Conference-ville is 1984 Australian TV movie based on a 1976 novel by Frank Moorhouse.Ed. Scott Murray, Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995, Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p30
Plot Delegates attend a multi-racial UNESCO conference. Dr Cindy Broughton is raped by three Aboriginal delegates but refuses to press charges.
Cast John Gaden as Ian Selfridge Robyn Nevin as Dr Cindy Broughton Ray Barrett Kevin Miles Robin Ramsay Mercia Deane-Johns John Frawley
Reception The Sydney Morning Herald said "it's not a bad production nor is it badly acted... fairly enjoyable. There is some funny lines parodying the jargon used by academics." Richard Coleman in his TV Extra column in the Sydney Morning Herald criticised the adaptation and wrote "subtleties of the book - an internal monologue of a liberal-lefty performing the rituals of a conference in the early Fraser years were thrown overboard for the juicier dramatic possibilities of rape." The Age's Dennis Pryor says "It was gripping television, full of surprise, impeccable in direction and casting. I cannot recall any other piece of Australian television drama with such a successful mixture of satire, melodrama and romance." Matthew Bolton in the Age'''s Green Guide'' begins his review "The television adaptation by Frank Moorhouse of his book Conference-ville must rate as one of the best pieces of Australian drama to grace our screens for some time. Brilliantly scripted, the program is entertaining, moving, intelligent and very Australian."
References
External links
Conference-ville at AusLit Conference-ville at Screen Australia