First Take: In Conversation with Leah Purcell

May 5th 2022

The FBi filmlordes sat down the writer, director, and star of ‘The Drover’s Wife’ Leah Purcell to discuss what makes it such a special story. They also interrogate the industry and Marvel universe Leah’s built around ‘The Drover’s Wife’, and what walking away from that might look like for her after spending six years on the project.

Leah wrote, directed, and stars in the film. She told Jen and André about how her Aboriginal heritage informed the way the story was told and the way she represented Country.

“It’s actually structured on Dreaming and Dreaming technique… When you talk culture, people think we should be all painted up and should have out clapsticks and didgeridoo and all that. But us sitting here right now, we are sharing in the Dreaming we are creating right now. It’s the past, it’s the present, it’s now. So I wanted to show that element.”

‘The Drover’s Wife’ follows Henry Lawson’s story of a mother defending the homestead from a snake, first published in 1892. It’s a classic of Australian literature, and this film is the manifestation of Leah’s ongoing interest in the story. It began with her celebrated stage adaptation in 2016, followed in 2019 by a novel. (The film was completed in 2019, but held for release due to COVID.) Leah told Jen and André it won’t stop here either.

Before you get too swept up in the Marvel universe that is ‘The Drover’s Wife’, check out the film! It hit’s cinemas May 5 2022.

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