BYRON BAY PAVES WAY FOR NEXT GEN OZ TALENT
Monday, March 3, 2014 at 8:40AM The 2014 Byron Bay International Film Festival (BBIFF) is a mere four days into its 10 day run and already its well-earned reputation as a festival committed to fostering Australian talent has been strengthened. The eclectic tastes of Festival director J’aimee Skippon-Volke (pictured, below) ensured that opinion was widely divided amongst the festival crowds, who have enjoyed passionate discussions about the Australian content programmed. Below are snapshot reviews of some challenging works from the festival’s opening salvo of homegrown films…
HEAVEN (Dir: Maziar Lahooti; 14 mins)
Confronting the local smack dealer James (Wayne Davies) at gunpoint, an elderly man (Don Reid) demands to be taken through the process of injecting a dangerously high amount of heroin. Maziar Lahooti’s beautifully shot but relentlessly bleak drama unfolds in a compellingly fragmented structure that provocatively asks its audience to consider not only the nature of one of modern societies most divisive issues but also their own definition of true love. It is a downer, though… Rating: 3.5/5
HUNGRY MAN (Dir: Jordan Prosser; 17 mins; Official website)
Echoes of Wes Anderson’s idiosyncratic characters, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s darkly-stylish composition and David Cronenberg’s body-horror ickiness are evident in Jordan Prosser’s gleefully ghoulish romp. Declan (Brendan Barnett) eats what the tapeworm in his gut tells him to eat; the lovely Jennifer Feathers (a wonderful Jennifer Frew; pictured, right) is attracted to Declan, and he to her. But only because the tapeworm craves the one meat that Declan has yet to injest… An edgy, odd, engaging tone turns downright horrifying in a final shot that left an unsuspecting audience gasping. Rating: 4.5/5
ADVANCE AUSTRALIAN FILM (Dir: Courtney Dawson; 60 mins; Official website)
Courtney Dawson parades a bevy of talking heads before her camera in Advance Australian Film, a cry for help in answering the question, “How do we revive the commercial life of our film industry?” The debutant documentarian employs historical context, current ‘buzz’ topics and solid star wattage; A-listers such as Russell Crowe and Baz Luhrmann were nabbed unawares at red carpet premieres and offer soundbite responses at best. It is the opinions of the more low-key festival directors, curators, analysts and up-and-comers that provide Dawson’s films with its most worthwhile moments. Occasionally sounds a little too much like a boozy Friday arvo on a film shoot, where everyone knows what’s wrong (“I mean, where’s the next Mad Max?!”) but no one has an answer. But Dawson’s passion for the sector is clear and commendable. Rating: 3/5
CONDOM (Dir: Sheldon Lieberman; 4 mins)
The latest hilarious short from the Spike and Dadda web-series had its World Premiere at BBFF and proved every bit as hilariously winning as the episodes to date (all of them online here). Dadda is faced with one of those parenting moments, when his little boy Spike wants to know what a condom is; Dadda finds himself spiralling down a rabbit hole of awkwardness. Minimalist but wonderfully expressive animation and a great script earned Condom the biggest laughs of the Festival to date. Rating: 4/5
TWO BROTHERS WALKING (Dir: David Salomon; 49 mins; Official website)
The spiritual legacy passed through centuries of indigenous culture is explored within the framework of two men - one raised by tribal bush laws, the other only just beginning to fully comprehend his ancestry. Together they impart the essence of Wanampi Inma, a song and dance ritual that tells the story of the Rainbow Serpent and continues to bind generations. David Salomon’s bare-bones, ‘old school’-style doco is an intimate, densely-layered exploration of Aboriginal lore as it pertains to the lives and journeys of two fascinating individuals. Rating: 4/5
A WOMAN’S DEEPER JOURNEY INTO SEX (Dir: Sally McKenzie; 75 mins; Official website)
Even at 75 minutes, Sally McKenzie’s playful but puerile glimpse inside the hearts, minds and vaginas of the modern woman overstays its welcome. The director would serve both her film and her audience a great service by discarding all the bridging scenes that involve the construct ‘Detective Lacey’, a film noir-ish character who guides us through this ‘investigation’ of female sexuality. There are some interesting facts and fun characters, but McKenzie struggles to offer anything very new to say; how women relate to pornography, sex toys, male prostitution, etc is addressed, but the first person accounts are trite, the tone giggly and the academic input undervalued. An extended sequence of female-friendly porn clips is gratuitous. The concept may work better as smallscreen fare, where the ‘Lacey’ scenes can be jettisoned and content left on the cutting room floor can be reinstated for a more in-depth study. Rating: 2/5
The Byron Bay International Film Festival will run until March 9 at venues in Byron Bay and selected regional venues. Ticket and program information can be found on the Festival site.
SCREEN-SPACE is on the Festival judging panel and attending as a guest of the Festival.
Reader Comments (5)
Hello Simon
Re your comments on AWDJIS. I suspect you were looking for something that the film never purports to be. it is billed as a light-hearted 'peep into female sexuality' and does not set out to be an in-depth expose on female sexuality.
Your comments highlight a lack of understanding in regard to the challenges that face the independent filmmaker. But I guess that's why you are writing about films not making them.
I'd be interested in your background and, at the expense of appearing defensive, your credentials to make judgements…
Very best
I caught a sneak preview of 'A Woman's Deeper Journey into Sex' and thoroughly enjoyed it.
It was fun, interesting and entertaining - which I'm sure is what it was intended to be.
I'm surprised at your take on "A Woman's Deeper Journey Into Sex" too. I didn't view the 1st person accounts as "trite" and I found the tongue-in-cheek VoiceOver-in-verse to be fun and engaging. Too often these films preach to the choir and I saw the Noir element as a way to engage a wider audience (than is already apt to go see a documentary about women's sexuality) to think about the inequities around the sex lives of women vs. men. The pair seated next to me at our sneak preview had positive feedback as well.
To further comment on AWDJIS; I saw the film at its Brisbane screening, and found it to be a fresh and unique spin on the documentary genre. I personally thought the use of dramatic narrative via the character of Detective Lacey was clever and entertaining; clearly intended to be taken as tongue-in-cheek and a spoof on the noir genre. The film was captivating, informative and cheeky, and a welcome departure from other dry, bland documentaries that conform to routine conventions.
'A woman's deeper journey into sex' de-mystifies mans eternal question: how to understand women!!