A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate to get the opportunity to interview Director Damien Ryan about his new play No End of Blame. Put on by Sport for Jove theatre company in Sydney it was a bit of a departure for them and Ryan. Known for adapting classical texts and in particular Shakespeare this play was written by Howard Barker who’s work tends to be more challenging to audiences and storytellers alike. I spoke to Damien as he was nearing opening night for a play that was going to push him, his company and his fans into new territory. It was an exciting time and I wish them well.
I often repeat how nervous I am doing these interviews and how rewarding that has made them. As I’ve gone along though I seem to be growing in confidence and how to discuss the work with the artist and so it felt here with Damien. The play features work from political cartoonists Cathy Wilcox and David Pope for example which we discussed for a bit but there is always a limit to what can be practically related in the written piece.
This is now my fifth interview with Scenestr which began with the performers Meghan O’Shea and Drew Weston for Grease – The Arena Experience, director Michael Beh for Uncle Vanya, followed by playwright Aidan Fennessy for the musical What Rhymes With Cars and Girls before the next day interviewing Palace CEO Benjamin Zeccola for the 2017 Italian Film Festival and finally director Damien Ryan for No End of Blame. Additionally all the interviews have been published in print around Australia while often reviews are exclusively online content. As a member of Generation X I get a thrill out of being published in print I have to admit. I get a thrill out of being published – period. This is still new to me, still something I’m eternally grateful and still something I don’t take for granted. Hopefully though I am growing with confidence and that will make the work better too. Thank you for your continued interest in my writing even if now sometimes you have to click on a link to read it.
Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr. is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. With over twenty years of publishing history they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They also publish magazines in print for Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane every month. The magazine is focussed mostly on music gigs, festivals, stand-up comics, fashion and interviews with local and international bands. If you’re into music they’re a great read but they do cover all of the arts.
The 14th Brisbane International Film Festival was some of the most fun I ever had. I had graduated from University and moved back in with my parents but was still working at the hospital casual. I bought a BIFF Take 10 Pass and decided to go hard or go home. Evidently so did the organisers of BIFF, there were over 200 films screened, a free public screening program across the suburbs for kids called Cine Sparks and a relocation to South Bank Cinemas. While the bulk of movies screening were at South Bank, the BIFF Offices were still located at Regent. In 2004 the whole program ran out of the Regent in their 4 cinemas. This time they were screening downstairs in the classically elegant Regent 1, in the 1970s refurbished Regent 3. Over at South Bank films were screening at South Bank Cinema 3 and 4. The former IMAX screen (the only one in Brisbane and no more even then) South Bank Cinema 5 was where the Showcase screenings occurred. While a bigger cinema I don’t think there were special conversions for playing on this screen. Of course all these years later I can’t recall exactly what I bought tickets for and what I get into as a Volly though I will try.
I can tell you one day we needed to get something from the Regent down to South Bank. There is a lot of downtime as a Volly. I was 25 and overweight but maintaining irregular exercise with weights and jogging. I offered to run from the South Bank Cinemas across the river into the Regent in the city. There were cars allocated to the festival from one of our sponsors Mazda but God bless’em they let me do the run. As I ran across the fountain courtyard at South Bank I saw a bagpiper and offered him some change. I asked could he play The Bonnie Banks O’Loch Lomond? I ran off to the bridge in the hot sun hearing his notes fade into the background of the traffic and the wind blowing over the bridge. A long time ago a tourist bus driver sang this to me and a group in Scotland and I’ve asked every bag piper to play it ever since. A young one once answered he didn’t he was just learning. Another night in town an older player with some personality told me “Every bagpiper knows that song!”. Maybe I settled for Scotland the Brave that day, maybe it was the young guy. Maybe it was someone else and I heard Loch Lomond. I can’t remember which but I remember smiling like a big kid as he powered my legs forward as the sweat began to pour and I had to pace my breathing. I was young, hanging out at the film festival again, running with the wind and enjoying every second.
Most likely I saw the movies I did in 2004 for free during shifts as a volunteer. In 2005 I decided I would buy tickets to movies I really wanted to see so as a paying customer I could relax I wouldn’t be called away. I also did shifts as a Volly at all hours of the day any day of the week. Still I didn’t attend Opening Night as Volunteer or cinemagoer. I was just too shy.
Just wanted to let Beetley Pete know a favourite of his Bombon: El Perro screened at BIFF 2005. Unfortunately, no I didn’t see it Pete but I will.
I AM A SEX ADDICT: There was a screening at Regent Cinema 1 at 7:10mpm on 30JUL2005 but most likely the first film I paid to see at BIFF that year was I Am A Sex Addict at South Bank Cinema 3 at 6:40pm on Thursday the 28th of July the day after opening night with U-Carmen eKhayelitsha from South Africa. If you see the photo above and notice the word sex in the title you’ll pretty much know why I chose to see this. I was a young man, always been a horndog and was single. I was interested in depictions of sex, discussions about sex and relationships and what could be learned about sexual addiction. So was this film some smut or did it have something to say? I believe the latter, Caveh Zahedi was genuinely a sex addict and was far from likeable with some of his decisions in his life. Yet the honesty to say that and put himself forward warts and all seems brave. Caveh Zahedi attended BIFF 2005, before the film screened he was asked to introduce the film. The only thing he would say is “Everything you’re about to see is absolutely true and actually happened.” There was humour in it to be sure but also some dark places. I’m not sure I would like Caveh very much. He films people when they want their privacy, was snarky that a porn star didn’t want to do a sex scene with him and revealed one co-star as an alcoholic. He does throw that kind of full disclosure about himself painting himself in an uncompromising and embarrassing light at times. It would be interesting to see now what I think of it but at the time I found it fascinating and remember it as a good movie that also raised interesting discussion. Caveh must have known that and fronted up to the crowd afterwards where he was quite charming, self effacing but also straight forward. It was nice to see that by film’s end he was in a solid relationship and happy.
