Cinema Australia Cinema Australia

Welcome to the Cinema Australia Podcast.

I can’t even begin to tell you how much I enjoyed recording this episode with Flathead writer and director, Jaydon Martin. Originally, this was meant to be a written interview, but as soon as I began chatting with Jaydon, my instincts told me that he was about to share some insights into the making of Flathead that I really needed to capture audibly. And I’m so glad I did.

Simply put, Jaydon’s Flathead is a masterpiece - and it’s already one of my very favourite films of the year. It’s classified as docufiction, a new genre of cinema that even Jaydon believes is a newly coined term. It’s hard to explain what that means, but once you listen to Jaydon’s stories, you’ll understand exactly what docufiction is.

Flathead follows Cass, played by actor Cass Cumerford. Late in life, Cass is drawn to his long-forsaken childhood home of Bundaberg,
where he finds himself on a spiritual search for redemption.

Anyway… enjoy.

I’m very excited to present this very special interview with Travis Jeffery, one of my favourite Australian actors whose work I have admired for many years.

Travis is best known for his roles in Gallipoli, Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken, Pirates Of The Caribbean, Danger Close, The Preacher, Frayed, Last King of the Cross, Heart Break High, and more recently Before Dawn and Planet of the Apes. Three of my favourite films that Travis has started in are Spin Out, Top End Wedding and Bloody Hell.

Travis will also star in a stack of upcoming films including Zoe Pepper’s Birthright, Myles Pollard’s short film, Inheritance, and Adam Morris’ Frederickstown.

As well as those films I’ve just mentioned, Travis is also here to discuss his new short film, Dusty. An intensely emotional, moving, and often gut-wrenching film which follows the lead character Dustin, played by Travis. Unable to accept the death of his best friend, Ashely, Dustin goes into voluntary self isolation with a million beers and several bags of cocaine. Amidst the chaos of his grief-induced bender for one, he accidentally mixes his best friends ashes with a very generous line of cocaine, and to his complete and utter confusion, Ashleigh appears.

Dusty is also written by Travis, and is direct Jeremy Lindsay Taylor, the veteran Australian actor’s directing debut.

Throughout this interview, Travis gives us a highly educational insight into the mechanics of being of actor, detailing his journey from growing up on a farm, to starring in major Hollywood productions.

My guest on this episode is Bill Bennett, the writer, director, and co-producer of The Way, My Way - a charming true story of Bill himself, and one of his many walks on the 800-kilometer-long Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route through Spain. The film is based on Bill’s best-selling memoir of the same name.

Bill is one of Australia’s most experienced and respected filmmakers, having made a ton of feature films and numerous documentaries over a forty-year period.

Bill has received Australian Film Institute Awards for Best Film and Best Director; he’s had two films in the Official Selection at the Cannes Film Festival, four films in Toronto, and had three major international retrospectives.

As usual with this podcast, we go much deeper than just a filmmaker’s most recent film.

Here, Bill takes us all the way back to the beginning of his career and his almost-immediate success with early films like A Street to Die and Backlash.

Bill also shares some incredible stories about making films like Spider & Rose, Kiss or Kill, Two if by Sea with Sandra Bullock, and The Nugget, which he filmed with a very ill Belinda Emmett while 9/11 was happening at the same time.

Regular listeners will know how much I love doing these retrospective-style interviews, so this one was a real treat.

Anyway… enjoy.

My guests on this episode are The Switchblade Sisterhood writer, director, producer and cinematographer, Davo Hardy, and actor Kieran Hudson, who makes his feature film debut as lead actor in this film.

Regular listeners of the Cinema Australia Podcast will know that Davo is no stranger here. This is Davo’s third time as a guest, and it’s always a pleasure to hear from Davo as his career progresses.

The Switchblade Sisterhood follows a young woman grieving the death of her mother. Discovering she has a half-sister, bearing a grudge over their late mother’s abandonment of her, the two take solace in exploring the deceased’s belongings; where they find a book on radical second-wave feminism and a literal switchblade.

Both of which are used as weapons of choice in a bitter rivalry about fractured families, gender roles and personal, contemporary and intergenerational politics.

The Switchblade Sisterhood is available to watch now via davohardyfilms.com where you can also find Davo’s previous films including features and shorts.

Anyway… enjoy.

My guests on this episode are The Rooster writer and director, Mark Leonard Winter, and co-producers Mahveen Shahraki and Geraldine Hakewill.

The Rooster is simply must-see cinema. It’s an experience. The Rooster transcends cinematic boundaries, delving deep into the human experience and illuminating the darkest corners of our minds with a shining light. Mark Leonard Winter’s visionary storytelling proves that he is not just a talented actor, but a genuine filmmaker.

The Rooster follows Dan, a small-town cop. When the body of his oldest friend Steve (Rhys Mitchell) is found buried in a shallow grave, Dan seeks answers from a volatile hermit (Hugo Weaving) who was the last person to see his friend alive. As Dan gets closer to the truth, he must confront his own personal demons and he discovers that hope can be found in unlikely places.

This interview plays as a companion piece to my interview with Mark which I published last year ahead of the film’s screenings at MIFF and CinefestOZ. While that interview was a deep dive into the making of the film, this interview is a bit more playful.

Anyway... enjoy.

Heath Davis joins the latest episode of the Cinema Australia Podcast to discuss Christmess which he wrote, directed and co-produced.

If you keep up to date with the latest Australian film releases, you’ve no doubt heard about Christmess. It’s getting a lot of buzz at the moment with sold out screenings on the East Coast, upcoming screenings in Western Australia and Tasmania. There’s national media interest and you may have even spotted a digital billboard for the film on your way home from work.

If you’ve already attended one of the screenings, you would have heard Heath talk during a Q&A. He’s doing his best to travel around the country with the film which is admirable. This is a filmmaker who backs and believes in his work.

Heath is one of Australia’s most exciting filmmakers, and there are few filmmakers whose new films I anticipate more than his. If you haven’t seen Book Week, I highly recommend it. Heath’s other films include the crime thriller Locusts and Broke as well as a stack of shorts which have enjoyed success at Tribeca, Flickerfest, MIFF and more.

Christmess follows Chris (played by Steve Le Marquand), a once famous actor who now performs as a shopping centre Santa Claus after his alcohol addiction puts a pause on his acting career. After bumping into his estranged daughter, he seeks help for his recovery in order to win his daughter's forgiveness.

Christmess co-stars Middle Kids lead singer Hannah Joy in a breakout performance, and Darren Gilshenan in arguably the best performance of his esteemed career.

Put simply, Christmess is unmissable. It’s the perfect tonic to most of the mind-numbing Hollywood dross currently saturating mainstream cinemas. The Hunger Games Part 47… really?

More and more Christmess screenings are popping up daily, so be sure to follow Christmess on socials to find out where you can see it near you.

Anyway… enjoy.