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Catherine Duncan had an early career as a theatre actor, playwright and director of the Workers Theatre Group before becoming the first credited woman director in Australia since Paulette McDonagh. Believing in the possibilities of film and theatre to offer social critique, in the mid-1940s she sought out work in documentary film, notably with influential documentary filmmakers Joris Ivens on Indonesia Calling (1948) and John Heyer on Journey of a Nation (1947). After her brief tenure as writer-director at the National Film Board (precursor to the Commonwealth Film Unit), during which time she directed several films advertising immigration to Australia, Duncan left the unit due to ideological differences. In 1948, she moved to Paris where she continued to write on culture and film for many years.
Source: Wikidata , August 2023
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