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The Office Picnic
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Wikipedia article
'The Office Picnic' is a 1972 Australian comedy film directed by Tom Cowan. It was entered into the 8th Moscow International Film Festival.
Plot summary
A group of public servants go on an annual picnic. Two of them, Peter and Elly, disappear.
Cast
*John Wood as Clyde
*Kate Fitzpatrick as Mara
*Philip Deamer as Peter
*Gaye Steele as Elly
*Ben Gabriel as Mr Johnson
*Max Cullen as Jim O'Casey
*Anne Tait
*Francis Flannigan
*Bryon Kennedy
*Graham Richards
Production
Cowan got the idea to make the film while walking through the bush during shooting of a documentary in the Victorian countryside.David Stratton, 'The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival', Angus & Robertson, 1980 p184-185 He says he was also influenced by the novels of Patrick White and the films of Antonioni.[http://www.signis.net/malone/tiki-index.php?page=Tom+Cowan&PHPSESSID=b93d018e7a4b06c1e8af98932b66a02f Interview with Tom Cowan, 12 November 1998] accessed 11 Oct 2012
The film was shot on 35mm using a budget in part funded by the Experimental Film and Television Fund. It started in January 1972 but the money ran out during filming and there was a hiatus until filming resumed in April. The shoot took fifteen days in all.
Release
The film was successfully previewed at Toorak and for a time it looked as though it would be distributed by British Empire Films but in the end most commercial screenings were arranged by the director.
References
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