Metro Australia – July 2019

(Nancy Kaufman) #1
In manyways,Witchesand Faggots,Dykesand Poofters
canbeviewedasa turningpointin therepresentationof
Australiangaysandlesbians.Perhapsmostimportantly,it
enabledqueer audiencesto see themselvesreflectedback in
an authentic,dynamicway, potentiallyfor the first time ever.
Pioneeringcriticofthe‘NewQueerCinema’ofthe1990s
B Ruby Rich arguesthat queer audiencestake on a sense
of propriety and collusion when it comes to representation:

Queerviewerresponsesare inflectedby somethingfar more
specificand complexthan the subjectivetastesgoverning
mainstreammoviechoices.Queeraudiencesseethemselves
as complicitin these representations,as if they were compro­
misedor validatedby them,and the cathexisthey experience
surpasses other audiences’ investments.^28

Giventhissenseofqueer‘ownership’overtheimage,the
communityrepresentedinWitchesand Faggots,Dykesand
Poofterswouldhavefoundtremendoustransformativepower
in it.Forwhilethesociopoliticallandscapewasgradually
shifting,the film was a call to arms for gays, lesbiansand
theirallies.Theactofrecordingthemarches,arrestsand
meetingsis also an act of defiantrefusal– a refusalto be
ignored, a refusal to bestereotyped– but,mostofall,it
is a materialcommitmenttothe
preservationofvisibility.In thisway,
Duncan’sdocumentationofevents
wasaninherentlyradicalactivist
gesture:a meansof counteringthe
oppressiveparadigmsofinvisibility
andofnegativerepresentationthat
associatednon-heterosexualitywith
illness,perversion,or a more general
failureor‘lack’.

Images of redress


Lesbianvisibilitywasparticularlylowin Australiain thelate
1970s;in keepingwiththeissuesofrepresentationandcontrol
associatedwitha patriarchalframework,it wasmenwhowere
generallyin chargeoftheformulationandperpetuationof
messagesaboutwhomattered.Asa result,gaymenwerefea-
turedfarmoreprominentlyin thepublicconsciousness,and
it wasgaymenwhocontrolledthenarrativeofdiscrimination.
Theytendedtofocusontheirownexperiences,relegating
thoseofwomenat besttothebackground,andat worstinto
completeirrelevance.This was even reflectedin Australian
law; as activist and historian Graham Carbery puts it:

WhileallAustralian[s]tatesoutlawedsexualbehaviourbet­
weenmales,the law was silenton the questionof lesbian
behaviour.It is difficultto know why this was the case but it
probablyhada lottodowiththecommonlyheld19thcentury
beliefthat unlikemen, womendid not have strongsexual
desires,thereforethe possibilityof womenbeingsexuallyat­
tracted to other women did not occur to (male) politicians.^29

Witchesand Faggots,Dykesand Pooftersredressesthis
genderimbalance.We meet a lesbiansinglemotherwho is
battlingthecourtstomaintaincustodyofherdaughter;a
lesbianteacherwho is worriedthat she will be fired; a lesbian
feministwhoacknowledgesthepoliticalnecessityof‘outing’
herself, but is anxious about losing her female best friend

Againstthisemergingbackdrop
ofa slowlylegitimisingnon-
heterosexualidentity,thekindof
symbolictransgressionofpublic
spaceenactedbythepoliceproved
evenmoreincendiar y...This
notionofreclaimingqueerspace
is central to the events depicted.

thecameracouldbea weaponofoppressionwhichthreat­
enedto exposethosewhowishedto remainhidden.Witches,
Faggots,DykesandPooftersreflectsa significantshift
wherebythecamerawasrecruitedasa weaponoflibera­
tion, whichenabledgay and lesbianpeopleto tell their own
truthandclaimtherighttoliveopenly.It is a callto‘come
out’ as a meansto achieveequal rightsand indicates a defi­
ant choice to be seen and to be heard.^23


Clearly,thepersonalis political;fromDuncan’sproduction
team of volunteersto the subjectsbeing filmed,authentic
representationis at the heart of the film. Visibilityand ‘coming
out’arekeynotesoftheconversationspresentedin Witches
and Faggots,Dykesand Poofters.As one protesterin the film
says: ‘We’reforcedinto invisibility in order to allow other peo-
pletofeelcomfortable.’
Fromreclaimingthepublicspacesofthecity’sstreets
tohavingtheirsexualityacknowledgedasdifferentbutnot
‘deviant’,thisis a workthatspeakstoanemergingqueer
cinematicculturein Australia.It’s significantthat the world’s
first ever gay film festival,the Festivalof Gay Films,took
placein Sydney– at theFilmmakersCinemain June1976.^24
And,indeed,Witchesand Faggots,Dykesand Poofterswas
first screenedto an audienceof mostly gay and lesbian
peopleatthisvenuein June1980.
Theaudiencewastoolargefor
theeighty-seatcinema,sotwo
screeningswereheld;peoplestill
hadtobeturnedaway.A partyfor
thequeercommunitywasthen
held after the screening.^25
AccordingtoDuncan,themain
productiondifficultiesthat she and
the team encounteredwere finan-
cial: ‘The initial moneycame from
thecommunityaswepassed
aroundthe hat at each event we filmed.Peoplealso donated
their time, film and equipment.’A work of activism,the film
was a labourof love for the filmmakers;they had to sporadi-
callyceaseworkonit in ordertoreturntopaidemployment
astheirpersonalfundsweregraduallydepleted.Thismade
theproductionprocessmorelengthythanit mighthave
been had they securedsufficientfinancing.The film cost
approximatelyA$32,000tomake,includingconcessionsto
unpaidlabour.A NewZealandeditor,MelanieRead,offered
her servicesfree of charge;she spent five months editing the
film but had to returnhome to a payingjob.^26
AsresearcherSamanthaSearlehasrightlypointedout,
in order to adequatelyassessqueer cinemaculture,it cannot
beextractedfromitspoliticalframework.Sheparticularly
emphasisestheimportanceofrepresentation,alongwith
queer filmmakershavingaccessto a meansof production
as well as a meansof distributionin order to effectivelycon-
trolboththecreativeandthescreeningspaces.^27 Withinthis
framework,Duncan’sfilm takes on even greatersignificance;
beyondthemilestonesforgayandlesbianrightsthatshe
hasrecorded,thesymbioticinteractionsbetweenproduction,
representationandaudiencemarkanadditionalmilestone
in Australianqueer film history.Here is a documentarythat is
partiallyfundedbythecommunity,andthatsetsouttocoun-
terthenegativestereotypingofgayandlesbianAustralians
that dominatedthe media, particularly film and television,
back in 1980.


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