THE LOVE CRIMES OF GILLIAN GUESS: Right after in South Bank Cinema 3 at 9:10pm was the Canadian film The Love Crimes of Gillian Guess. Again a pick from my insatiable 24 year old libido. Directed by Bruce McDonald and starring Joely Collins (daughter of Phil Collins) the film tells the story of the real life case of juror Gillian Guess who slept with the man on trial who she was on the jury for. Another film that would be fascinating to watch in through the prism of now and some hopeful extra maturity. A few things stand out, first of all the film I remember being very sexy. Secondly with the running set-up of Gillian telling her story on a talk show and flashbacks to her adolescence perspective was everything and we were treated to looking at Gillian’s story in many different ways. Despite the sexiness, Bruce McDonald I believe had some insight into how women can be viewed. How some can be led to believe that their sex is the only power they’ve got and how people can appear one way and that’s not the whole story. How men can view women too. How condescending and smug they can be at times. This was one of my favorite films I saw at any BIFF and something I probably would never have seen otherwise. It also turned me on to seeing Canadian films if I could at BIFF. Sadly alas I missed Maudie and Weirdos (which I found out was directed by Bruce McDonald too) this year but maybe next time.
BADLANDS: There was a program at the 14th Brisbane International Film Festival, amongst others called Blacktop Dreams which concerned 14 road movies. The 14 were It’s A Mad Mad Mad World, Two-Lane Blacktop, They Live by Night, Vanishing Point, Gun Crazy, Badlands, Don’t Look Back, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, Backroads, Near Dark, Roadgames, The Road to God Knows Where, Wrong Side of the Road and Gallivant. Out of the 14 I saw 5 and I still that I didn’t get to see Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. In addition free screening next door at the Suncorp Piazza had the Mad Max movies, Thelma and Louise, The General and goodness knows how many more possible road movies. Jack Sargent who had written Lost Highways: A History of the Road Movie was a guest at BIFF 2005 and at the break up party I asked him about Thelma and Louise but we’ll get to that later. I had seen The Thin Red Line at the cinemas and not been particularly impressed but Roger Ebert had loved Terence Malick and I had read his review of Badlands several times over the years. So on Friday 29JUL2005 at South Bank Cinema 3 for a 3:30pm session I saw it. Badlands is a beautiful film, still most probably Malick’s best. Telling the story of a young man who went on a killing spree and the girl he took with him it introduced the world to Sissy Spacek and Martin Sheen. Having grown up watching them as middle aged people it is still a treat to see them in such a different light, Sheen really did have a bit of James Dean about him in this film. There are no easy answers for why they what they did or how they felt about it. Maybe they just weren’t right in the head, maybe they were scared, in love, maybe they just didn’t want to lose. Their restless, boredom, sadness but also romance is captured wonderfully and I was delighted to find a first rate car chase in the film. Tyres don’t always hold, there’s a power in early car chases where the cars always look like they could lost control. The first classic film I saw at the film festival, what it gave me was an opportunity to see films that hadn’t come to DVD and hadn’t been seen in years let alone on the big screen. Now this is less of a big deal, the Gallery of Modern Art regularly holds screenings of classic films on large screens and cinemas hold special screenings of classic hits regularly now. However a lot of these will be digital screenings, a 35mm print was shipped to Australia to watch this in 2005. For me too, there is something about 35mm film on a big screen even with scratches which is really special. These are experiences I will miss and hope are not completely non-existent in the future. Albeit digital does things easier and with people like Roger Deakins it can look good. I remember carrying a 35mm print up some stairs with another guy and this was only half of the film. They’re heavy. In the projection room I looked over and saw what looked like a videocassette. I was told that was a digital copy. It looked unimpressive, surely that was not the future sitting right there?
ME AND YOU EVERYONE WE KNOW: Later that day at Regent Cinema 3 there was a film screening at 9:30pm and I attended. It sounded like a quirky love story about outsiders who were hurting. Written and directed by Miranda July and starring her along with John Hawkes I was very interested in it. It started off with Hawks burning his hand which was interesting but sadly I have to say I kind of snoozed and so can’t really fairly tell you what I thought. Having missed some of it I might have even left. This does happen from time to time I have to admit.
