Rhonda Small

Rhonda Small (5 November 1925 – 21 January 2014) was an Australian filmmaker who worked at the Australian Commonwealth Film Unit, first as an editor then later as a director, between 1958 and 1967.

Born in Melbourne, Australia, Small moved to the United Kingdom in 1967, where she continued to edit and direct films on a freelance basis for companies including Anvil Film and Recording Companies.

Career Small was a fourth-generation Australian, descended from a ship's doctor on her father's side and a Presbyterian minister from Perthshire on her mother's. Small trained as a physiotherapist in Sydney. In 1962 Small had a major entry at the Edinburgh Film Festival with Portrait of an Australian. Portrait of an Australian in 1962, Workout in 1968, and both Suicide Trail and Dead on Their Feet in 1991, as part of the Retrospectives programme celebrating 40 years of the festival. Small was known for being a highly stylistic film maker, bringing an interesting visual expression to her films even though they were made as government-produced information films.

Filmography Dead on Their Feet (1958) Canberra Today and Tomorrow (1959) Australian Weekend (1960) Suicide Trail (1960) Plant Quarantine at Work (1960) David and Jennifer Learn their Kurb Drill (1960) Cockpit Drill (1962) Portrait of an Australian (1962) Under Stress (1964) Life in Australia: Wagga Wagga (1965) Planning for Mental Health (1965) The Case for Books (1966) Into Your Hand (1966) Workout (1967) Sensibly to Sea (1968) Machine Age Medicare (1969) Engineering Rating (Work Study Rating Exercises) (1970) You, Your Pets and Neighbours (1972) Sweet Success (1973) Engineering Rating (Work Study Rating Exercises)] (1975) More Sweet Success (1977)

Editing Electric Revolution (Great Britain, 1984) Living with Cystic Fibrosis (Great Britain, 1984)

Later life

In 1967 Small moved to Wiltshire, England, to make a life with author and producer Stuart Legg. After his death in 1988 she remained in the United Kingdom.