{ "id": "ep6c3c2v6w", "slug": "flirting-1991-film", "title": "Flirting (1991 film)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.coming-of-age-films", "label": "Coming-of-age films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.coming-of-age-films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.coming-of-age-films.coming-of-age-films-released-before-2000", "label": "Coming-of-age films released before 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.coming-of-age-films.coming-of-age-films-released-before-2000" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.other.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Other (Canada, Oceania, polar regions, oceans) · 1946 to 2000: Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.other.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "path": [ { "id": "geo.other", "label": "Other (Canada, Oceania, polar regions, oceans)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.other" }, { "id": "geo.other.t1946", "label": "Other (Canada, Oceania, polar regions, oceans) · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.other.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.other.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.other.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.other.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.other.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.other.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.other.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.other.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.other.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.other.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.other.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Flirting (1991) is John Duigan's Australian coming-of-age sequel to The Year My Voice Broke, starring Noah Taylor and Thandie Newton at 1965 boarding schools; it won the 1990 AFI Best Film award.", "snippet": "Flirting (1991) is John Duigan's Australian coming-of-age sequel to The Year My Voice Broke, starring Noah Taylor and Thandie Newton at 1965 boarding schools; it won the 1990 AFI Best Film award.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.coming-of-age-films.coming-of-age-films-released-before-2000", "markdown": "# Flirting (1991 film)\n\n**Flirting** is a 1991 Australian coming-of-age comedy-drama written and directed by John Duigan, and the sequel to his 1987 film *The Year My Voice Broke*. Set in 1965 at two [single-sex boarding schools](https://www.edgepedia.org/single-sex-boarding-schools) separated by a lake, it follows the schoolboy Danny Embling ([Noah Taylor](https://www.edgepedia.org/noah-taylor)) and his romance with Thandiwe Adjewa (Thandie Newton), a Ugandan girl facing racism at the nearby girls' school. Produced by Kennedy Miller, it won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Film for 1990 and gave early screen roles to Thandie Newton, Nicole Kidman, and [Naomi Watts](https://www.edgepedia.org/naomi-watts).[1](https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/item/flirting-nfsa-digital-restoration) • [2](https://australiancinema.info/db/2003/flirting.html)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Director and writer | John Duigan, who wrote the script about seven years before *The Year My Voice Broke*[3](https://www.filmink.com.au/ballad-youth-making-flirting/) |\n| Production and release | Produced in 1990 by Kennedy Miller; Australian release 21 March 1991; running time 99 minutes[4](https://australiancinema.info/db/2008/flirting.html) |\n| Producers | Terry Hayes, George Miller, and Doug Mitchell[2](https://australiancinema.info/db/2003/flirting.html) |\n| Principal cast | Noah Taylor (Danny Embling), Thandie Newton (Thandiwe Adjewa), Nicole Kidman (Nicola Radcliffe), Naomi Watts (Janet Odgers)[2](https://australiancinema.info/db/2003/flirting.html) |\n| AFI Awards (1990) | Wins for Best Film, Best Achievement in Editing (Robert Gibson), and Best Achievement in Production Design (Roger Ford); nominations for cinematography, sound, and supporting actor[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101898/awards/) |\n| Box office | Australia: $1,635,044; United States: $2,415,396[2](https://australiancinema.info/db/2003/flirting.html) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101898/) |\n| Restoration | Digitally restored by the National Film and Sound Archive; premiered at Arc cinema, Canberra, in August 2017[1](https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/item/flirting-nfsa-digital-restoration) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Story and cast\n\nThe year is 1965 in rural Australia. Danny Embling, first met in *The Year My Voice Broke*, is now in Form 5 at St. Alban's College, a boys' boarding school where the intellectual, stuttering outsider is considered \"the school dag\" and bears the brunt of cruel taunts.