PHIL THE ALIEN: You may recall from the post about BIFF 2004 that Phil the Alien was intended to screen there due to some legal issues with the music. It screened twice at BIFF 2005, on Saturday 30th of July at 11:15pm in Regent Cinema 1 and on the following Friday at 10:45pm in South Bank Cinema 3. I’m fairly certain I saw it at the Regent but memory can play funny tricks. I thought Phil the Alien was everything I hoped it would be, telling the story of an alien who crash lands in the wilds of Canada and is befriended by a young boy. The anti E.T. follows with Phil becoming a drunk and a Christian rock singer amongst other things. The biggest star in it at the time was Nicole deBoer who some will remember from the latter seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and who was a completely different character here. Alumni of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart may also be recognised by some here. It was the feature film debut of Rob Stefaniuk who wrote, directed , co-edited and starred as Phil. To my joy it came out a year or two later at my local video story on DVD and got my brother and father to watch it. They didn’t seem so impressed but I can tell you the packed crowd there at BIFF 2005 laughed and clapped and cheered. It was a fantastic crazy Canadian cult film to see at a midnight screening at a film festival with similar minded folks. We might have had to wait another year to get it but Phil the Alien proved well worth the wait. The music by the way was a crucial part of it and I’m glad we waited.
THE GENERAL: On Sunday 31JUL2005 at the Suncorp Piazza 1:30pm I went and saw Buster Keaton’s The General with my friend Mike. This as it turned out would be the only time Mike and I went to BIFF together. The silent film was accompanied live by organ player Ron West who played his organ at the Majestic Theatre in Pomona which still screens silent films and is Australia’s longest continuously running cinema. Ron himself only recently retired in 2011, of course having Ron come and perform in Brisbane was a special treat. The genius of Buster Keaton has not dimmed in all the years, a fantastic physical performer who told a story effortlessly The General still entrances with its scope, speed, daring and yes heart. I was surprised to hear it was not a huge success at the time and led to Buster Keaton having less creative freedom subsequently. In the end though good films endure and their makers remembered. I was glad to see such a film with my friend.
Karen and I attended the Brisbane Powerhouse last night to watch the musical What Rhymes With Cars And Girls? When people think musicals they might imagine scores of extra and massive production values. This musical had two performers on stage backed up by a band of three musicians telling a love story in an intimately sized theatre. Based on the album of the same name by Tim Rodgers (You Am I), playwright Aidan Fennessy has written a story that sparkles with witty wordplay and telling insight. Never more powerful though than when it echoes the struggles and dreams only too familiar to audiences. I loved it, and the two performers Johhny Carr and Sophie Rose at the centre of telling it.
Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr. is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. With over twenty years of publishing history they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They still publish magazines in print for Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane every month. If you’re into music they’re a great read but they do cover all of the arts including festivals, stand-up comics, fashion, theatre and film. It is the last two where I’ve been fortunate enough to do some coverage of which I’m very grateful.
A week earlier I was lucky enough to attend the Bryon Bay Film Festival at Brunswick Heads to review the new documentary The Go-Betweens: Right Here. The following Saturday I was able to attend again to see the Young Australian Filmmaker program in Byron Bay itself. We parked on the beach and got caught in the rain on our way to the Bryon Community Centre arriving a little soaked. There were ten short films all made by a group of talented young people vying for the Young Australian Filmmaker Award. You can read more of my thoughts on the films here http://scenestr.com.au/movies-and-tv/young-australian-filmmakers-programme-review-byron-bay-film-festival-20171017
Afterwards it was arranged for me to talk to the director, Cody Cameron-Brown of one short Watchdog. This was an informal chat rather than an interview, nothing was recorded and I simply asked Cody about things that occurred to me after watching his work. Watchdog was inspired by the story of the late Don Ritchie, OAM the hero of The Gap. A man who rescued hundreds of people from suicide over the course of several decades. Speaking to Cody two things became apparent, this is a remarkably talented and insightful artist. Secondly he had done his research about the subject matter and it showed. He had sought out the Ritchie family and their trust in sharing some of Don’s story was not misplaced. While the film is more inspired by Don’s example than telling his exact story the young filmmaker appears to have been driven to honour the man’s legacy and their trust and he has.
It was great to talk to Cody and to see all the films from such promising young talent.
Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr. is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. With over twenty years of publishing history they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They still publish magazines in print for Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane every month. If you’re into music they’re a great read but they do cover all of the arts including festivals, stand-up comics, fashion, theatre and film. It is the last two where I’ve been fortunate enough to do some coverage of which I’m very grateful.
If you’ve never heard of the band The Go-Betweens, don’t worry you’re not alone. A documentary about the history of the band has just been released and even non-fans of the cult band should find it utterly engrossing. Director Kriv Stenders has highlighted the fascinating personalities that made up the band and the poignancy of looking back over the years.
Whatever you write and put out into the world will be taken by readers however they like. For me personally though I was not really happy with my review for Kingsman: The Golden Circle. This review I felt a lot better about and hope you enjoy.
Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr. is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. With over twenty years of publishing history they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They also publish magazines in print for Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane every month. The magazine is focussed mostly on music gigs, festivals, stand-up comics, fashion and interviews with local and international bands. If you’re into music they’re a great read but they do cover all of the arts.
The Brisbane International Film Festival returns this year and I couldn’t be happier. There’s a wealth of thoughts and memories that I wanted to write about that I wouldn’t be surprised if these posts just become a jumbled mess. I met my wife at BIFF, I volunteered at BIFF, saw over 20 movies at one BIFF and my history with it is just a small part of a much larger tapestry. How can I do that justice? What should I include or omit? What is private and what is too interesting not to share? What you read here may or may not be the entire truth but I will try to evoke the wonder of having a hometown film festival.
