Pioneer. Icon. Mentor. Mum.
For over fifty years, Natalie Miller has been a force in film distribution, exhibition and production in Australia and not before time she is celebrating her life’s work with the publication of her memoir PROJECTING NATALIE MILLER, a beautiful coffee-table book that is filled with personal recollections, photos, newspaper articles and interviews with family members, plus tributes penned by some of the industry’s most respected leaders and movie directors.
The book provides informed firsthand accounts from Natalie, her husband, Henry, and her children, Ashley, Shaun and Quentin, as they recount her humble beginnings in their lounge room, all the way to the glittering lights of Cannes Film Festival each year – and how she managed life as a trailblazing working mother, who always put family first.
The book also includes deeply personal accounts from Natalie and her business partner of more than 30 years, Barry Peak, on the establishment of two of Australia’s best known art-house cinemas, the Longford Cinema and Cinema Nova.
Born in Elwood into a traditional Jewish immigrant family, Natalie Sharpe after graduating from school she studied a Bachelor of Arts at Melbourne University. In 1962 she married textile businessman Henry Miller. It was while she was working as a publicist for the Melbourne International Film Festival, a position she held for 17 years, that she saw a gap in the market for art-house and foreign films – and in 1967 she established her film distribution company, Sharmill Films, named for her family names – Sharpe and Miller.
Sharmill Films continues to be a powerhouse in film distribution with their current hit, The Triangle of Sadness up for a number of Academy awards, including Best Picture.
Natalie owned and managed the Longford Cinema in South Yarra for 17 years, which specialised in exhibiting independent foreign and Australian art house films, before its closure in 2001. In 1993, Natalie co-founded the Cinema Nova complex in Carlton, which is now one of the leading independent cinemas in Australia, a recognised “destination” cinema.
This magnificent book also cites intriguing stories about Natalie’s forays into film production and nurturing of nascent talent in exhibition, distribution and production.
PROJECTING NATALIE MILLER is a beautifully produced book, edited by Deborah Blashki- Marks, gorgeously designed by Rachel McCarthy, and published by Mind Film and Publishing. It is now available for purchase from ACMI and Readings.
