[Review] Dungog Film Festival

As I reflect on the four days I spent at the 2009 Dungog Film Festival, it is the above quote – from festival director Allanah Zitserman – that seems to be the easiest way to describe my experiences to you all.

Dungog is unlike any other film festival I have been to. I saw many great Australian films, met many interesting people (film-makers, film-goers, and local residents), and listened to many enlightening film industry discussions. What made it unique was that all of this took place in a small, northern-NSW rural town, three and a half hours out of Sydney. This was not the Dendy in Newtown (my local inner-city cinema), this was foreign turf, and I was a wide-eyed tourist having my own little personal adventure. I’m sure that every single one of the 6,000 people that flocked to the festival this year had their own personal adventure as well. It’s the sort of thing that you really need to experience for yourself.

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[Opinion Piece] A Fair Combination?

“Film should act as a mirror to society, it should make people think”

I heard this quote – by Greek director, Costa Gavros – via Australian film critic, David Stratton, during one of his film history lectures in 2008. As some time passed, and my passion for cinema matured, this quote (or even mission statement) has become more and more resonant with me. Film, as a medium, became more than simply a 90 minute cinema experience; it became an experience which got me thinking about the structure of our society.

I recently traveled out to Bankstown (a suburb in Sydney’s west, and one of Australia’s most culturally diverse areas), to see the Australian film ‘The Combination’. The film is set and shot in another western Sydney suburb, Parramatta. In fact, it was screened exclusively in these suburbs (apart from one inner-city arthouse cinema) - with distributors deciding that only those residing there would want to see it.

Put simply, ‘The Combination’ is not a technically brilliant film, it will not revolutionise Australian cinema (at least not in the conventional sense). Yet David Stratton awarded it 4 ½ stars. This is because the film explores issues both real and relevant - the structure of contemporary Australian society: where we are at as a country, and what the concerns are as the cultural demographics evolve.

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[Film Review] Samson & Delilah

Writer/Director Warwick Thornton is from the Katej people of Central Australia and grew up in Alice Springs. His passion is to document his people’s stories and share them on a big screen. He makes movies about his community, for his community. While Thornton’s short-films have received numerous accolades from international film festivals, ‘Samson & Delilah’ is his debut feature-length film.

‘Samson & Delilah’ follows a straight narrative, with a beginning, middle, and end - or three acts. The first shots of the film are centred on an adolescent Aboriginal boy, Samson (played by first-time actor Rowan McNamara), as he wakes up in his makeshift single-mattress bed. The blazing Central Australian sun is streaming into his room, and his radio, tuned to an Indigenous country music station, is bursting with song praising the beautiful new day. Samson adorns himself in a radiant yellow checked shirt, sweeps his sun-bleached matted hair from his face, and reaches for his morning mug. These images are all quite delightful, so when we then see Samson engulf his entire mouth and nose in the mug, and inhale deeply, the depressing reality shatters this illusion. Inside the mug is not freshly brewed coffee, as one may have thought, but greasy, grotty petroleum. This opening montage sets the tone for the film, and informs the audience that there will be no rose-coloured glasses approach.

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'Samson & Delilah' will be released nationally in April/May 2009

[My First Film Festival Review] Yay!

After getting my first article on film published a few weeks ago, I had been pondering what to follow it up with. My lovely mother, who teaches social welfare, suggested I attend a little community cinema night being held at a youth centre in a nearby inner-city suburb. It was to be a screening of short-films made by local Aboriginal youth. This seemed perfect to me, as I love films which 'act as a mirror to society'. Anyway, the night was a really positive event for the community, so I decided to write an article on it.

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Whilst writing it, I realised that there have been a number of international films made recently that have embraced a similar grass-roots type ethos of movies 'for the people, by the people'. Michel Gondry's Be Kind, Rewind - with it's DIY community movie-making idea - is the embodiment of this ethos. And The Kite Runner, Slumdog Millionaire, The Class, and Gran Torino are all recent major films off the top of my head that have used mainly non-actors or first-time actors in their casts. I reckon this can only be a positive thing, not only for the communities who are enriched by the film-making process, but also for the appreciation of cinema in general.

[Film Impression] Rachel Getting Married

Amidst all the grand, heavyweight American films rolling out for the Oscar period, here is this little gem of a family drama which is quite possibly the sleeper hit of the season.

Set during the imminent wedding ceremony of one sister in a family, the drama reveals itself through the still-troubled second sister (Anne Hathaway, in a career highlight performance), who is fresh out of drug rehabilitation. The plot immediately conjures memories of two recent films; 'Margot At The Wedding', and 'I've Loved You So Long'. Both of these were good movies, however 'Rachel Getting Married' is a far more rounded and satisfying package. This is not to suggest that the film neatly ties all threads together; one does not exit the cinema with a sense of 'all's well that ends well'.

Director Jonathan Demme is definitely back to great form here. Initially sceptical, the hand-held documentary-style coverage quite quickly blends into the story wonderfully. It was also wonderful to see a multi-racial family all celebrating together. And, whilst the African-American groom-to-be - and his side of the family - didn't play a prominent part in the characterisation, you could undeniably hear and feel their presence in the vibrant and diverse music which ingratiates itself into the weekend celebrations.

