WHAT‘S HAPPENING

News & Events

Ladies in Black stars hit the red carpet for SAFC preview screening

18 June 2024

The South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) rolled out the red carpet for SA made and SAFC supported ABC series Ladies in Black at a preview screening event last Friday 14 June, presented by the SAFC with Bunya Productions.

Held at the Piccadilly in North Adelaide, the special event saw members of the show’s creative team, cast and crew, SAFC staff and members of the SAFC’s Screen Circle advocacy group come together to celebrate the new six-part drama. Stars Jessica De Gouw, Clare Hughes and Azizi Donnelly, SA actor Huw Higginson and producer Angela Littlejohn were among the more than 120 guests in attendance.

Other special guests included The Hon Louise Miller Frost MP, SAFC Board Members Angela Heesom and Lauren Hillman and distinguished members of the SAFC Screen Circle and members of the SA screen industry.

Ladies in Black premiered on ABC TV and iview on Sunday, 16 June and has already attracted rave reviews from critics, with Screenhub giving it four stars and praising the “terrific” performances and “beautiful” production design, and Mediaweek calling it “close to the best local drama of the year”. 

Filmink says it’s “slickly produced and tightly paced”, adding: “with a likeable, engaging cast of main players, and full-bodied support from a great roster of high-profile local performers, the very stylish Ladies In Black is Aussie drama from very close to the top shelf.”

Directed by Gracie Otto and with a cast led by renowned actors Debi Mazar (Younger, Entourage) and Miranda Otto (The Clearing, Talk To Me), Ladies in Black follows on from the 2018 film of the same name and draws inspiration from the much-loved 1993 novel. It takes place six months after the events of the original story, where the women are embracing more freedom and independence but, amidst a backdrop of major societal shifts, are forced to confront personal choices and challenges which cast shadows over their once cherished dreams.

Filmed in late 2023 around Adelaide and at the SAFC’s Adelaide Studios, the production employed more than 330 South Australian cast, crew and creatives both behind the scenes and in front of the camera, including 130 SA crew, 10 SA Heads of Department, 30 SA cast and 175 extras and many SA service providers and suppliers.

Ladies In Black is the second production to have been made under the ABC SAFC Content Pipeline Fund, which was recently extended with a further $7.2 million investment from the State Government over three years.

Ladies in Black is now streaming on ABC iview.

See the red carpet photos from the event below.

Photos by Emma Brasier.