Opening with a delicate palette of pale blue mingling with warm peach hues, the aesthetics of Georgia Oakley’s debut feature Blue Jean—which just received its UK premiere at the 66th London Film Festival—are tender and beautiful, with a timeless grain from the 16mm film that it was shot on by cinematographer Victor Seguin. As a... Continue Reading →
Hot Mess from The General Public at Sydney's King's Cross Theatre this month begins with an ode to those awkward public bathroom stall conversations you have with strangers at nightclubs (or is that just me?!), with the characters talking shit, literally. Uncomfortable and hilarious, I couldn't help but laugh throughout the show. The line, "the... Continue Reading →
It’s been a strange year, we all know it. Some of us found out we were brilliant bread bakers, others discovered they had a fitness fanatic within them, and some just hid under the covers and waited for the world to stop being a really scary place. Jack Holden however decided to sit down and... Continue Reading →
Watching Dead Skin—which won the State Theatre Company of South Australia’s Young Playwright’s Award and had its world premiere at the Kings Cross Theatre Sydney this week—I was impressed by the complexity of the narrative structure, the ease and flow of dialogue that authentically captures the energy and angst of youth, as well as the... Continue Reading →
After a particularly challenging week in the news cycle, the outright misogyny and with those in power continuing to act with impunity, this show could not have been performed at a more important time. On Friday night, Sydney's Riverside Theatres was host to a compelling and cathartic piece of performance art that reminded the audience... Continue Reading →
Peter Murimi's I Am Samuel, part of the 35th BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival March 17-28th 2021, is an intimate portrait of Samuel, who lives in Nairobi, Kenya, and his partner Alex. Shot in verité style, the documentary opens with footage of the two men visiting a beauty spot, a waterfall in a forest,... Continue Reading →
Graham Kolbeins' documentary, Queer Japan, is packed with accounts of experiences and ideas from members of the LGBTQ community in Japan, the result of more than 100 interviews over three years. It gives insight into the lives of interesting and unconventional people who are challenging social norms for themselves and others. For all its outward... Continue Reading →
This year's London Film Festival has a larger-than-usual array of short films, all free to watch online in the UK until Sunday October 18th via BFI Player. Here are some favourites so far. Dungarees. Courtesy of LFF. Dungarees, written and directed by Abel Rubinstein, is a 5-minute 3-hander (now there's a phrase to conjure with)... Continue Reading →
Carmilla, with its themes of sexuality, isolation, fear of and fascination with of the other, is an intense Gothic pleasure. The story works on many levels, and at its heart is a trio - a love triangle - of women representing innocence, awakening sexuality, and repression. The action is set in late eighteenth-century rural England,... Continue Reading →
Shirley, directed by Josephine Decker, is a thrilling psychodrama based on a novel by Susan Scarf Merrell; nominated for the Teddy at this year's Berlinale it now arrives in the UK at the BFI LFF. Starring Elisabeth Moss in the title role, who also produced, it's the tale of Shirley Jackson, a renowned horror writer... Continue Reading →
