Vivian Bullwinkel: An Australian Heroine was a labour of love that took five years to complete. Production began in early 2002 and the finished documentary finally went to air on the ABC on the 26th of April 2007 at 9.30pm.

Director Nicholas Bird first learnt about Vivian Bullwinkel when he visited the Nurses Memorial Centre while working on a different project. He was astonished when he was told about the Bangka Island massacre. A large part of his astonishment was due to the fact that he had never heard about the massacre of the Australian nurses before - despite having completed an undergraduate nursing degree.

Recognising that here was a story which had not been properly told, Nicholas and his production partners at Waterbyrd Filmz decided to make a documentary about the life of the woman who had once been a household name and was now all but forgotten.

Vivian's nephew, John Bullwinkel, became an important ally in the task that lay ahead and his support opened doors to historical resources and people from Vivian's life.

Beginning without a presale, the production was funded by Waterbyrd Filmz and shooting and editing were done during the business' quiet times.

The Australian War Memorial, Film Australia, the Fairfield Hospital Historical Collection and the Nurses Memorial Centre were invaluable sources of film footage and photographs and their generosity with licensing fees made it possible for this documentary to be completed. The private photo collections of Vivian's family and friends also contributed greatly.

Historians Christina Twomey and Sioban Nelson were enlisted to supply the factual details and explored causes and ramifications of the massacre and the subsequent events; General Peter Cosgrove, the Chief of the Defence Force agreed to discuss Vivian's legacy with the army; Fairfield nurses Joan Holland and Margaret Wiseman talked about life at Fairfield under Matron Bullwinkel; Val Seeger talked about the 1975 Vietnamese war orphan evacuation; and Prof. Olga Kanitsaki talked about how a chance meeting with "Miss Bullwinkel" changed her life.

Vivian Bullwinkel had sadly passed away a couple of years before this documentary began production and so could not be interviewed. Fortunately her nephew, John Bullwinkel, had an old VHS tape of the rushes of an interview Channel Ten had done with Vivian in 1993. The original tape no longer existed, so the VHS tape became our main interview source and was painstakingly restored to broadcast quality.

Even with these excellent interviews, the first edit of Vivian Bullwinkel: An Australian Heroine did not have the emotional impact that it needed. The solution came by chance when Waterbyrd Filmz were working on another job that required a crew to fly to Perth for a shoot. While in Perth, they were able to interview Edie Leembruggen who, as a 14-year-old girl, had been in the camps with Vivian during the war. Vivian had taken Edie (or "Little Betty" as she was called then) under her wing and the two had become life long friends.

With Edie Leembruggen's recollections of the evacuation of Singapore and their years as prisoners of war, the documentary gained the heart that it had been lacking and was finally ready for an audience

The enthusiastic reception this premiere screening received encouraged the film makers to approach the broadcasters and funding bodies in an attempt to have the documentary screened on television.

This initial attempt was unsuccessful and after several rejections it seemed as though Vivian Bullwinkel: An Australian Heroine would never be seen by anyone other than the nurses' families and colleagues.

Then the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) expressed interest in the film but first it would need to be re-edited and shortened. The ABC and Film Victoria contributed the funds that were needed to re-edit the documentary and complete post-production.

The planned broadcast date was around ANZAC day in 2007 which meant that there was only a short time to complete the film. Working with ABC producer Edwina Waddy, the directors hired AFI nominated editor Tony Stevens ASE to re-edit the documentary and experienced screen writer Dennis Smith re-worked the script.

Heartbreaking decisions had to be made as 25 minutes were cut out of the film. Inevitably, it was Vivian's later career that was the major victim of the cuts. After the excitement and drama of the war, the evacuation of Singapore, the sinking of the Vyner Brooke, the massacre, and the POW years; the second half of Vivian's life was automatically less interesting by comparison despite her extraordinary achievements and contributions to the nursing profession. read more

There were upsides to the re-editing of the documentary. The additional funding meant that new footage and photos could be purchased. Their addition gave the documentary a visual lift and added to the drama of the WWII sequences.

An unexpected bonus was the chance to include Vivian's mission to Vietnam in 1975 to evacuate the war orphans. This had been omitted from the original edit due to the expense of obtaining footage and photos and the unavailability at the time of Val Seeger, the nurse who had accompanied Vivian on the mission.

Vivian Bullwinkel: An Australian Heroine was completed on time and was aired on the ABC on the 26 April 2007, the day after ANZAC. The documentary rated 754,000 viewers nationally (nearly double the number the film makers had been hoping for) making it the ABC's highest rating documentary in that time slot so far that year.

Click here to view the documentary's full credits