[8](https://bonzadb.com.au/production/view/140) Across the lake sits [Cirencester](https://www.edgepedia.org/cirencester), a girls' boarding school; during a rugby match Danny meets Thandiwe Adjewa, the daughter of an African nationalist academic newly posted to Canberra, who is ostracised by the other girls because of the color of her skin. The two recognize kindred spirits, and through the relationship Danny learns more about life and about himself.[8](https://bonzadb.com.au/production/view/140)\n\nThe romance develops through shy glances in chapel, an inter-school debating competition, and a stolen kiss outside a school dance Danny is prevented from attending because of the length of his hair.[9](https://metromagazine.org.au/flirting/) Rotten Tomatoes' synopsis notes that the quietly developing romance is threatened by racial prejudice and Danny's awkwardness in affairs of the heart.[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/flirting) The film's engagement with 1960s racism is explicit: in one dormitory scene the girls dismiss talk of Uganda, and Thandiwe's final letter to Danny reveals that she and her family have fled to Nairobi, underscoring how world politics impinge on private life in Australia.[9](https://metromagazine.org.au/flirting/)\n\n**Casting.** Thandie Newton, in her first significant screen role, plays Thandiwe; [Nicole Kidman](https://www.edgepedia.org/nicole-kidman) appears as Nicola Radcliffe, a senior at the girls' school, and Naomi Watts as Janet Odgers.[1](https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/item/flirting-nfsa-digital-restoration) • [2](https://australiancinema.info/db/2003/flirting.html) Noah Taylor reprised Danny Embling from the earlier film; Duigan has said the character was \"only loosely based\" on his own boarding-school experiences, a way of expressing the evolution of some of his ideas.[9](https://metromagazine.org.au/flirting/)\n\n## Origins and production\n\nFlirting was written before the film it is known as a sequel to. Duigan told FilmInk that he wrote it \"about seven years before\" *The Year My Voice Broke*, but could not get it financed at the time; after the earlier film opened well, he was able to move on to Flirting.[3](https://www.filmink.com.au/ballad-youth-making-flirting/) A scholarly account of Kennedy Miller's production methods likewise records that, unlike the company's typical collaborative writing process, Duigan had written the script before that of the earlier film, which he conceived as a prequel; the two features are exceptions to the firm's usual method, though they reflect its willingness to grant creative latitude to personnel working under its umbrella.[7](https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/287763857.pdf)\n\nThe film was made under the Kennedy Miller umbrella with producers Terry Hayes, George Miller, and Doug Mitchell, and photographed by Geoff Burton.[2](https://australiancinema.info/db/2003/flirting.html) Filming took place from April to May 1989, with locations in Sydney, Bathurst, and Braidwood in [New South Wales](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-south-wales).[4](https://australiancinema.info/db/2008/flirting.html) Duigan recalled a modest but comfortable shoot: \"We didn't have a big budget, but we knew the parameters,\" with no trailers, just an old bus for cast costuming and makeup. Nicole Kidman, he noted, \"just mucked in with all the others,\" and she and Naomi Watts became good friends during production.[3](https://www.filmink.com.au/ballad-youth-making-flirting/)\n\n## Release and reception\n\nFlirting was released in Australia on 21 March 1991 and distributed by Warner Bros.[4](https://australiancinema.info/db/2008/flirting.html) In the United States, the Samuel Goldwyn Company released it in November 1992, with a wide release on 14 November 1992.[4](https://australiancinema.info/db/2008/flirting.html) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101898/) It earned $1,635,044 in Australia, where it was the fourth largest Australian film of 1991, and $2,415,396 in the United States.[4](https://australiancinema.info/db/2008/flirting.html) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101898/)\n\nAt the 1990 Australian Film Institute Awards the film won Best Film (for [George Miller](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-miller), Doug Mitchell, and Terry Hayes), Best Achievement in Editing (Robert Gibson), and Best Achievement in Production Design (Roger Ford), with nominations for Best Achievement in [Cinematography](https://www.edgepedia.org/cinematography) (Geoff Burton), Best Achievement in Sound, and Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Bartholomew Rose).