Big Hair Woman (1996)

Actress and comedienne Mary Coustas plays her most famous character, Effie, as she tours around Papua New Guinea. This docu-comedy is a sort of tongue-in-cheek travelogue. Effie gives the audience a Greek hairdresser’s tour of our northern neighbour, but also includes serious interviews and information about the emerging democracy.

Big Hair Woman ‘documents’ a visit to Papua New Guinea by a well known but fictional character. It was broadcast on Network Ten and would have found an audience with those who love Effie. It uses the humour that arises from Mary Coustas’s character Effie to add a layer of appeal to an otherwise straightforward informational film about Papua New Guinea. It was a project initiated by the aid organisation Overseas Service Bureau, who wanted to reach a commercial television audience and ‘gently educate’ them about PNG.

Mary Coustas is an actor who has appeared in Wildside, Water Rats and The Secret Life of Us. The enduring character of Effie has been in Acropolis Now, Waiting for Effie, Wogs Out of Work and Effie Just Quietly. Producer, director Don Parham’s credits include, Riot or Revolution, Why Men Pay For It, Life Is Too Serious, Love’s Tragedies, We’re All Independent Now and The Choice.