Clay (1965 film)

Clay is a 1965 Australian drama film directed by Giorgio Mangiamele. The film was nominated for the Golden Palm award at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival,[2] but it lost to The Knack ...and How to Get It.

Clay
Directed byGiorgio Mangiamele
Written byGiorgio Mangiamele
Produced byGiorgio Mangiamele
StarringJanina Lebedew
CinematographyGiorgio Mangiamele
Edited byGiorgio Mangiamele
Distributed byGiorgio Mangiamele
Release date
  • 25 August 1965 (1965-08-25)
Running time
85 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
Budget£12,000[1]

Plot

Nick is a murderer on the run from the police. He finds a remote artists' colony and takes shelter there. Whilst there, he falls in love with a sculptor named Margot. When Nick is betrayed to the police by a jealous rival, Chris, Margot kills herself.[3]

Cast
  • Janina Lebedew as Margot
  • George Dixon as Nick
  • Chris Tsalikis as Chris
  • Claude Thomas as Father
  • Bobby Clark as Charles
  • Sheila Florance as Deaf-mute
  • Lola Russell as Mary
  • Cole Turnley as Businessman

Production

The film was shot in 1964, with the crew consisting of Mangiamele, a camera assistant and a sound technician. The budget was raised by Mangiamele mortgaging his house and the cast contributing £200 each. Filming started in May and took six weeks, mostly at an artist's colony in Montsalvat. Lead actor Janina Lebedew had her voice dubbed by Sheila Florance.[1]

Release

Clay was the first Australian film selected for competition at the Cannes Film Festival.[4]

In March 1965, ABC bought the TV rights for £2,600 and the film won to awards for photography at the 1965 AFIs. However it was poorly received at the Sydney Film Festival and Melbourne Film Festival and struggled to get commercial release.[1][5]

References
  1. Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998 p237
  2. "Festival de Cannes: Clay". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 1 March 2009.
  3. "Clay (1965)". Australian Screen online. Retrieved 26 August 2011.
  4. Graeme Cutts, "Giorgio Mangiamele", Cinema Papers, October 1992 p19-22
  5. Scott Murray, 'Giorgio Mangiamele – Passionate Filmmaker', Senses of Cinema, 13 June 2001 accessed 1 September 2012
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