Catherine Simpson Catherine Simpson i(A92255 works by)
Gender: Female
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Works By

Preview all
1 1 Australian Eco-Horror and Gaia's Revenge : Animals, Eco-Nationalism and the 'New Nature' Catherine Simpson , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: Studies in Australasian Cinema , vol. 4 no. 1 2010; (p. 43-54)

'We hear so much about extinction in debates around climate change. But what about those animals that go feral and then return – bigger, hungrier and angrier – to wreak revenge on humans who may have done them injustice? Using an eco-postcolonial framework, this article examines how a number of exploitation horror films have dealt with environmental topics and issues of trespass. In particular, I examine the agency of animals – crocs, pigs, thylacines and marsupial werewolves – in some key Australian eco-horror films from the last 30 years: Long Weekend (Eggleston, 1978), Razorback (Mulcahy, 1984), Dark Age (Nicholson, 1987), Howling III: the Marsupials (Mora, 1987), Rogue (Greg McLean, 2007), Black Water (Nerlich & Traucki, 2007) and Dying Breed (Dwyer 2008). On the one hand, these films extend postcolonial anxieties over settler Australian notions of belonging, while on the other, they signify a cultural shift. The animals portrayed have an uncanny knack of adapting and hybridizing in order to survive, and thus they (the films and the animals) force us to acknowledge more culturally plural forms of being. In particular, these films unwittingly emphasize what Tim Low has termed the ‘new Nature’: an emerging ethic that foregrounds the complex and dynamic interrelationships of animals with humans.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.
1 “Take it All Off Baby, Take it All Off” – The Australian Kamasutra : Love Serenade (Shirley Barrett, 1996) Catherine Simpson , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: Senses of Cinema , no. 52 2009;
— Review of Love Serenade Shirley Barrett , 1996 single work film/TV
1 Tinkering at the Borders : Lucky Miles and the Diasporic (No) Road Movie Catherine Simpson , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Diasporas of Australian Cinema 2009; (p. 29-40) 'During the late 1990s and early 2000s, independent political documentaries, including Clara Law's Letters to Ali (2004) and Tom Zubrycki's Molly and Mobarak (2003), contested the prevailing anti-asylum-seeker discourse in Australian media. Australian feature film-making, however, had been noticeably silent on this issue until the release of Michael James Rowland's debut, Lucky Miles (2007). This film revolves around the quest of three exiles to seek civilization, resist capture and survive in the desert after being abandoned by an Indonesian fishing vessel in remote Western Australia. Pursued by an Army Reservist unit that seems more interested in fishing and football than the (seemingly impossible) task of maintaining border integrity, the three exiles become more and more lost as they wander deeper into the desert.' (p. 29)
1 Introduction : Rethinking Diaspora - Australian Cinema, History and Society Anthony Lambert , Renata Murawska , Catherine Simpson , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Diasporas of Australian Cinema 2009; (p. 15-27) 'The inspiration for Diasporas of Australian Cinema emanates from the diverse range of films dealing with diasporic experience produced in Australia over the past century. The vital relationship between migration and the moving image is often melancholically invoked, as in films such as Michael Bates' acclaimed short film The Projectionist (2002), in which a projectionist traipses through Sydney's darkened laneways as haunting memories flash across the surface of city buildings. Sergei Rachmaninoff's symphonic poem Isle of the Dead accompanies this 'gallery of ghostly visions' that includes images of migrant workers, a 'woman in pain', a 'man in despair' and refugees who have been forcibly displaced (Much Ado Films 2002). Using the live-action animation technique of 'Pixilation', these poetic images render urban Sydney an uncanny space, while at the same time hinting at both the animated origins of cinema and the imminent death of the cinema projectionist - a last vestige of modernity. The Projectionist exemplifes the ways film can evoke memories of things past, but shows how it can also be a way to make sense of the present and to imagine the future. In this case, the migrant projectionist's origins are never named. He is the modern Everyman who embodies the traumas of the twentieth century, and the subsequent cultural formations that have developed within a specifcally Australian context. While these images haunt the projectionist, they are also liberating as they are cast out and shared with others, a diasporic visibility that becomes part of our collective memory.' (p15)
1 6 y separately published work icon Diasporas of Australian Cinema Catherine Simpson (editor), Renata Murawska (editor), Anthony Lambert (editor), Bristol : Intellect , 2009 Z1762587 2009 anthology criticism (taught in 1 units) 'Diasporas of Australian Cinema is the first volume of essays to focus on diasporic hybridity and cultural diversity in Australian film-making over the past century. Topics include, post-war documentaries and migration, Asian-Australian subjectivity, cross-cultural romance, 'wogsploitation' comedy, and post-ethnic cinema. This collection also provides a comprehensive filmography making it a useful reference text for scholars of Australian film and cultural studies. The book is a vital contribution to the burgeoning international body of critical work on diasporic cinemas.' (Publisher's blurb)
1 Anzac's 'Others' : 'Cruel Huns' and 'Noble Turks' Antje Gnida , Catherine Simpson , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Diasporas of Australian Cinema 2009; (p. 93-102)

'War films are not an obvious starting point to discuss Australia's diasporic cinema. Nevertheless, portrayals of the enemy draw attention to the nationalizing discourses which serve to maintain an assimilationist model of the nation. While neither German nor Turkish identities figure prominently in Australia's contemporary multicultural cinema, these national 'types' play a more significant role in Australian visual culture produced in the first part of the twentieth century. German, and to a lesser extent Turkish, villains feature in numerous films produced in Australia during both world wars. In this chapter, we argue that in the short term Australian film portrayals of the 'the cruel Hun' and 'noble Turk' encouraged glorification of soldiers in Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), while in the long term these perpetuated a more nationalistic construction of the Anzac legend' (Publication abstract)
1 Reconfiguring Rusticity : Feminizing Australian Cinema's Country Towns Catherine Simpson , 2008 single work criticism
— Appears in: Studies in Australasian Cinema , vol. 2 no. 1 2008; (p. 47-59)
1 Antipodean Automobility and Crash : Treachery, Trespass and Transformation of the Open Road Catherine Simpson , 2006 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Humanities Review , September no. 39/40 2006; An examination of the function of car accidents in Australian film and in the Australian landscape (through roadside memorials).
1 Beyond Glitter to Grief Catherine Simpson , 2005 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Humanities Review , January-February no. 34 2005;
— Review of Australian Cinema after Mabo Felicity Collins , Therese Davis , 2004 single work criticism
1 Volatile Vehicles : When Women Take the Wheel : Domestic Journeying & Vehicular Moments in Contemporary Australian Cinema Catherine Simpson , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: Womenvision : Women and the Moving Image in Australia 2003; (p. 197-210) An overview of road movies involving women film-makers and women protagonists.
1 "This Land is Mine/ This Land is Me" : Reconciling Harmonies in One Night the Moon Fiona Probyn , Catherine Simpson , 2002 single work criticism
— Appears in: Senses of Cinema , March-April no. 19 2002;
X