—The Many Lives of Florence Broadhurst
Television Premiere 9:00pm Sunday 18 November 2007 on SBS TV
“Almost everyone thinks they know who I was and, of course, everyone thinks they know who killed me...”
But what acclaimed director Gillian Armstrong reveals in this spirited and highly original documentary is that almost nothing about Florence Broadhurst was at it seemed.
When she was found murdered in her studio in 1977, few guessed her age, let alone her origins. For invention and reinvention were the keys to this flamboyant design pioneer, whose signature use of colour and pattern has captured the world’s imagination.
Born into a farming family in outback Australia in 1899, by her mid-twenties she was a singer and dancer in Shanghai, setting up her own performing arts academy. By the 1930s, she ran a fashion boutique in London’s Mayfair under the name Madame Pellier, before sweeping into Sydney society with a whole new persona - as a painter and charity queen, with a husband (her second) and a son.
But it was in her last incarnation that she really made her mark, shaking up conservative Australia with her bold, exotic wallpapers.
Now, more 100 years after her birth, her work has been rediscovered by the world’s leading fashion, interior and homeware designers and her prints are in huge demand internationally.
This is a celebration of the many lives of one larger-than-life woman—gutsy, head-strong, imposing, complicated, and almost impossibly glamorous. Told in a style that’s vibrant and unconventional, with more than a touch of humour and irreverence.
A lot like Florence herself.
“I’d always been told that I was born before my time. Oh, surely to God, the times can just catch up.”
A Film Australia/Becker Entertainment Production produced in association with the NSW Film and Television Office and SBS Independent. A film by Gillian Armstrong.
Click to see production stills
Photographer: Anne Zahalka
More about Unfolding Florence - The Many Lives of Florence Broadhurst.
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Executive Producer
Mark Hamlyn
Producer
Charles Hannah, Sue Clothier (Producers), Nicola Lawrence (Associate Producer)
Director
Gillian Armstrong
Writer
Katherine Thomson
Classification
PG (infrequent mild coarse language, mild themes)
For Teachers
Level: Secondary, Tertiary, Lifelong Learning
Curriculum links include English, Media, Visual and Creative Arts and SOSE/HSIE at school level. Also relevant to textiles and design.
Download Teachers Notes here 
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Press Releases
28/8/2006 - Unfolding Florence wins Australian Writers’ Guild Award (Microsoft Word Document, 198Kb)
30/11/2005 - Armstrong Documentary Selected for Sundance (Microsoft Word Document, 457Kb)
What the Critics Have Said
“enjoyable and expressive…Armstrong brings an exuberant and colourful approach to an equally colourful character…”
Anthony Kaufman, Indiewire website
“…a remarkable tale told with respect and sisterly joie de vivre.”
Frank Hatherley, Screen Daily website
“thoroughly original, whimsical documentary bio…slightly wacky vignettes, built on archival stills, have a quirky charm…lively and interesting.”
Sura Wood, Hollywood Reporter, USA
“a documentary with a difference… Using old photographs, archival footage and re-enactments, the film is as much concerned to capture the adventurous spirit of its subject as it is to record the events of her life… an affectionate if not always complimentary portrait of a woman for whom living was always a work of art in progress”
The Age
“An ingenious mix of archival material, interviews, drama re-enactment and animation, Armstrong’s film is a charming and, at times, wacky portrait of an intriguing Australian woman.”
IF Magazine