In equal parts emotional as it is heart-warming, it is for this reason that I believe 'Rachel Getting Married' is a welcome counterpart to the 2006 film 'Little Miss Sunshine'.

'Rachel Getting Married' was released in 2009, and is screening in cinemas nationally.

[My First Published Article About Film] Yay!

One of my goals for 2008 was to be writing for some kind of film publication before the year was out. I had this pipe dream of being able to swing myself a press pass for the 2009 Cannes Film Festival... hey, everyone is allowed to dream big right? I looked at a number of actual print magazines and such, of which the lefty global monthly 'New Internationalist' seemed the ideal fit for me. I sent them a couple of emails, but the time obviously wasn't right for me to be contributing for such an esteemed publication. Towards the end of the year, I did a big email-out to a variety of online culture publications. I did not get any replies. On NYE I reflected back on the year and was a bit disappointed that I hadn't achieved this goal. The next morning I woke up to find an email reply from one of the culture websites I had expressed an interest in writing for - "you are a great writer, and we would love you to contribute for us". Needless to say, I was pretty happy, and smiled to myself, 'better late than never'.

The website is www.twoflatwhites.com and they exist to provide up and coming Australian writers and artists a platform from which to express their opinions. As such, the content is specifically focused on Australian culture (film, music, fashion, art, and food).

Whatever I would chose to write about, it had to be something to do with the Australian film industry. This was a bit of a concern to me, as I had previously turned my nose up to the majority of Australian films. I am not sure why this was. But I later discovered that I was certainly not alone in this attitude. Throughout the month of January, I rented about 7 Australian DVDs each week. Much to my surprise (and joy!), I began to realise that the general ethos of Australian films contained everything that I love about cinema - just really good quality social realism movies. I watched about 25 DVDs in January, of which the following just completely blew me away: 'Lantana', 'Romulus, My Father', 'Walking On Water', '2:37', 'Beneath Clouds', and 'Somersault'. All of these were released in the last decade.

I was now starting to get a feel for Australian films. So.. what to write about? I knew that I wanted my first piece to be a bit broader than simply a film review. I remembered a quote from UK comedian Ricky Gervais, writer/star of 'The Office' and 'Extras', where he said that "it's always helpful to write about what you know." Well, I knew that no less than 3 months ago I was of the opinion that Australian cinema couldn't possibly stand up against European films. And I knew that I wasn't alone in this opinion. And I now knew that this was not the case, and that this apathy towards our film industry was a problem that needs to be addressed. Therefore, I decided to write my first article about just that - my perspective of the state of the Australian film industry. I sent it through to 'TwoFlatWhites', and they were really happy with it and are looking forward to further contributions. It feels good to once again have something of a ball rolling, so I'm pretty inspired now to get back to regularly writing about cinema.

Here is my article - I hope it may encourage you to check out some more Australian movies, if you are not already doing so!

[Film Review] L'enfants (The Child)

Despite the opening shots of this 2005 movie, which follow young mother Sonja (Deborah Francois) and her very vocal new-born baby around the city, it is as the story unravels that you begin to realise that it is, in fact, Sonja's 19 year-old boyfriend, Bruno (Jeremie Renier) that is the child of the film's title.

Bruno, unemployed and exiled from a caring family life, refuses to work, instead choosing the 'easy' way to survive - wheeling and dealing in petty crime, feeding off the misfortune of others. It is not until one criminal act puts him in a direct position of responsibility for the safety of his very young accomplice that Bruno is forced to behave like not only an adult, but also as a responsible father-figure.

Whilst this 'coming of age' plot may, on the surface, sound like a fairly rudimentary genre-piece, what propels it to a masterpiece is the way the directors (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne) went about 'painting' the film's exterior with layers of depth and subtle poignancy.

The colour pallete they chose for the look of the film is mostly muted and neutral, but is strikingly contrasted with brush-strokes of dense primary colours (green, red, yellow, blue) - resulting in a consistent, yet wonderfully subtle, reminder of a child's nursery, or kindergarten.

The hand-held camera work is so careful not to intrude (despite constantly being on a leash with the characters) that it simply blends into it's environment: you almost forget you're watching a staged performance.

The soundtrack, apart from one short scene in the car with a radio playing, is completely void of music, instead just picking up the aural ambiance of inner-city life.

All these exterior choices add to the authenticity of the film, and really just allow the focus to rest with the superb screenplay and acting performances. This is a definite sign of self-assured, mature, and masterful direction.

In the closing scene of the movie, vibrant colours are etched onto the walls and onto Sonja's clothing, yet Bruno is stripped of this playfulness, instead being dressed in a stark grey/white uniform. This is a brilliant use of metaphor to show Bruno's transition from an immature child into a blank canvas from which to transform into adulthood. The couple's emotional embrace - mirroring, yet directly contrasting, the opening scenes carefree, youthful embrace - reflects their understanding of the difficult task it is to be responsible parents. They are scared, but they are not alone.

As critic Margaret Pomeranz sighed; L'enfants is an "exquisite film", and one of a very very subtle and understated brilliance.

L'enfants (The Child) was released in 2005, and is now available on DVD