Download the ‘In her words’ soundscape as a text document.
When these women raise their voices, it’s an act of rebellion and solidarity. In Christmas in Connecticut (1945), when Barbara Stanwyck says she’s “tired of being pushed around… being told what to do… dancing to everyone else’s tune”, she could be speaking for the women that Hollywood labelled as stars. Since the beginning of cinema, women have been branded beautiful, glamorous, marvellous and magnificent. They’ve been admired and idolised; they’ve become goddesses.
But they’ve also been forced to question how they look and even who they are. Lea Seydoux asked, “Will I be good enough?” and Bette Davis could “never stand [her] face”. Despite being “authors of themselves”, as Isabella Rossellini puts it, or, like Glenn Close, wanting to “tell stories that have something… to say about women”, they’ve been told their stories won’t sell. They’ve had to defy expectations and the industry. Laverne Cox achieved success even though, as she says, “When I was a kid… I never saw myself” on screen. Michaela Coel stated, “I tend to ignore the label and just keep doing what I’m doing.”
By sampling talk shows, movies, acceptance speeches and interviews, Chiara Costanza has created a soundscape that features stars across time declaring, in one voice, that women be heard, not just admired.
‘In her words’ uses excerpts from the following sources
Cicely Tyson, Strong Black Leads, Netflix, 2021
Glenn Close, Actress Roundtable, The Hollywood Reporter, 2019
Lauren Bacall on The Dick Cavett Show, ABC (USA), 1979
Noni Hazelhurst at the TV Week Logies, Channel Nine, 2016
Deborah Mailman, Interview with Margaret Pomeranz and Graeme Blundell, Foxtel Arts, 2015
Laverne Cox on TODAY!, NBCUniversal, 2015
Cate Blanchett, CNN Talk Asia, CNN, 2016
Nicole Kidman, Actress Roundtable, The Hollywood Reporter, 2019
Léa Seydoux interview, Kjersti Flaa, 2015
Marion Cotillard, Cannes Film Festival, Variety, 2021
Frances McDormand, Cannes Film Festival, The Hollywood Reporter, 2015
Rachel Weisz, Actress Roundtable, The Hollywood Reporter, 2019
Toni Collette interview, 7:30 Report, ABC News (Aus), 2015
Viola Davis, Strong Black Leads, Netflix, 2021
Shonda Rhimes, The Future of Storytelling, TED, 2017
Leah Purcell, AACTA Awards, Foxtel, 2022
Selma Blair on The Drew Barrymore Show, CBS Media Ventures, 2022
Viola Davis on The View, ABC (USA), 2022
Judy Davis interview, ABC News (AUS), 2017
Claudia Karvan, Gordon St Tonight, ABC1, 2012
Cate Blanchett, CNN Talk Asia, CNN, 2016
Jessica Mauboy, The Project, Network Ten, 2021
Michaela Coel interview, British GQ, 2020
Barbara Stanwyck, Christmas in Conneticut, Warner Bros, 2020
Jennifer Lopez, on Actress Roundtable, The Hollywood Reporter, 2020
Laverne Cox, Reflected On Screen, IMDb, 2020
Bette Davis, Hollywood Greats, BBC, 1999
Eartha Kitt, All By Myself: The Eartha Kitt Story, 'Bayerischer Rundfunk, Blackwood Prods. Inc.,1982
Glenn Close, 101 Dalmations, Walt Disney Pictures, 1996
Jennifer Coolidge, BUILD Series, Yahoo Entertainment, 2020
Julia Stiles, 10 Things I Hate About You,Touchstone Pictures, Mad Chance Productions, 1999
Isabella Rossellini interview, Popcorn with Peter Travers, 2018
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Collection
Not in ACMI's collection
Previously on display
1 October 2023
Australian Centre for the Moving Image
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
193578
Curatorial section
Goddess