Wind & Sky ProductionsThe Savoy Ladies Group
Info
Produced: 2014
Length: 10:20 minutes
This short documentary follows Rosa, President of the Savoy Ladies Group, as she tells the story of Italians in the North-East, tobacco farming, women, family and friendship.
Every fortnight for thirty years members of the Myrtleford Savoy Ladies Group have met to play tombola, create plays, go on excursions and maintain their Italian heritage. The group was founded in 1983 to combat the social isolation of Italian women tobacco farmers in the Ovens Valley. This film takes an observational look at the group’s modern day activities, through the eyes of Rosa, the group president. In the process the film sheds light on the difficulties faced by post-war Italian women migrants in North-East Victoria, their part in the local agricultural industry and their contribution to a distinctive and unique culture.
The Savoy Ladies Group documentary film was supported through funding from the Australian Government’s Your Community Heritage Program.
Screenings
Setting Sun Short Film Festival, Sun Theatre, Yarraville, 14-18 April 2016.
Museo Italiano (Melbourne Launch), 29 March 2014.
Savoy Club Myrtleford (Myrtleford Launch), 13 March 2014.
Online
The film is free to view online and has been released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license CC-BY. To watch on YouTube visit https://youtu.be/NrE-XH_kq3s
Awards
Winner, Best Film Cultural Diversity, Setting Sun Short Film Festival 2016
Finalist, Best Documentary Metropolitan, Setting Sun Short Film Festival 2016
Finalist, Best Film Overall Metropolitan, Setting Sun Short Film Festival 2016
Finalist, the Dressmaker Award for Female Filmmakers, Setting Sun Short Film Festival 2016
Credits
- Produced by:
- Samantha Dinning, Lucinda Horrocks and Jary Nemo
- Production Company:
- Wind & Sky Productions
- Directed and Edited by:
- Jary Nemo
- Written by:
- Samantha Dinning and Lucinda Horrocks
- Featuring:
- Rosa Volpe
- Rosa’s Lunch Guests (in alphabetical order) :
- Gabriella Bettio, Franca Cobbe, Silvana Colombara, Pippa Laspina, Kay Maggenti, Anna Elsa Matassoni, Maria Mautone
- Camera and Sound:
- Jary Nemo
- Interviews:
- Lucinda Horrocks
- Research and Concept:
- Samantha Dinning
- Images courtesy of:
- Rosa Volpe, The Savoy Ladies Group
- ‘Quel Mazzolin Di Fiori’ (traditional) performed by:
- Members of the Myrtleford Savoy Ladies Group, 2013
- With thanks to:
- Paolo Baracchi, Franca Cobbe, Rosa DiFazio, Linley & Colleen Horrocks, Emily Kocaj, Jan Mock, Alexander Parise, Rick Watt, Alpine Shire, Co.As.It Italian Historical Society, the Immigration Museum, Motel on Alpine and the Myrtleford Savoy Sporting Club Inc. A very special thanks to the members of the Myrtleford Savoy Ladies Group, past and present.
- The Savoy Ladies Group documentary film
- is supported through funding from the Australian Government’s Your Community Heritage Program.
- Distribution License:
- This film is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. You are free to share and adapt this work for any purpose under the condition you appropriately credit Wind & Sky Productions, Samantha Dinning Lucinda Horrocks and Jary Nemo as the original creators and copyright owners of the material, include the original film URL http://www.windsky.com.au/savoy-ladies-group/, and indicate if changes were made to the content. For more information visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. All other use requires permission.
- Copyright with:
- © Wind & Sky Productions Pty Ltd, Samantha Dinning, Lucinda Horrocks and Jary Nemo 2014.
The History of the Savoy Ladies Group
By Samantha Dinning.
Rural women in Australia have a long history of collectivity, of joining together to face problems, to offer support and to provide service to their communities.
In a small sub-Alpine pocket of North-East Victoria, among ancient gum forests and granite rock, a group of women have offered vital friendship and support to each other every fortnight for the past 30 years. Comprised of women with Italian heritage based in the Myrtleford district, The Savoy Ladies Group, has been, and today is, an important part of a community that has faced both prosperity and hardship. Their story is one of friendship and solidarity and is an example of the strength of both migrant communities and women in rural Australia.
The North-East Victorian Migration Story
By Samantha Dinning.
The fabric of contemporary Australia is layered with many cultural threads, some of which have greatly shaped our regional and rural histories. Migration in North-East Victoria has transformed the region’s industry and culture, bringing with it a richness and diversity that tells its story through food, wine, festivals, language and the many stories that new and old migrants share. These stories speak of struggle, persistence and community – of the joy of possibility and reward and the hardship and pain of leaving family and friends; of the strength of newfound friendships and of settling in a sometimes-unforgiving environment. They relate the difficulty in learning a foreign language and the growth of unique cultural identities, such as the Italian communities of Myrtleford and the King Valley.
Savoy Ladies Group Film Launch – Media Release
25 February 2014
The Italian heritage of the women of North-Eastern Victoria is celebrated with the launch of a short documentary film produced by Wind & Sky Productions.
The ten minute film ‘The Savoy Ladies Group’ follows Rosa Volpe, the group’s president, as she tells the story of Italians in the North-East, tobacco farming, women, family and friendship.
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