John Batchelor and Rachel Gordon are in the Illawarra filming Safe Haven. Photo: Zoe Cartwright.
From the annual International Women’s Day Illawarra luncheon extravaganza to the nation’s first Illawarra Women’s Trauma Recovery Centre, our region punches above its weight when it comes to smashing the patriarchy.
Few people remember it’s all thanks to the first International Women’s Day Rally held in Wollongong in 1979, where Women Illawarra was born.
Local women’s committees, groups, unions and collectives joined forces to lobby for the funds to start a centre to provide services women desperately needed.
What they began grew into an organisation that set the culture for the Illawarra, creating and inspiring other groups and services to take on the challenges facing women in the region.
Now a rendition of that journey will make it to the big screen, with the potential to become a TV series.
Winner of the 2024 Australian Academy Cinema Television (AACTA) Award for Best Short Film, Blue Sparrow Entertainment has begun filming Safe Haven.
The short film, set and filmed in Wollongong, explores the fight for safe abortions in 1970s rural Australia.
Writer and director Francisca Braithwaite said although the film was set in the past it carried a timely message.
“It’s a powerful reminder of the ongoing fight for women’s rights and bodily autonomy,” she said.
“Even though abortion is legal in Australia today the global landscape is shifting and women’s reproductive rights are under threat in many parts of the world.
“This film is to remind us of the importance of maintaining and protecting these rights, the sacrifices that were made to get them, and ensuring those women’s stories are told and remembered.”
Part of the Balgownie Scout Hall was transformed into a 1970s-era doctor’s surgery for filming Safe Haven. Photo: Zoe Cartwright.
The film follows the story of fictional Dr Celeste Navarro, who puts her career and freedom on the line to provide safe abortions.
Francisca has worked closely with Women Illawarra to make sure the film is true to the period and hopes it will serve as a proof-of-concept for a TV series about the work of the organisation’s founding sisters to provide access to women’s health care and reproductive rights.
Women Illawarra general manager Michelle Glasgow said research for the film had turned up some fascinating discoveries.
“We found a box full of handwritten receipts from the early 80s for pregnancy tests and healthcare coalition, which I believe is code for access to healthcare,” Michelle said.
“In the archive there’s a petition to the NSW Parliament in the early 80s about access to legal abortions.
“This is still something that’s shrouded in shame and guilt. We’re still on a journey of finding our voices as women because it makes other people uncomfortable.
“Films like this are real conversation starters.
“Women have a huge legacy in how communities are built, and all of those histories are written out or hidden, not elevated and spoken about.
“This is an opportunity not just to have a discussion but to elevate the stories of the women in the Illawarra, those sisters who had the courage to march in the streets, fight for the rights of generations to come and not be shut down and not be made quiet.”
The film features Rachel Gordon (Blue Heelers, Home and Away, The Moodys) as Dr Celeste Navarro and John Batchelor (Sea Patrol, Underbelly, Red Dog) as the detective hot on her trail.
The Balgownie Scout Hall and Van Q Vintage were both transformed to provide the bulk of the set.
Francisca said shooting in the Illawarra meant the crew was spoilt for choice.
“It’s a beautiful place to shoot, so rich in the bush, the beach; it has everything,” she said.
“Local businesses have been so supportive, and the film community here is starting to build. Most of our crew are locals.
“Everyone has a connection in one way or another to the film itself.
“I’m exhausted but so happy to see it come together, to do the story justice and give something back to those women for everything they did for us.”
Francisca thanked production designer Matt Bonnici, costume and production assistant Jessica Bergenhoj, Faith Martin Casting and Cutting Edge Film Productions for their support in bringing the film to life.
Loading ...
