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‘Entanglement’ wraps up filming across Australia and the USA

As the world went in and out of lockdown in 2020, Sydney-based organisation Voices of Women began filming women’s stories across multiple venues and time zones in Australia and the USA. 

The Australian filming locations included: Gadigal country in Petersham, Annandale, Marrickville and The Rocks in Sydney, and on Wiradjuri country in Wagga Wagga in regional New South Wales. American filming locations included: New York, Rye in Brooklyn, Purchase in Indiana, and Santa Fe and North Dakota as part of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara land from The Fort Berthold reservation in North Dakota. 

Led by producers in Sydney, New York and Santa Fe, filming has wrapped and is in postproduction editing suites of Sydney and Los Angeles. The film stars a multi-talented cast of theatre and film actors, singers and performers and includes several Australian and American First Nation women. The music scoring is by emerging Australian art music composer Elizabeth Jigalin.

The collage of stories selected from open writing competitions in the USA and Australia reveal the connection of women across countries, histories and backgrounds, the beating heart of connection that brings us together. Challenges, humour and heartbreak are recognised across issues of race and celebrations of identity, sexuality and age, whilst sharing messages of overcoming doubt and finding our deep self, and health and wisdom about our short time on earth. The writers are listed here.

‘The challenge of filming these stories with actors and film crews across multiple locations in several different time zones at this time has been immense,’ said Artistic Director Lliane Clarke. ‘We are a small independent organisation, but have been driven by the necessity of championing stories that express the bonds of understanding and tolerance, courage and kindness and love in its many magnificent forms. I’m completely excited to see the film take shape.’ 

Voices of Women is proudly sponsored by the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through the Australian Cultural Diplomacy Grants Program and the Australian Consulate General in New York. We are also supported by Final Draft, New Mexico Women in Film (USA) and First Nations Australia Writers Network. 

The cast features: Amelia Wray, US emerging actor. Ari Grooves, US-based DJ, producer and writer. Brenda Saunders, a Wiradjuri published writer and artist. Di Bird, a proud Gomeroi singer/performer grandmother and storyteller. Erin Quill, a writer and performer living in the US with a Chinese Aussie heritage. Kaye Tuckerman, an actor, director and educator, working across five continents. Keeley Karsten, an emerging young film and stage actress. Meg Clarke, a Sydney-based professional Stage and Screen actor. Melanie Nicholls-King, a Canadian/American actress and musical theatre performer with Trini roots. Otgadahe Whitman-Fox, a writer, actor and Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara woman from The Fort Berthold reservation, USA. Pooya Mohseni, an Iranian-American actor, writer and transgender activist. And Victoria Kennedy, actor and proud member of the Wongaibon clan of south-west NSW.

Voices of Women PODCAST of short Australian stories


There are so many stories to tell, we had to launch a podcast here. Short pieces, poems and interviews are released on Apple read by actors and performers: a series to capture your imagination and transport you to another world.

MORE INFO
Contact: Lliane Clarke, Director and Producer
e: monologue@optusnet.com.au
0423 853 210

About Voices of Women
Voices of Women is a not for profit organisation that presents new work by Australian women writers by powerful women actors, and collaborates with artists and musicians. The program begins with an annual national writing competition, and the outcome is live rehearsed readings by powerful actors in immersed, unexpected and surprising storytelling spaces.

Voices of Women is committed to breaking down barriers and presenting diverse stories and tales from all women in Australia, in particular First Nations stories, stories from culturally and linguistically diverse communities, from women living with disability and LGBTQI+ communities.

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram @voiceswomenadventure

Supported by Inner West Council, Awesome Foundation, Verity La creative journal, Writing NSW, First Nations Australia Writers Network, Australian Cultural Fund.

With a little time on my hands

A midwife’s poem



My kitchen now looks like a place
Nigella Lawson could swan about in 
creating dreamy dinners with ingredients
that I have now replaced from 2006.

with a little time on my hands

My bathroom is soo squeaky clean
any virus would need a face mask 
and sunglasses to survive.

with a little time on my hands

My laundry and bedroom cupboards
are Marie Kondo organised and colour coded.

with a little time on my hands

The weeds in the garden have been ripped out
replaced by things called plants.
A veggie garden has been created.
Kosta would be so ‘gardening Australia’ proud,
the possums and rats are enjoying their new
source of food.

with a little time on my hands

I managed to get 15 minutes break yesterday to 
eat this substance called lunch.

with a little time on my hands

I am listening to the voices of women
telling me heart-breaking stories
of job loss, of not being eligible
for any job seeker or keeper payments
instead they are told to leave the country 
‘go back to where you came from’.
But how are they to get there?

with a little time on my hands

I am listening to families that have 
been torn apart by the lockdowns.
Some women will be birthing alone 
while their families and loved ones 
remain overseas.

with a little time on my hands

I am chasing stressed out doctors constantly
for pathology, ultrasounds and medical information.
To get through to labs
now there is a cute little corona virus message
‘due to the influx of testing you will have to wait in the queue.’

with a little time on my hands

I have become
outspoken about the lack of supply of PPE.
I have written letters to the union who are not interested
I have written letters to the head of the hospital about
our lack of protection
I have written letters to parliament and the media.
No one is listening and we remain unmasked.

with a little time on my hands

I keep washing them to the point
my nails are so dry they are beginning to crack from all
the hospital grade hand sanitiser.
When I return home from work
I remove my uniform and head straight 
to my squeaky clean shower so I don’t
infect my family from anything I may 
have picked up at work.

with a little time on my hands

I am wondering when this is all going to end.

Voices of Women launched

A website, incorporation as an Association and an exciting committee of talented creatives has launched the new-look Voices of Women. Taking it up a notch, to enable sustainability and the potential for touring, greater collaboration and the ability to reach more women is the aim. Plans are being laid for the program in 2020.

‘This project has a greater reach, and to enable us to do that we needed to formalise the structure and attract greater funding opportunities. It’s an exciting time for this project,’ said Voices of Women Producer/Director Lliane Clarke.