The first Brisbane International Film Festival was in 1992 screening 43 films. I didn’t cross paths with the festival until 2003. Two of my oldest dearest friends and I went to see the movie Gerry at the festival that year at the Regent Cinemas. The Regent Theatre was built in the 1920s in the American style of the then popular picture palaces. A redevelopment in the 1970s broke the original theatre into 4 but much of the old grandeur remained when I passed through the lobby in the early part of this century. That lobby was heritage listed in 1992 and remains but the Regent as I knew it has been lost. Ahead of the lobby was Regent 1 and 1 and bar on the first floor. Alternatively up a grand staircase made of Queensland marble led to Regent 3 and 4 which had been built in the 1970s and looked it. In Melbourne a similar Regent cinema was remodelled into a live theatre complex and is doing very well as a grand venue. Sometimes we get things wrong. In 2009 I went to the Regent and purchased some post cards that were being sold and signed a petition for it not to be destroyed.
I went to see Gerry in a morning session on the weekend and subsequently fell asleep during a few minutes in the third act. It mattered little, I got it. It set the stage for my film festival going where not every film you see is a great one but they sure are trying. Also falling asleep would remain a tradition too. I had been brought along by my friend Mike. Mike who brought a DVD of The Station Agent, Dr Strangelove, Cube and Contestant 7 to my house. Mike who championed American History X and High Fidelity to me. Mike who dragged us to the west side of town to see Inception, the first feature from Christopher Nolan. Mike with whom I would go with or have come along with to see foreign films, documentaries and independent cinema while gushing over the new auteurs of blockbusters. The Fog of War at the Schonell, Sideways and The Secretary at Palace Centro, Bowling for Columbine and Napoleon Dynamite at Dendy George Street, Murderball at Indooroopilly. Mike, another friend Tim and I met each other at Scouts long ago but as that came to a close along with high school our friendship deepened. There are two men outside of my family that I admire deeply for their moral courage and loyalty. They are Mike and Tim. In a very real way they were my 20s along with another friend called Rachel. A year went past and Mike suggested that I go and volunteer at the film festival. I was getting 23 going on 24 and in the last year of my university studies in arts. I knew I had to start getting out there if I wanted to land a job so I put my hand up. Mike was steering me towards good things again.
I think I had to fill out a form from their website and submit it to their office. Things are so long ago it is hard to recall details but I ended up being a Volunteer at the Brisbane International Film Festival. There was a information session for the ‘Vollys’ as we were called run by the Operations Manager Debbie one evening. I went in and Debbie was an amazing manager of people, we were all unpaid staff who would be dealing with the public and receive little training. She made it something fun and informative. She’s been a Store Manager somewhere and knew how to run a crowd and the subsequent times I volunteered at BIFF her presence was missed.
I was a hospital wardsman and still a full time student so I set something myself up to do a few weekend sessions and that was it. Opening night Queen St Mall got locked down with a red carpet as Paul McDermott premiered a short film he directed and Geoffrey Rush came home for the Australian premiere of The Life and Death of Peter Sellers and to pick up The Chauvel Award. I was not there on opening night 27 July 2004.
I did volunteer for a few shifts on each weekend wearing my BIFF 2004 T-Shirt which I still have and treasure. I was nervous of course but it quickly became obvious that especially on a Saturday morning things were relatively peaceful. You handed out survey forms (people could tear at the edge in line with a rating) which would be collected by us as they left to count up the scores and send up to the main staff. We also collected tickets from patrons as they entered. I got to meet the famous film critic David Stratton asking him tongue in cheek if he wanted a survey form to which he declined with a smile. I had conversation with my fellow Vollys once audiences were tucked inside. I quickly came to know some of the Front of House and Box Office staff, there were the twins Stephen and Daniel, Luis, Andre and Michelle. These guys seemed to go a way back, Michelle and Andre might have been volunteers back in the first BIFF. They were effectively our supervisors, if you didn’t know what was going on you got one of them to help you. They were paid staff and they knew their stuff but they always made it fun for us. I soon learnt we were allowed to sneak into the back row of a movie and watch it if we weren’t needed as long as we were the first to leave. A massive perk! I can’t remember if I bought any tickets or just got to see these films for free but I caught The Land Has Eyes, Repatriation, S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine and Samaritan Girl.
BIFF 2004 ran from opening Tuesday night 27th July to Closing Night 8th of August. Looking back I know I was interested in other films, I really wanted to see Crimson Gold from Iran, I think I got to sit in on American Dreams by James Benning but I just mostly napped with that one.
S21: THE KHMER ROUGE KILLING MACHINE: Screened at 10am on Saturday 31st July in Regent Cinema 2 downstairs. It was probably a film I was allowed in to during my shift. It remains one of the best documentaries I have ever seen. I can’t get over the Khmer Rouge and what they did. Most of the killing occurred due to starvation but there was direct murder and plenty of it. S21 is at the heart of a nation that wiped out a million of its people in 4 years. In Tuol Sleng, a former school was converted into a prison and there over 17,000 inmates were killed. Only six lived and two told their story in this powerful film. The film opens in a hut with a middle aged man clearly broken with a thousand yard stare and sunken shoulders. His mother talks to camera about how he is not the same. We see a victim and then it is revealed that he was a guard. The humanity of director Rithy Panh just blows me away with this choice. Panh himself and his family had suffered greatly at the hands of the Khmer Rouge but he chose to open the film like this. Filmed at S21, the two survivors Chum Mey and Vann Nath bring two different personalities to the equation. Mey more openly discusses his emotions drawing out expression from the quietly dignified Nath. It is Nath who asks a confrontational questions to his former captors late in the film. Nath was kept alive because the warden liked his paintings and Nath recounts how in his mind many greater painters were murdered because of this warden’s preference. That random choice and its consequences are at the heart of the injustice of the prison and the trauma of the incredibly scarce number of survivors. I’ve never forgotten this film or what it told me. I saw some people leave throughout, why I do not know but perhaps because they found it just too upsetting and that is fair enough. Vann Nath has since passed on but his story that he shares with others should not be forgotten and thankfully this film will endure for a long time to come. One of the great experiences I’ve had at all the BIFFs I’ve attended.
