Starstruck: Before and after restoration

The NFSA restoration of Starstruck premiered at the 2015 Adelaide International Film Festival.

Teenage cousins Angus (Ross O’Donovan) and Jackie Mullens (Jo Kennedy) live in the Harbour View Hotel, beneath the Harbour Bridge in Sydney’s The Rocks. 

Jackie is 18 and wants to be a singer; Angus is 14 and writes songs, while avoiding school and dreaming up wacky schemes to get his cousin noticed. The brewery wants to repossess the pub, so the teenagers set out to win a national talent contest, with a cash prize of $25,000.

Producer David Elfick, cinematographer Russell Boyd and director Gillian Armstrong all contributed to the restoration process. It was complicated as there were two versions of the film: a 105-minute Australian version and a 95-minute international one. 

The NFSA did not have complementary picture and sound components, but with the assistance of David Elfick, we were able to source the international soundtrack to match the interpositive we hold in the NFSA collection.