- (25 Sep 1984). "Film-making Director is dolebound no longer". Australian Consolidated Press.
- (25 June 1927). "Papers of Wendy Lowenstein".
- (27 June 2024). "Miranda Bain".
- "Strikebound (1984)".
- David Stratton, ''The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry'', Pan MacMillan, 1990 p. 41
- (30 January 2020). "A Conversation With Richard Lowenstein ("Mystify: Michael Hutchence")".
- (24 Sep 1984). "Theatre". Education: Journal of the N.S.W. Public School Teachers Federation.
- "Strikebound (1984)".
- [http://film.vic.gov.au/resources/documents/AA4_Aust_Box_office_report.pdf ''Film Victoria – Australian Films at the Australian Box Office'']
- "Winners & Nominees (1984)".
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::