Stepping Out (1980 film)

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Stepping Out
Directed by Chris Noonan
Written byChris Noonan
Produced byChris Noonan
Richard Mordaunt
Jane Hanckel
StarringChris Dobbin
Romanyne Grace
Aldo Gennaro
CinematographyDean Semler
Edited byRichard Mordaunt
Music byKeith Jarrett
Running time
50 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish

Stepping Out is a 1980 Australian documentary film, created by Chris Noonan, that follows a mentally handicapped theater group in the leadup to their first public performance at the Sydney Opera House. [1] The film screened at the United Nations closing ceremony for the International Year of the Disabled. [2]

Contents

Production

Stepping Out was largley filmed in 1979 in Gore Hill in Sydney, following residents of the Lorna Hodgkinson Sunshine Home. It features workshops and rehearsals, led by Aldo Gennaro, for a series of performances of the shows" The Prince and Life, Images and Reflections at Sydney Opera House. [3]

Reception

John Lapsley of the Sydney Morning Herald gave it 4 stars. He states "It's not only an important documentary. It is also a rivetting, superbly made one which has been quite brilliantly filmed by cinematographer Dean Semmler." [4] In his Canberra Times Dougal McDonald touches on the aftermath saying "what happened after the film was completed is not so much crazy as nasty. Aldo Gennaro and the matron were dismissed without notice. Chris and Romayne were separated. These were the consequences of the film's attempt to touch on the question of sexuality in the intellectually handicapped. In this, 'Stepping Out' is significantly more forward-looking than another important documentary in the same field". [5] Julian Lewis in the Australian Jewish News writes "Stepping Out entirely justifies the U.N.'s choice of it as the official film for the 'Year of the Disabled'" [6]

Awards

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References

  1. ↑ "'Stepping Out' - an upbeat look at the Mentally Disabled", Kennebec Journal, 5 September 1981
  2. ↑ Hooks, Barbara (3 December 1981), "Ode to the handicapped", The Age
  3. ↑ Milson, Wendy (16 November 1979), "Handicapped stage a new life", The Age
  4. ↑ Lapsley, John (4 January 1981), "Sensitive work's a big step for many", The Sydney Morning Herald
  5. ↑ McDonald, Dougal (25 November 1991), "A special experience", The Canberra Times
  6. ↑ Lewis, Julian (26 June 1991), "Humane way over barriers", The Australian Jewish News
  7. ↑ French, Lisa; Poole, Mark (2009). Shining a Light: 50 Years of the Australian Film Institute. Australian Teachers of Media. p. 257. ISBN   978-1-876467-20-3.
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