Rosalind Gillespie

Rosalind Gillespie, RN (1940 -2022)

Rosalind's early years were spent in Auckland where she qualified as a general nurse in 1960 and then as a midwife in Sydney in 1963. Upon her return to Auckland she met and married her life companion, Ian, in 1966.
Rosalind always said that from when she was a little girl, she wanted to be a writer. However, this was not regarded as acceptable in the 1950s and 60s in New Zealand.

Her passion never left her and by the time her two children were of school age she set about pursuing this. Learning to touch type, short writing courses, short pieces and a few plays followed as she felt her way.

Moving to Sydney in 1972 she decided that filmmaking was perhaps where her creative urges were best served. In 1973 Rosalind narrowly missed admission to the first intake of the newly established Australian Film and Television School. Various courses at the school provided her with the necessary skills and she made several short films.

By 1980 Rosalind had made "CLIMBERS," an allegory in contemporary dance of the international struggle for women's liberation with the theme of the dance drawn from the Japanese women's ascent of Mt Everest in 1975. In 1989 the film was awarded the Silver Plaque at the 16th Chicago International Dance Film Festival. Although made with a very small budget and using an amateur dance group, a great deal of its success was due to Rosalind's unique approach to the filming of dance.

In 1985 Rosalind's world was upended by the death of her teenage daughter in a climbing accident. She found hard work was of some help in coping with her grief. She worked as a production manager at Film Australia and commenced work on her next film, "HANDMAIDENS AND BATTLEAXES" which was released in 1990. It won the AFI award for best documentary that year. It is dedicated to her daughter, Alexia. Using rare archival footage, dramatic re-enactments, personal interviews and stills, Rosalind provides an insight into the reality of the nursing profession and its complex social, political, and professional dilemma. It is still relevant today with the chronic understaffing of hospitals and the low appreciation of quality nursing.

In 1995 Rosalind produced and directed the video, "ASK ANY WOMAN" for the Safe Women Liverpool Project. It examines women's experiences of using public spaces, many of which are poorly designed without consideration for the safety and specific needs of women users.
She also developed several films, sometimes with grants, up to the production stage. However, although she had offers of distribution, like other pioneering female film makers she was never able to attract sufficient finance for their production.

Rosalind was a feminist and a committed social egalitarian, and both are readily visible in the films she made or hoped to make.

Filmography

HANDMAIDENS AND BATTLEAXES » A major documentary classic from 1989, HANDMAIDENS AND BATTLEAXES offers a passionate global history of nursing, using Australia as a case study but with comparative input from American and British counterparts...