THE LAND HAS EYES: screened at 4:20pm in Regent 2 on Sunday the 1st of August, 2004. The director was there and there was a Q&A afterwards. I went in with some interest but believe I was simply making use of the Volly privilege to view films if not needed. I’m really glad I got to see it. Set in the 1970s it was directed by Vilsoni Hereniko, the first feature film set and shot in the Fiji islands directed by an indigenous filmmaker. In one scene in a classroom the teacher turns to the class of all ages (probably all of Rotuma’s school going children) and tells them that only one of them will get to go to the capital of Fiji on a scholarship. I never forgot that scene, it put into perspective the privileges of my time and place and upbringing. There is something tranquil and beautiful in life on Rotuma that we envy but at least we have opportunities that those children did not. This is in the final years of British colonial rule of the island and has something to say about the joys and sorrows of small communal island life where religion holds sway. How lies and politics can turn the majority against the innocent and how brave and hard it is to stand up to such wrongs and bring forth the truth.
The story was based on Hereniko’s childhood but to overcome writer’s block he changed the gender of the character based on him and found it gave him a great deal of freedom and creativity. Above is his wife and producer of the film Jeannette Paulson Hereniko. Shot on Betacam with many performers who’d never seen a film let alone be in one, the natural beauty of the island added to the production values but it also had the feel of you being there walking along the tracks with this young girl. A beautiful film of a son who has travelled far and done well but wanted to come back and tell a story about his homeland with his people warts and all but with a native son’s love and reflection.
REPATRIATION: Saturday the 7th of August was a big day for me from the looks of it. I saw from South Korea Repatriation and Samaritan Girl. The former a documentary I enjoyed quite a bit more. Directed by Kim Dong-won, it was about North Korean soldiers who had been released from prison after decades in the South. Having not converted from communism and now elderly they are left out in the world to make their way with no pension or support. There is kindness shown to them from South Koreans including the filmmaker himself but little of their experiences convince them that democracy is a better way of life. The film goes deeper into the history of the conflict and the ongoing cold war between the two sides. There’s bright spots too with soccer. Another great thing about film festivals was present when I attended a Q&A with Repatriation director Kim Dong-won and director Solrun Hoaas.
Kim Dong-Won at the Q&A being nervously photographed by author in 2004 on his Nokia mobile phone. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Kim Dong-won was a thoughtful and eloquent speaker which came as no surprise having watched his work. With a strong social vision he had also made a documentary about the clearing out of old housing for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Can you believe this Q & A was free?
SAMARITAN GIRL: There were two sessions for Samaritan Girl, one on a Thursday 29JUL2004 at midday in Regent 1. The other on the final Saturday at 6pm in Regent 1 07AUG2017. This is more likely session I caught probably sneaking in as a Volly. I was captured by the striking photo featured in the BIFF booklet and I’ve long had an interest in visiting South Korea. I remember a medititive film with long quiet takes and characters slowly imploding. Directed by Kim Ki-duk it tells the story of two school girls who decide to prostitute one of themselves out while the friend is effectively the pimp. The latter has a father who is a detective. Things don’t go well and there’s strong themes about sexuality, parenthood, possessiveness, etc. Apparently themes of Buddhism is also at the heart of the film but I can’t remember much. It was probably not a good film and certainly not one that got its hooks into me but it was an opportunity to see another culture through their own eyes telling their stories and so for me there were positives to be drawn out of the experience.
That was it for the film I saw at BIFF in 2004. In terms of other interesting stories I’m not sure what to tell you. That night there was a scheduled late night screening of Phil The Alien, a fun weird movie from Canada but a legal battle had broken out about the music of the film. I was there the night a large midnight crowd was told Phil The Alien would not be screening. Nothing hair raising happened, Mystery Science Theatre 3000 was stepping into the breach but it certainly put into my mind how disappointing such a moment could be for a film festival crowd. I was young at the time and I can tell you such films are usually the must sees at a festival. I was disappointed too.
Being a Volly was a unique experience that I enjoyed, you got to meet lots of different people, hang out and discuss film. I enjoyed handing tickets over to people and sharing in the joy of being able to attend a film festival. There were some odd moments, one night I was trying to look after an elderly man descending stairs and may have grabbed a younger guy who didn’t see him. I was still a wardsman at the time. I’m not sure I could be a Volly now but I have fond memories. That Saturday night I didn’t eat, I ran around up and down stairs excited like a kid at the fairground proudly wearing my BIFF T-shirt. Tim and Mike came to meet me in the middle of the night at the end of my shift so we could head on over to a regular haunt of our’s the Pancake Parlour. I felt headachey and vomited in the bathroom seeing some blood. Afterwards I felt relatively fine and went back to my friends. I guess this was the beginning of getting older and having to realise one needs to take better care of one’s self. I don’t know but I was electric. It was one of the best days of my life. I loved BIFF, I really did but such days are moments in time. You have to move on to the next one and the next one. I’m glad I still have Mike and Tim in my life but we’re not catching up like we did back then now and that’s a good thing as much as I long for yesterday.
