dungog highlight #1

Last week I flew all across Australia with four other lovely ladies from the WA Screen Academy to attend the DUNGOG FILM FESTIVAL - a weekend of screenings and parties in a tiny rural NSW town of 3000 people and a lot more cattle. One of my short films was selected for the Sunday "whimsical" screening session (what makes a film whimsical? how do you measure levels of whimsy? don't ask me), so that was kinda my excuse for being there, but actually the weekend was amazing for so many other reasons. Here are some highlights, presented across three separate posts for your reading convenience.



DUNGOG HIGHLIGHT #1: Lou

I went into this film wanting to adore it. I was already enamoured with all the promotional images, plus it premiered on the festival's opening night - so we were all dressed up, excited and giddy from having just walked across a 2m long red carpet. Truly though, I reckon this one could have screened in a cattle shed, all of us sitting on dirty hay stacks, and I would have loved it equally.

It's about a 11-year-old girl called Louise, who sits on the brink of early adulthood, starting to understand everything that's recently gone wrong for her family. Naturally, she blames her tortured soul of a mother (Emily Barclay - another beautiful woman) for her father's recent departure and for all their consequential financial predicaments. So, when her estranged and befuddled grandfather Doyle (John Hurt) shows up and it's up to Lou to look after him, she sees it as just another case of her mother eschewing responsibility. Of course, though, this is actually Lou's big chance to learn a thing or two about empathy and humility; in short, to grow up.

This isn't a simple relationship, though. Everything that occurs between the two is complicated by the fact that Doyle has Alzeihmer's and he's convinced that Lou is actually the love of his life. So, what you get is a slowly unfolding relationship that is actually almost as uncomfortable as it is beautiful. The film throws out a whole lot of questions about love and growing up and family and beauty - and then it makes you cry because you realise that finding answers ultimately isn't all that important. It's a complex story, bolstered by amazing performances from Hurt, Barclay and of course little Lou who plays angelic pain to perfection. Plus, its soundtrack is lovely, the sparse country vistas capture the mood ideally, and the whole visual style is something I want to steal - soft, gentle lighting, bright pastelly colours, plenty of rainbow lens flares and gorgeous orange skies.

This is very much akin to the kind of film I'd like to make. It's funny in all the right moments, has a really strong visual style, and also a deeply human story. I may have drunkenly told the lovely director Belinda Czajko all of this at one of the parties. Oops?

xxxx Magda

the internet surprises yet again...

So, at the moment I am doing some tutoring at UWA, for a communication studies unit called "The Importance of Story." So far we've covered heaps of wacky topics, and in this coming week we'll be looking at how individuals build personal narratives online. Part of the week's homework is to google classmates/tutors, so I thought I might just enter my own name, to prepare for what my students might find out about me.

This is basically a long-winded way of saying: "I googled myself - BUT I HAD A GOOD EXCUSE OK." And the point is that, through this process, I actually discovered that one of my lifelong dreams has already been realised, entirely without my knowledge!

Some of you might have heard of the Australian doco Bomb Harvest. I think it only got about a week of screening at Luna last year, but it was quite enjoyable/informative. I gave it a pretty positive review (click to read) and that was that - until now, when I stumble across their website and find that I have been quoted.

Check it:

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?! I barely can!

Yes, the quote is a bit inane and not really insightful in any way, shape or form, but I'm freaking NUMBER FOUR on their quotes list and that makes me pretty excited. I BASICALLY AM RIGHT NEXT TO MARGARET AND DAVID and that in itself demands caps lock abuse. AWESOME. The website can be found here. They have about ten more reviews listed after those.

So it seems that now I can check that achievement off my "to-do" list. What a thrill ride. It turns out there was a reason why I have been writing these reviews, and that reason is: ONLINE FAME.

Happy Easter everyone!!
x magda