Catriona McKenzie is an Indigenous film maker who has directed films including ‘Box’, ‘Bunge’, ‘Road’ and, most recently, her first feature film ‘Satellite Boy’. She has also worked on episodes of several television series including ‘My Place’, ‘Dance Academy’, ‘The Circuit’, ‘Message Stick’ and ‘Redfern Now’. In this interview Catriona talks about the circumstances of her upbringing, her education and her career. In the excerpt below she describes the joys of her work as a director.
Because I write and I direct and I sort of produce, I’m across the financing as well. And so from writing I use one side of my brain, and then I’m raising money and that’s the opposite side of my brain, and then when I’m directing, I’m working with big bunches of people and I get to play with actors. Like we’re playing; we’re like in a big sandpit and we’d gather all of the stuff and there’s this real imaginative sort of process, and it’s also physically taxing and you’re on your feet for too many hours a day. And then you get into the edit suite and you take all of that stuff, all those bits of string, and you just have to cut it together and make it the best it can be. And I think I like directing because it allows me to use all those different parts of my brain and all those different parts of my personality. To take an idea and see it through is unbelievably satisfying so I think that’s what I really love about it. Being a filmmaker, every day it’s like a therapy session that I get paid to go to. It helps me understand what it is to be human; and it’s a real privilege and I’m blessed beyond measure to be able to do it. I’m just so happy; I wouldn’t give it up for the world.