The next night I went in for the Closing Night party for staff which was thrown in thanks to the unpaid volunteers. It would start after the last patron left. We would get fed at the bar outside Regent 1 & 2 and get some free drinks. I’m shy by nature but I was rather emboldened by how welcoming the staff had been at BIFF. I was going to miss going into the offices upstairs in the old building, miss Andre and Michelle, Danny and Steve and Luis. There was a volunteer I would miss too who had blonde hair and was studying foreign film over at the University of Queensland. I asked Executive Manager Gary how he felt the festival had gone. I asked everybody about films and life. We headed out to Jimmy’s on the Mall which one of the twins had worked at and knew the owner. This was the old one before the new one opened years later that was situated right outside the Regent. I didn’t want the night to end but it did. There was more drinking, some people got “real happy” and I couldn’t help but get a bit emotional myself. I was wondering how to say more to the girl from UQ with blonde hair. I wanted to stay with these people, I wanted to work a paying job for BIFF, I wanted the film festival to run all year round. Barely a year earlier I had not even known there was a film festival. A few weeks earlier I didn’t care much but now a whole world had opened up to me and it was ending. There was some comfort in knowing it would be back next year.
A little while back I was fortunate enough to interview Aidan Fennessy about his musical What Rhymes With Cars and Girls based off the album of the same name from Tim Rogers. Aidan spoke with great enthusiasm about his cast and the album that inspired the musical. The next day I spoke to Benjamin Zeccola about the 2017 Italian Film Festival and both interviews were in the print edition of Scenestr for Brisbane which for an old fashion guy like myself was a big thrill.
Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr. is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. With over twenty years of publishing history they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They also publish magazines in print for Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane every month. The magazine is focussed mostly on music gigs, festivals, stand-up comics, fashion and interviews with local and international bands. If you’re into music they’re a great read but they do cover all of the arts.
A few weeks back I was lucky enough to attend a preview screening for the sequel to Kingsman to write a review for Scenestr magazine. I’ve been aware of Matthew Vaughan as a filmmaker with Layer Cake and Stardust neither of which entertained me as much as I hoped they would. God bless you Ms Miller for wearing that get up in one scene though.
Karen took me along to a free preview screening at the old Regent Cinemas though the first year we were dating. It was for the film Kick-Ass and suddenly Vaughan was a director I was really interested in following. Kingsman: The Secret Service had a similar energy and it has been interesting to see if Vaughan for the first time actually directing a sequel to one of his success stories would do.
Preview screenings can vary in expense. Uncharacteristically the line was backed up across the foyer and moving slowly towards a red carpet disappearing under a black curtain entrance. When we got through Karen and I found out why. At the end of the line was one bartender pouring champagne into a glass or a shot of whisky into a tumbler for every guest. Out of the kitchen came a young man serving sliders on a tray which I thoroughly enjoyed. There were like mini-cheeseburgers the way you imagine they should taste. Perfection. The line was so long he came out again with sliders of chicken and coleslaw. I turned to Karen and mentioned that if I could get another cheeseburger one I wouldn’t need dinner and I’d be a happy man. As we just got past the doors the waiter came out and went past us. Karen called out my name to alert me to the sliders that I was happy to let go. The waiter sensing this came back and I got my wish. Having a wife comes in handy. 🙂 When I got to the bar I was surprised to see they weren’t just pouring Johnny Walker Black but actually Johnny Walker Green Label which I’d never had before. It was an easy decision and I have to say it went down smooth.
As always with these things I feel very lucky to be able to attend at all let alone write about the film. I went home and started writing late into the evening to meet my deadline. It will come as no surprise to most of you that a film you truly love or hate are the easy ones to write about. The films that are a mixed bag are the tough ones and I’m not particularly proud of my review for Kingsman: The Golden Circle. You can read here http://scenestr.com.au/movies-and-tv/kingsman-the-golden-circle-review-20170921 and let me know what you think.
Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr. is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. With over twenty years of publishing history they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They also publish magazines in print for Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane every month. The magazine is focussed mostly on music gigs, festivals, stand-up comics, fashion and interviews with local and international bands. If you’re into music they’re a great read but they do cover all of the arts.
I didn’t intend to go away for over a month, there’s been things I’ve been doing and I planned to post often but it just got away from me, overtime shifts, an impromptu getaway and feeble attempts to improve my health and sleeping patterns. So here we are and it’s been more than a month. I feel very frustrated that I’m not getting to write and read as much as I used to but the first thing I had to do was write about Kelly. Now that I’ve done that I will try to catch up on some things I’ve gotten published in the past month.
