Recognized for her contribution to the Australian film industry, actress Judy Davis accepted the 2011 Don Dunstan Award on the opening night of the BigPond Adelaide Film Festival.

Citing her speech as she received the award, If.Com.Au noted how the actress has attributed her career to the Don-Dunstan-Gough Whitlam era in the 1970s.

“I was of the generation that was made to feel that the country needed us and was prepared to give anybody that had the initiative a chance to have some sort of impact and I realise now that it really was a golden period,” Davis was quoted as saying by If.Com.Au.

The Don Dunstan-Gough Whitlam group added the website had funded the arts and Davis’s education at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA).

The actress shared her sentiments on how the youngsters today fail to appreciate every means available to them in contrast to how they were in the past few decades.

She said, “It makes me sad to think it’s so difficult for the young kids now when they have so many different mediums to work in... I wrack my brains as to what we can do to make it better."

A presentation was also shown in her honor featuring the tributes from renowned filmmakers and directors Woody Allen through a recorded footage and from Fred Schepisi, who attended the Vale Ale Opening Night Gala.

Davis has appeared in a number of Australian films including “My Brilliant Career” and “Winter of our Dreams”. She was also featured in a couple of international films such as “Husbands & Wives” by Woody Allen. The actress have won Emmy and Golden Globe awards for her role as Judy Garland in the film, “Life With Judy Garland: Me & My Shadows”.

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