Enlightened in the Studio

Not so sure this is worthy of a public forum but ACMI’s Live in the Studio event for August is on Laura Dern’s Enlightened.

This takes place in Melbourne on Thursday August 29.

The Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) presents The End of Enlightenment, the August edition of its popular Live in the Studio event series. Join the founder of The Lifted Brow Ronnie Scott, producer of the ABC’s Hungry Beast Elmo Keep and feminist writer Amy Gray on Thursday 29 August as they discuss “a woman on the verge of a nervous breakthrough” and the slow-burner hit Enlightened.

In a Golden Globe winning performance, Laura Dern plays Amy Jellicoe, a flawed human being trying to put her life back together after a breakdown and philosophical awakening in rehabilitation. In re-entering the workforce she finds herself conflicted with evidence that she cannot morally ignore, and her idealism and humanness draws one of the most interesting female characters to play on the small screen in years. The Huffington Post stated that “she’s a different kind of TV character for a post-Sopranos age… because of all her flaws (not despite them),her desire to change herself is ultimately admirable and even noble… one of TV’s most compelling women.”

Lasting only two seasons, this critically acclaimed series Enlightened was created by Laura Dern (actress in The West Wing, Year of the Dog, The Master) and Mike White (writer for Freaks and Geeks, Orange County and Year of the Dog).
The HBO series was favoured by critics however was cancelled due to low ratings. Many critics wrote editorial pieces and letters to HBO arguing their case for a third series, but to no avail.

In discussion of Amy Jellico and enlightened women everywhere, Ronnie Scott (founder of The Lifted Brow, writer for The Australian, Dumbo Feather and lecturer in Graphic Narratives at the University of Melbourne), Elmo Keep (Radio National, ABC’s Hungry Beast and writer for The Age, The Monthly) and Amy Gray (ABC’s The Drum, The Age, The Guardian, and Lonely Planet) will set the conversational stage.

acmi.net.au