A few weeks back I jumped at the chance to interview the Festival Director of the Italian Film Festival which tours around Australia at this time of the year. Alas she was ill and last minute I got to speak to the CEO Of Palace Cinemas himself Benjamin Zeccola. Interviews are still a relatively new thing for me and often listening back to the tapes I hear a nervous interviewer building to his questions. How the hell was I gonna go with a CEO?! Well Mr Zeccola was so charming that I grew in confidence during our conversation. We spoke for about 30 minutes about how I met my wife at a Palace cinema, the changing landscape of media and how to program a film festival. It was a truly fascinating conversation with a man who revealed himself to be very grounded, a hopeless romantic but also a savvy businessman. It gave me a great deal of confidence coming out of it and made me realise what a dream it would be for me to do this for a living full time. Alas due to word count restrictions we were only able to print his thoughts on the 2017 Italian Film Festival which you can read here http://scenestr.com.au/movies/lavazza-italian-film-festival-coming-to-a-cinema-near-you
Later I attended the return of the Brisbane International Film Festival where his father Antonio Zeccola was acknowledged for his work in bringing back my favourite hometown film festival. I had thanked Benjamin and Palace for doing so during our interview and I feel eternally grateful for the privilege of being able to do that as a writer for Scenestr.
Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr. is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. With over twenty years of publishing history they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They also publish Scenestr magazine in print every month and I was lucky enough that this featured in all the September issues published across the country. In the Queensland issue it featured alongside another interview I conducted. A digital copy of the printed magazine with two interviews I did for the Queensland September issue can be found here http://scenestr.com.au/read/QLD/2017/1095-QLD/scenestr-QLD-1095.html#p=63
Scenestr focus mostly on music gigs, festivals, stand-up comics, fashion and interviews with local and international bands. If you’re into music they’re a great read but they do cover all of the arts.
Kelly Chen (bottom right) with the crew of Beyond Blood. Copyright Lloyd Marken
Kelly Chen was born 22nd September 1977 and passed away 30 September 2017.
He was only 40 years old but the breadth and scope of his life was extraordinary and fulfilling and the impact to others far reaching. I was not a close friend and the facts of even the most important milestones of his life remain foggy to me.
Yet I am moved to write about him and try to honour his legacy as I see it. His parting message was “Follow your dreams with no regrets.”
Many years ago I worked on a feature film called Vigilante made on the Gold Coast for 3 weeks at the end of 2007 as a production runner. A great deal of the crew were film students from the nearby Bond University, one of them was named Kelly Chen. You won’t find either of us on the film’s IMDB page, a fact I find surprising given Kelly’s career. As best as I can recall he was the Camera Assistant on the movie.
Kelly Chen on the set of Vigilante. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
We talked a little bit, one night up at Bruce Bishop car park I sat and talked to him about a few ideas I had running around in my head for films. We talked a little about careers and pursuing dreams. It was a beautiful night and I wondered if this was the beginning of something. Young men at the beginning, meeting and encouraging each other on early projects. Something to be recounted years later in Vanity Fair after they had made it. I knew of course better than that but we all have fantasies and I enjoyed the moment with Kelly for what it was.
Shooting at night at Bruce Bishop carpark. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Two creatives talking about projects they hope to make. Kelly was encouraging and I always kept it in the back of my mind that one day I would send him a script. That was nearly 10 years ago and I will always regret taking for granted that opportunity and not acting on it. At the end of shooting there was a party and interestingly Kelly and I had copies of photos we had taken during the shoot for all cast and crew. Kelly’s photos were superior in quantity and quality.
The following year Kelly got in contact with me around March to help as a Runner on a music video he was shooting over the weekend at The Wave Hotel, Gold Coast. I came down and helped out where I could. It was an easy enough gig. Kelly clearly a talent fitted the role of director like a glove. Sometimes he would repeatedly quickly nod during consultation, the mind ticking over and aware of time constantly slipping away but I never saw him stressed. The man had incredible focus and drive but he was always in control.
Kelly Chen directing on Beyond Blood. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Then later in the year he asked me again to help on the film he was directing as his graduating short. I took a week off work to work for him unpaid. The film Beyond Blood had incredible ambition, they were shooting on 35mm, a first for a graduating short from Bond. There were stacks of fight scenes and an Asian stunt team who had worked on Vigilante were employed on this film. The story about a small time criminal and his two adopted brothers was close to Kelly’s heart. He knew the man the story was based off and there were rich themes in it. On the surface though it was an incredibly beautifully shot piece. I helped out as a gopher again and Kelly always showed the utmost respect to me as director despite me being the lowest and most expendable member of the crew. Anybody who has worked on a film set will tell you there are assholes out there who abuse their power, there’s also clashes due to the close working environment and egos. Kelly was always in charge, firm and direct but he had a way of keeping a set harmonious. One night late in the week we were at a bar shooting a long dolly shot on tracks moving towards the actors. Kelly got me to get down and push the track. We did a couple of takes, I was advised to keep it steadier and how to do so. We did a couple more, then he got me off and somebody else pushed instead. His voice was steady as a rock and quiet, he gave me an opportunity, found I couldn’t master the task in time, re-calibrated whom to use and did it all without drawing too much attention to my failure and letting me escape with as much of my dignity intact as possible. Taking that kind of care at the end of a long shoot and in the middle of the night with such an important shot needing to be in the can is very impressive but that was Kelly. Something I’m realising more and more since his passing. I was credited on the film as Best Boy.
