School of Film and TV - Theses

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Mourning becomes electric: Vida Goldstein takes on politics and When Vida met the President: a documentary film script

Buczynski-Lee, Karen ( 2010)

This Master’s thesis comprises a 55-minute drama documentary film script entitled When Vida Met the President and a 15,000- word dissertation. The two parts explore the life and times of Vida Goldstein (1869-1949) and rely on extensive archival material. Goldstein was the first Australian woman to elect to stand for parliament. In her several campaigns over 14 years she employed the latest visual technology to communicate a revolutionary political message that advocated equality for women. The thesis investigates the use of the emerging technologies of film, television, (first demonstrated in 1923) 3D technologies and the magic lantern. These technologies reproduce the messages and images of the political mass movement for woman’s equality and suffrage between 1903 and 1917. By interweaving this history with Vida Goldstein’s personal story and connections with her mother and grandmother, I identify the interface between women’s personal narratives and the political.