THE FILMMAKERS

Carolyn Strachan was born in Australia. At an early age, she was an apprentice on avant garde and documentary films and in 1972 she formed Reddirtfilms, a production company with Alessandro Cavadini which produced many films and videos with Aboriginal communities throughout Australia. These films were recognized at international film festivals and received European distribution and TV sales. More importantly, the films are part of the canon of Australian film and are important documents of Aboriginal culture and history.
Strachan was on the Board of the Sydney Filmmakers Cooperative, a national distribution company of independent film and founded a film workshop program for Sydney high school students at the Sydney Filmmakers Cooperative.
Strachan was a member of the editorial board of the Australian national film newspaper, "Filmnews". She was also a member of the "Feminist Film Workers" and under these auspices she wrote and designed an audio/visual presentation for the Sydney Film Festival entitled “Images of Women in Australian Feature Films”.
In the United States, Strachan has done lecture tours with Reddirtfilms. She has taught film (Hollywood, European and Australian national cinemas, Documentary) in New York at Fordham University, School of Visual Arts, City College and currently teaches film at Hunter College and at the Borough of Manhattan Community College.

Alessandro Cavadini was born in Italy and educated at Accademia di Belle Arti, Milano, Italy. He worked in design, theatre and film. He continued in these fields in Paris and then in Australia.
Apart from his own films with Reddirtfilms in which he produced, directed, shot, and edited films, he has been hired in various capacities, as a director (including "Muhammad Ali" for Australian TV), and as a Director of Photography, as sound recordist and as an editor for over 15 films in Paris, Australia and the United States.
Cavadini has worked as a journalist for "Nuovo Paese" (an Italian newspaper in Sydney), was a member of the board of the Sydney Filmmakers Cooperative and a member of the editorial board of "Filmnews".
In the United States Cavadini has taught film at Hofstra University and at Film and Video Arts.
Alessandro Cavadini continues to work in film and audio/visual installations and is the Audio Visual director at The Jewish Museum in New York.

Reddirtfilms is currently working on a series of short avant garde films.