By Travis Johnson
The Australian Directors Guild issued a statement today outlining their objection to the appointment of Canadian director, Larysa Kondracki, to oversee the upcoming television remake/re-adaptation of Picnic at Hanging Rock alongside Australian director, Michael Rymer.
Kondracki, a veteran of such television series as Better Call Saul, The Walking Dead, and Gotham, directed her first feature, The Whistle Blower, starring Rachel Weisz, in 2010.
Joan Lindsay’s novel was famously brought to the screen by Peter Weir in 1975, with his version being considered a classic of Australian cinema. FremantleMedia’s intended six part television version is already treading on hallowed ground given Hanging Rock‘s pedigree, but the ADG’s objection is rooted in the more prosaic and grounded matter of the continued issuing of 420 visas to foreign directors, with ADG CEO Kingston Anderson specifically saying that Kondracki’s employment in the role did not meet the Net Employment Benefit Test set by the immigration department.
“The Net Employment Benefit test clearly states that to get a 420 Visa there needs to be a net employment benefit for the Australian industry. As this production was always going to be shot in Australia and is fully financed by Australian money including funds from Screen Australia and Foxtel it clearly does not have any net employment benefit for Australians as one of the major jobs on the production is being given to a Canadian,” he said.
Anderson contests that this is not an isolated case, either, with around 20 overseas directors being employed each year in contravention of the visa requirements. “It is clear to the ADG that the government has no interest in supporting Australian creative talent by not upholding their own rules when it comes to Visa approvals and being inconsistent in the way it applies the rules.”
The hiring of a non-Australian woman could also be viewed as a poor choice in the face of recent efforts to redress gender imbalance in the industry, such as Screen Australia’s Gender Matters initiative. “In light of the recent Screen Australia figures stating that only 17% of Australian feature films were directed by women and Screen NSW’s figure that only 22% of TV drama were being directed by Australian women this is a slap in the face to all the good work that is being done by the industry to redress the balance,” Anderson said.
At the time of writing, FremantleMedia have not spoken publicly on the matter.