[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101898/awards/) At the 1992 Boston Film Festival it won the Festival Prize for Best Independent Film and the Audience Award, both for John Duigan.[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101898/awards/) On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 96% Tomatometer from 25 reviews, with a critics consensus calling it \"a teen movie worth watching, thanks to emotionally engaging performances and an endearing script\"; Variety's review called it \"miles ahead of the average teen film.\"[10](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/flirting)\n\n## Place in Duigan's career and legacy\n\nFlirting was the second part of an intended trilogy about Danny Embling, and Duigan's final credit with Kennedy Miller.[2](https://australiancinema.info/db/2003/flirting.html) • [7](https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/287763857.pdf) A third film was floated around the time of release; the New York Times critic Vincent Canby reported that Taylor would again play Danny in a final film set in Paris, but it was never made.[3](https://www.filmink.com.au/ballad-youth-making-flirting/) Duigan later said Flirting remains one of his favorite of his own films, though it has been seen rather less than its predecessor, which he felt robbed it of some of its lustre.[3](https://www.filmink.com.au/ballad-youth-making-flirting/)\n\nScholarship on Australian cinema places the film, with *The Year My Voice Broke*, as typifying the Australian expression of the coming-of-age genre, with its gawky protagonist negotiating teenage sexual urges and existential angst on the periphery of the mainstream.[11](https://alphavillejournal.com/Issue5/PDFs/ArticleMarsh.pdf) A Metro Magazine essay argues that Flirting has been relegated to the shadow of the earlier film and has become little more than a footnote in scholarly examinations of Australian cinema, despite being equally worthy of consideration.[9](https://metromagazine.org.au/flirting/) The 2017 digital restoration by the National Film and Sound Archive, premiered at Arc cinema in Canberra in August 2017 as part of the NFSA Restores program, was intended to address that oversight and affirm the film's position in Australia's film history.[1](https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/item/flirting-nfsa-digital-restoration) • [9](https://metromagazine.org.au/flirting/)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Flirting: NFSA Digital Restoration, National Film and Sound Archive of Australia](https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/item/flirting-nfsa-digital-restoration)\n2. [Flirting, A Film By John Duigan: Critical Review and Bibliography by Louise Tinsley, australiancinema.info](https://australiancinema.info/db/2003/flirting.html)\n3. [Erin Free, \"Ballad Of Youth: The Making Of Flirting\", FilmInk](https://www.filmink.com.au/ballad-youth-making-flirting/)\n4. [Flirting (1990), australiancinema.info film database](https://australiancinema.info/db/2008/flirting.html)\n5. [Flirting (1991) - Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101898/awards/)\n6. [Flirting (1991), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101898/)\n7. [The Kennedy Miller Method (core.ac.uk)](https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/287763857.pdf)\n8. [Flirting, BONZA - Australia & New Zealand Database](https://bonzadb.com.au/production/view/140)\n9. [Flirting, Metro Magazine (NFSA Restores Collection essay)](https://metromagazine.org.au/flirting/)\n10. [Flirting, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/flirting)\n11. [Pauline Marsh, \"Picturing a Golden Age: September and Australian Rules\", Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media, Issue 5, 2013](https://alphavillejournal.com/Issue5/PDFs/ArticleMarsh.pdf)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Coming-of-age films › Coming-of-age films released before 2000*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/flirting-1991-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/flirting-1991-film.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Flirting (1991 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/flirting-1991-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Flirting (1991 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/flirting-1991-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/flirting-1991-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/flirting-1991-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Flirting (1991 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/flirting-1991-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Flirting is John Duigan's Australian coming-of-age sequel to The Year My Voice Broke, starring Noah Taylor and Thandie Newton at 1965 boarding schools; it won the 1990 AFI Best Film award." }