Kodak/Atlab Cinema Collection

We of the Never Never - film still

We of the Never Never (1982)

A new 35mm print of this feature is now available.
Courtesy of the Nine Network and Kodak (Australasia) and Atlab Australia

National Film and Sound Archive National Collection
Title Number 6987

Classification: M rating

Synopsis

It is the year 1900 when Jeannie, aged thirty, marries Aeneas Gunn, a librarian who has taken the job of overseer at a remote cattle station in the Northern Territory. Jeannie endures the hardships of life in the outback and has to battle against the sexist and racial prejudice of the Australian outback environment, but eventually the local people come to respect her.

Background

This film was the first production of the newly formed Adams-Packer Company. The film was shot entirely on location in the Northern Territory, interiors as well as exteriors; it was a 13- week shoot, from April to June 1981.
Gary Hansen won Best Achievement in Cinematography at the 1982 Australian Film Institute Awards.

Director: Igor Auzins

Year of Production: 1981, released in 1982

Duration: Original version runs 134 mins. An edited version runs 121 mins.
Format: 35mm, Technovision Eastman Colour
Optical soundtrack: Mono

We of the Never Never - film still

Production Company: Adams Packer Film Productions, Film Corporation of Western Australia

Executive Producer: Phillip Adams

Producer: Greg Tepper

Co-Producer: John B. Murray

Associate Producer: Brian Rosen

Screenplay: Peter Schreck (from the novel by Mrs Aeneas Gunn)

Director of Photography: Gary Hansen

Production Manager: Antonia Barnard

Production Design: Josephine Ford

Editor: Clifford Hayes

Sound Recordist: Laurie Robinson

Music: Peter Best

Cast: Angela Punch McGregor (Jeannie Gunn), Arthur Dignam (Aeneas Gunn), Tony Barry (MacLennan), Tommy Lewis (Jackeroo), Lewis Fitzgerald (Jack), Martin Vaughn (Dan), John Jarratt (Dandy), Tex Morton (Landlord), Mawuyul Yanthalawuy (Rosie)