Arts Foundation 2019 Interview

We talk with the 2019 Arts Foundation Laureate receiving the Dame Gaylene Preston Award for Documentary Film Makers.

“How did you first get interested in documentaries?

I remember I used to watch the Wonderful World of Disney on a Sunday night when I was 11 or 12. They were traditional nature documentaries, Jacques Cousteau, that sort of thing. I remember sitting there watching, saying to Mum: “How do you think they get that in the picture? How do you think that happens? Because this isn’t live”. My mum said, “I don’t know, but we could try and find out”. I remember then thinking, I want to do this.

Where does your creative inspiration come from?

My mum is a really, really beautiful person. You see, in my family, there are the Brettkellys, opinionated, noisy, and then there are the Finns, which is my mother’s maiden name. She’s this gentle, really creative, quietly driven person. I’m a real Brettkelly but I get my creativity from her.

My parents gave me the drive to look beyond myself, to wander and wonder … wonder at the world, wonder about everybody, and how we all fit together (or should fit together or don’t). That curiosity is the thing that keeps me going.”

Source: 31.08.2019 Arts Foundation An interview with Pietra Brettkelly