‘Morgana’ is a nuanced character portrait of a conventional suburban housewife who reinvents herself as a feminist erotic film auteur and star at the age of 50. Through its fascinating protagonist ‘Morgana’, we explore diverse themes such as ageing and sexuality, the importance of community and belonging, and the power of social and personal narratives to both define and confine us. Read more…

 ‘Morgana’ co-directors Isabel Peppard and Josie Hess first met in 2013 at a punk gig in inner city Melbourne. Isabel had just directed a successful short animation ‘Butterflies’, starring Rachael Griffith and Nicholas Hope and Josie was working at Monster Pictures and just beginning her career in erotica/ethical porn. Over beers, rants about the film industry and smashing the patriarchy, a friendship was born and the two began collaborating on a series of projects almost immediately.

One day Josie approached Isabel to document the 50^th birthday of a female pornographer, Morgana Muses, who she was working for at the time. Morgana was to be suspended naked, in a large-scale bondage installation and then photographed as a birthday gift to herself. After meeting Morgana and learning that only 3 years earlier she had been a housewife in the suburbs of rural Australia, Isabel and Josie became fascinated by the character and her journey and approached Morgana to turn her life into a documentary film.

Initially it was only going to be a short documentary, but as the story and character progressed in unexpected ways, it grew into an intense feature length character study which led the team from the suburbs of rural Victoria, to the BDSM clubs of Berlin and beyond.