Naturally Kelly made sure there was a picture of me after I asked to take a picture of him with the crew. Copyright Lloyd Marken
Not long after that he asked me to come down to another student’s short being shot one night in St John’s Cathedral. I was to be an extra, I got decked out in costume and given a handgun. Kelly was a crew member and very supportive despite my nerves.
Not long after I went down to Bond and saw both the film I cameoed in and Beyond Blood. Beyond Blood was a startling debut from Kelly, there are Hollywood feature films that don’t look that good. Early the following year Kelly arranged to drop off a DVD of Beyond Blood to me in the middle of the night while I was on a date in Brisbane far from his home the Gold Coast. I never got a copy of the other film.
That was it for the most part, I worked on another short in 2009 and realised how lucky I had been on those sets with Kelly. I had a new part time job that took up a lot of my time in addition to full time work and I pursued that. Always at the back of my mind though was the idea I should send a script to Kelly one day. After Beyond Blood, I don’t think it is any coincidence I grabbed my video camera and shot a short myself over a month with friends. I really need to edit that.
The years went by and I saw through Facebook Kelly had some health issues, I believe he had a lung condition and at a certain point he got a transplant. That is purely speculation and foggy memory on my part. On Facebook he stayed in touch, I saw he was teaching at Bond University and I believe he worked on international advertisements shot here in Brisbane. He lost weight and cut his hair posting gym pics. He travelled to Europe and worked on a project that saw him in the South Pacific a while back. He seized the day.
I took my first holiday with my wife in six years two weeks ago and awoke to news that he had passed on Facebook. I was fortunate enough to attend the funeral and pay my respects to his family. It all felt odd because he had been out of my life a long time and if not for social media I would never have known. The same week another friend passed away in Adelaide and again without Facebook I would not have known. He was 47 and a good man too. It feels funny to write this but I wanted to say something about Kelly to pass onto his family.
At the funeral they mentioned that Kelly loved to teach and to guide and it made me realise something about our relationship despite being peers. When I was younger I had been to the UK and it ignited in me a lust for travel. I figured I’d got to New York City, Cambodia, Canada, Japan, South Korea,Europe, etc. I told this to Kelly on the set of Vigilante and he was adamant that I go to Japan. He advised it was important to go to a place where the culture was different to the one you grew up in. One night shooting Beyond Blood we grabbed dinner at local Korean BBQ place in Surfers Paradise. He encouraged me to pick dishes outside what I would usually get and told me this was real Korean BBQ. A cynic might have thought getting me to work on the shorts was only done because he didn’t have to pay me. I believe now he was trying to encourage me to pursue a career in the arts because he could see my passion for it. My confidence and experiences in that world certainly grew because of Kelly.
Author standing where he shouldn’t. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
One night I climbed a fence near some train tracks to hold a light on Beyond Blood. Some trains whizzed by then on a bridge high above a torch shone down on me. In retrospect me choosing not to move at that point was highly stupid. Anyway a few minutes later a ute pulls up and three men get out and approach the film crew shooting on the other side of the fence. I don’t move a muscle. They walk up to Kelly and say “A train driver has called and told us he saw a man is near the tracks around this area? Have you seen anything”. Now these men mostly middle aged must have had a poor eye sight with all the lights around the set because I was standing less than 10 feet away from Kelly who glanced over at me with a face I will never forget and then shook his head. The men proceeded to walk to the gate and open it up. As soon as they were through they saw me and I readied for an attack. I was 28 at the time, he gestured for me to come over and I walked over calmly but very nervous inside. “Hello Sir, is everything all right?” I offered. I was in the wrong I wanted to let them know I was respectful and not a threat and would cooperate. The producer Timothy Lee walked over even younger than me in support. To let me know he had my back, I was ready to accept any punishment and clear the guys of any wrongdoing but it all ended there. They asked me to pack up the light and to not cross the fence again. The producer and I promised I wouldn’t and we went back to shooting.
The crew working hard in Fortitude Valley sans light. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
I’m very grateful for the way that was handled that night but I kind knew on some level Kelly and the producer had my back and I had theirs’. There’s a photo of me taken before the incident that Karen liked and put in a frame.
Most of my 20s I spent overweight including on the set of Vigilante, a year later on Beyond Blood I had lost 10kgs and looked and felt great. I didn’t see Kelly from early 2009 to mid 2015. I was walking out of work one day in the City for lunch and there was Kelly directing something with a crew. My life was an all time low and I was obese. I felt embarrassed to be seen by him, Kelly turned right in the midst of shooting and called out to me. We walked over to each other, me with my work colleague. Kelly smiled, my God he beamed, shook my hand asked me how I was and said I looked good. We chatted for a handful of seconds and then he said he needed to get back to it but we should catch up. It sounds kind of Hollywood schmooze like but I assure it was genuine and completely unnecessary for him to do. I walked away feeling like a million bucks. I believe his actions in that moment speak volumes about who he was and what we lost. The kindness and generosity of the man was right there and the measure of him was limitless. Good bye Kelly Chen and thank you for everything. You are and always shall be sorely missed.
-Lloyd Marken
A picture I will now treasure even more than I already did. Goodbye Kelly. Copyright Lloyd Marken.
Scenestr focus mostly on music gigs, festivals, stand-up comics, fashion and interviews with local and international bands. If you’re into music they’re a great read but they do cover all of the arts.
Back to the Drawing Board Productions 