Point of departure

This compelling and sensitive dramatic portrayal of writer and political activist Jean Devanney provides an interesting view of Australia between the wars and the roles of the new literary scene during that period. The film dramatises sequences which examine Devanney’s important friendships with other women writers, notably Miles Franklin, Susannah Pritchard and Marjorie Barnard. A rebellious woman, Devanney was unable to resolve her conflicting roles of mother, writer and communist party member. She wrote political novels while also publishing “pot boilers” to support her family. Her first book “The Butcher’s Shop” with its theme of women’s rights to sexual and economic freedom was banned in New Zealand.