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Airdate: Strong Female Lead

SBS documentary argues Australia's first female PM was politically persecuted on the basis of gender.

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Documentary Strong Female Lead explores sexism, power and misogyny experienced by Australia’s first female prime minister, Julia Gillard.

The film by Northern Pictures has already received a best documentary nomination in the 2021 AACTA Awards and is a finalist in the Documentary Australia Foundation Awards.

Director Tosca Looby, said: “Recent events have blown the lid on a toxic culture for women working in Australia’s parliament. There is now no denying that women are ridiculed and threatened because they aren’t men. There is a deep and continuing resistance to women holding positions of leadership – especially the top job.

“It has long been clear to us that Gillard’s story needed to be told in documentary form: a disciplined, hard-working, beautifully edited, cleverly wrought film made up of 100% archive, spanning the three years and three days of her tenure. Strong Female Lead does not grandstand or rely on the benefit of hindsight, it makes its point – that Gillard was politically persecuted on the basis of gender – using the evidence of the day.”

SBS Head of Documentaries, Joseph Maxwell, said: “Strong Female Lead explores vital issues and ask tough questions in a raw, unflinching manner. We are very proud that this powerful film is kicking off Australia Uncovered. It’s the first of eight unmissable documentaries that captures what SBS is known for, exploring contemporary Australia in unique, bold and entertaining ways.”

One in three Australian women experience discrimination or harassment in the workplace. Australia’s first and only female prime minister, Julia Gillard, was one of them.

Premiering 8:30pm Sunday 12 September, Strong Female Lead explores the gender politics during Julia Gillard’s term as Australia’s first and still only female Prime Minister. Looking back at Julia Gillard’s three-year term in office, the landmark documentary is an unvarnished portrait of the nation’s response when a woman took the top job.

People celebrated the long awaited election of a female prime minister, but Gillard’s honeymoon period was particularly short lived. Gender based attacks from the media, parliamentary colleagues and the public were shocking in their violence and ferocity.

Exploring the themes of sexism, power and misogyny, Strong Female Lead examines the issue of prejudice against women in leadership and its ongoing impact on female participation in our parliament, and society more broadly.

Strong Female Lead is a Northern Pictures production for SBS. Principal production investment from Screen Australia in association with Screen NSW. In partnership with the Documentary Australia Foundation.

The documentary will be available to stream on SBS On Demand with subtitles in five languages: Simplified Chinese, Arabic, Traditional Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean.

Strong Female Lead will screen at the 68th Sydney Film Festival (3-14 November 2021) as part of the Documentary Australia Foundation Award for Australian Documentary strand.

8:30pm Sunday 12 September on SBS.

3 Responses

  1. I watched this and have to say the vitriol really shocked me. People say it was because she wasn’t a good PM but did that really justify all that vulgar language, sexually denigrating cartoons and intense scrutiny at her personal life?

  2. This has always has been such a copout.
    She wasn’t persecuted because she is was a woman. She was disliked by the public and internally because she and the party she led was incompetent.

    Gladys has tough moments as nsw premier, and has never once resorted to this line. She is what I call a strong female lead. I can’t wait until we have a great female PM so this argument about Gillard can die.

    Credit where credit is due – her work on mental health and her advocacy for women’s issues is great – but she has to have some humility too and recognize her party was a mess throughout those 6 years. It’s not a conspiracy.

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