Sisters of War | |
---|---|
Written by | John Misto |
Directed by | Brendan Maher |
Starring | Claire van der Boom Sarah Snook Susie Porter Gerald Lepkowski Paulini Curuenavuli Khan Chittenden Anna Volska |
Country of origin | Australia |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Producer | Andrew Wiseman |
Running time | 95 minutes |
Release | |
Original release | 14 November 2010 |
Sisters of War is a telemovie based on the true story of two Australian women, Lorna Whyte, an army nurse and Sister Berenice Twohill, a Catholic nun from New South Wales who survived as prisoners of war in Papua New Guinea during World War II. [1] Sisters of War was written by John Misto, produced by Andrew Wiseman and directed by Brendan Maher. [2] It made its debut at the Brisbane International Film Festival on 11 November 2010. [3] It premiered on television on 14 November 2010 on Australian channel ABC1. [3]
Sisters of War was inspired by real events and based on Rod Miller's manuscript The Lost Women of Rabaul. At the heart of those events were the stories and experiences of Lorna Johnston and Sister Berenice Twohill. In the process of clearing possessions for an estate in 1991, Miller, who is a general auctioneer, came across an old diary. He was about to throw it out when he became intrigued by the contents of the modest book. On closer inspection he saw that it was written in cryptic prose and rhyme. The diary was written by Grace Kruger, one of four civilian nurses captured by the Japanese in Rabaul in 1942. Kruger had deliberately written the diary with cryptic prose so as to confuse any Japanese soldier or casual reader who might have discovered it. Miller became fascinated by this work and the history that motivated it. Discovering there was little information readily available about the Rabaul nurses, he started to research the events surrounding their internment in Rabaul. Miller first met Sister Berenice Twohill and Lorna Johnston in 1997 and through them was able to meet and interview most of the surviving nurses and officers of Lark Force. He was able to borrow and transcribe their diaries which added to the overall knowledge of what had occurred at the time. Miller and writer John Misto joined forces on the project and soon after ABC1 came on board and producer Andrew Wiseman joined the team. Wiseman has an interest in presenting history dramas for television and Sisters of War provided a natural progression from Curtin , the World War II telemovie he produced with Richard Keddie. [4]
The shooting of the film began in April 2010 and ended in June 2010. It was shot in Gold Coast, Queensland. [5] [6]
Vunapope, a small Catholic mission station on New Britain, is captured by Japanese forces in January 1942. [1]
Sisters of War is available on DVD in Australia. [8]
New Britain is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea and from New Ireland by St. George's Channel. The main towns of New Britain are Rabaul/Kokopo and Kimbe. The island is roughly the size of Taiwan. While the island was part of German New Guinea, it was named Neupommern . In common with most of the Bismarcks it was largely formed by volcanic processes, and has active volcanoes including Ulawun, Langila, the Garbuna Group, the Sulu Range, and the volcanoes Tavurvur and Vulcan of the Rabaul caldera. A major eruption of Tavurvur in 1994 destroyed the East New Britain provincial capital of Rabaul. Most of the town still lies under metres of ash, and the capital has been moved to nearby Kokopo.
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