Episode #94 | Scott Quayle

Cinema Australia

In this episode of the Cinema Australia Podcast, I’m joined by Perth filmmaker Scott Quayle to discuss, The Grey Line - a powerful, eye-opening WA-shot documentary which tells the story of Helen Dwyer, also known as Ellen Collard. Taken from her parents during a time when Aboriginal children were removed from their families through Government mandated policy, Helen was raised by a middle-class family in the suburbs of Perth and believed she was their biological daughter until the age of 14. Despite being raised by a very loving foster family, Helen has never felt like she truly belonged. Not white, not black, she walks a very lonely grey line. This is her story of hurt, a longing to find her true self and to finally be accepted for who she is. As you will hear in this interview, Scott is a relative newcomer to documentary filmmaking of this scale. Scott has released two short films previously: the 2019 documentary, Coming Home: Isle of Man TT, and the short documentary SHIL about a public speaker with a stutter. With a background in corporate marketing, Scott now runs his own production company called Life Films creating one hour documentaries of everyday people for their family and friends. Having moved to Australia at the age of ten from the Isle of Man, Scott tells Cinema Australia that making The Grey Line has been a confronting experience which you will hear more of in this interview. Anyway… enjoy.