Meet the Handbags behind the film

Monica and Phoebe are the dames behind the production of Handbag. Meet them, greet them, buy them a drink! Or if you prefer a more online approach, contact them.

Monica Davidson, writer and director

Monica has been a writer and filmmaker for over thirty years. She created her first short documentary in 1989, and directed a range of shorts and music videos before setting up her own production company Twoshotmedia in 1994. Through Twoshot she specialised in creating funded documentaries and branded content for the community, NGO and government sector. Her clients included NSW ICAC, Autism Spectrum Australia and Learning + Teaching Scotland. So as not to interfere with the work she made for paying clients, Monica started a second production company Girlhouse Films in 2004, and directed the short documentary Lesbians on the Loose, which debuted at Melbourne Queer Film Festival in 2007. Monica closed Twoshotmedia in 2014 after 20 happy and profitable years in order to focus on Handbag, Girlhouse Films and her work as a creative industries business advisor through the organisation Creative Plus Business.

Phoebe Hart, producer and co-director

Phoebe completed her PhD at QUT in 2009, producing as part of her thesis a long form documentary on people living with intersex conditions entitled Orchids: My Intersex Adventure. This multi-award winning film premiered at the Brisbane International Film Festival in 2010 where it was voted the top film of the festival. Since then, the film has travelled the world at numerous film festivals, gathering many awards along the way, and was broadcast in Australia on the ABC in January 2012. Previous to this achievement, Phoebe co-directed a part-observational part-essay style documentary series on the state of higher education in Australia for SBS called Downunder Grads, which screened in March 2008. She directed and co-wrote a half hour documentary called Roller Derby Dolls, which premiered in a prime time slot on ABC1 in September 2008. The film follows a group of unconventional women who play the rough-and-tumble sport of roller derby. For more information please visit www.hartflicker.com.