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The Dream of Perfection

Dir. John Weiley

THE DREAM OF PERFECTION is as extraordinary as its provocative subject matter, the dramatic story of the building of the Sydney Opera House, culminating in Utzons departure from the project. Director John Weiley was commissioned in 1968 to make the documentary Autopsy on a Dream by then BBC2 controller David Attenborough, and following its only screening on the BBC, it was destroyed literally chopped to pieces on the chopping block. Miraculously, a mute print of Autopsy on a Dream was rediscovered in a BBC vault this year, and has now been restored with sound saved by John Weiley, and with a new prologue. The film features interviews with David Attenborough, Jan Utzon, Lin Utzon, and Richard Neville.

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Episode 72: Clerehan Talks Boyd

Veteran architect Neil Clerehan still practises at 92, and remembers fondly working with Robin Boyd when he was starting out in the profession. Neil recalls those early days, including when he first met Robin and stated “that changed my life”.

Neil goes on to discuss the Small Home Service, the details of the Melbourne Arts Centre project and the tragic end of the Grounds Romberg and Boyd practice in this revealing conversation with Dimity Reed.

Director/Camera: Ron Brown

Second Camera: Jessa Rose

Editor: Nathan Carden

Factual advisor: Tony Lee

Photographs courtesy of Robin Boyd: A Life written by Geoffrey Serle (1995) & The Architecture of Neil Clerehan by Harriet Edquist and Richard Black (2005)

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