Miro Bilbrough

‘Bilbrough’s interpretation of the Melville story is a wry and brilliantly acted study of conformity and compassion.’  
- Mimi Brody, San Francisco International Film Festival 2001.

Synopsis
Bartleby, a legal clerk, refuses to comply with his duties. Drawn into his clerk’s unfathomable shadow, Marbeck has his notion of humanity starkly challenged. Adapted from Herman Melville’s classic story.

Credits
Writer and Directed by Miro Bilbrough
Producer Peter Sainsbury
Co-producer Karen Coulston
Director of Photography Jackie Farkas
Production Designer Anny Mokotow
Composer Amanda Brown
Editor Kathy Drayton
Costume Designer Terri Kibbler
Sound Designer Mark Ward
 
Cast               
Bartleby Robert Menzies
Marbeck John Gaden
Turkey Frank Whitten    
Nippers Marty Denniss
Gingernut Benhur Helwend
Grub Man Steve Rodgers         
Dimond Donald MacDonald

Produced by Eidolon Pty Ltd in association with The Australian Film Commission and SBS Independent.

Awards
Silver Mikeldi for Fiction, 43rd Bilbao International Festival of Documentary and Short Film 2001
Certificate of Merit, San Francisco Golden Gate Awards 2001
Gold Plaque for Cinematography of Distinction in Short Drama, NSW, and National Certificate of Distinction, Australian Cinematographers Association 2001

Festivals
2001
European Premier Bilbao International Short FF
San Francisco lFF
Australian Premiere, St Kilda FF
2002
Tampere International Short FF
2005
Hamburg International Short FF
Moscow IFF
St Petersburg IFF for Festivals

Broadcast SBS Television

Director’s Statement
‘I think there’s a Bartleby in everyone. That everyone fantasises about exercising the right of refusal that Bartleby does so elegantly, but that for most of us the social contract pulls us back from the brink. Bartleby simply keeps going, steps over the edge. He might turn back at any moment—but he doesn’t. I wanted to capture something of the mystery of being human. I wasn’t interested in supplying explanations or judgments. This is not a moral tale—the point is to stimulate an audience to wonder.’

‘Bartleby was the second of three films I made with Peter Sainsbury and his production company Eidolon Pty Ltd over about a decade. Peter was Head of Production for the British Film Institute in the late 70’s, making key films by Peter Greenaway, Terence Davis, Sally Potter and Derek Jarman. In 1989 he was made Head of Film Development at the Australian Film Commission, and under his direction the AFC financed the early films of Tracey Moffat, Bob Connelly and Robyn Anderson’s famous Black Harvest, Geoffrey Wright’s Romper Stomper and Jocelyn Moorehouse’s Proof. By the time I met Peter he was an independent producer of the take-no-prisoners school. His radical thinking and imaginative generosity allowed me to flourish as a filmmaker.’