Melancholia, Lars von Trier |
cinema exotica from home and abroad
For its 20th manifestation, the Brisbane International Film Festival is offering a range of exciting cinema experiences including Australian and world premieres. In terms of big draw cards there’s David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method, exploring the relationship between Freud, Jung and patient and pupil Sabina Spielrein. Provocateur Lars von Trier’s Melancholia starring Kirsten Dunst, which supposedly left the audience gasping in Cannes, will also be screening. Direct from Venice and Toronto Film Festivals comes an adaptation of John Le Carre’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by Swedish director Tomas Alfredson (Let The Right One In, 2008) with Gary Oldman as George Smiley and described by one reviewer as "at its best as a study in minimalist aesthetics and cool, sombre, low-tech interiors." The festival will conclude with Pedro Almodóvar's much acclaimed, The Skin I Live In, about an obsessive plastic surgeon (Antonio Bandera) who imprisons the object of his experiments (Elena Anaya).
There’s also a strong horror and sci-fi flavour to this year’s festival. Starting on November 12 and finishing in the wee hours of the 13th is the Horror Marathon including Guilty of Romance (see RT’s review from SUFF) and Mannborg by Canadian Z-grade director Steven John Kostanski, about a half-man, half-cyborg who fights Nazi vampires. From Argentina comes Nicolás Goldbart’s Phase 7 described as “slacker comedy meets bio-apocalypse” (website). Also from Argentina is Penumbra, directed by “horror cinema’s answer to the Coen Brothers” Adrián and Ramiro García Bogliano.
Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same, Madeleine Olnek |
Outback Fight Club, Paul Scott |
arts fertiliser
Emerging artists and arts workers in South Australia looking for tips on how to sustain a life in the arts should check out How Does Your Arts Career Grow?, a free panel discussion organised by the Adelaide Festival Centre and Carclew Youth Arts. The forum will bring together leaders in arts and culture in South Australia with young and emerging artist to share thoughts and advice on how to develop and manage a career and how young people can shape the future of the arts. Key industry professionals involved are Christie Anthoney (Creative Director, Adelaide College of the Arts) who will facilitate the panel, Annette Tripodi (Operations and Program Manager, WOMADelaide), Brigid Noone (independent artist/curator), Edwin Kemp Attrill (Artistic Director, University of Adelaide Theatre Guild) and Ianto Ware (Project Manager, Renew Adelaide). Space Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre; Oct 31, free; www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/greenroom/how-does-your-arts-career-grow-2/
In Brisbane, Backbone Youth Arts is hosting the Future Voices Forum with a focus on “local needs and international trends” (website). Taking place in two parts the first will concentrate on Australia and the ‘Asian Century’ with panelists including Andrew Ross (Artistic Director, Brisbane Powerhouse), Cathy Hunt (Co-Founding Director, Positive Solutions) and Thom Browning (Artistic Development Coordinator, Imaginary Theatre). The second session will be an Open Spaces Dialogue led by Jim Lawson (Executive Director, Young People and the Arts Australia) taking off from provocations raised at the National Youth Theatre Summit at St Martin’s in September [http://www.stmartinsyouth.com.au/national-youth-theatre-summit/]. The Future Voices Forum is part of the 2high festival, a one-day invasion of the Brisbane Powerhouse by young and emerging performance makers and visual artists. 2high Festival, presented by Backbone Youth Arts, Oct 29, Brisbane Powerhouse; www.backbone.org.au/2high-festival/; Future Voices Forum, Visy Theatre, Oct 29, 10am www.backbone.org.au/artist/2953/
evolving fictions
Adam Cruickshank, The Half Asleep Pilgrim, work space courtesy the artist |
creative non-fictions
Tashmadada, the organisation which recently brought ex-La Fura Dels Baus performer Younes Bashir (see Underbelly Arts review) to Australia, is run by director-producer Deborah Leiser-Moore. She's teaming up with US quarterly publication Creative Non-Fiction to create an Australian issue. They're calling for essays across all forms with the only stipulations being that the stories be true and the articles unpublished. Two prizes are on offer, with the best essay (regardless of country of origin) winning AUS$6500 and an extra prize for the Best Essay by an Australian Writer winning AUS$2500. The edition will be launched as part of the 2012 Melbourne Writers' Festival. Deadline Jan 31, 2012; each essay requires a $20 reading fee. See Tashmadada for more info: http://www.tashmadada.com; www.creativenonfiction.org
at the end of the journey
Homelands photos James Brown |
Also nearing its end is the run of FraserStudios. Since 2008 Sam Chester and James Wynter and their team from Queen Street have done an amazing job managing these artists studios and rehearsal spaces in Chippendale, temporarily made available by the Fraser Property development group. The venture has had an immeasurable impact on the vibrancy of contemporary culture in Sydney (read about the studios in RT91). Running for longer than originally anticipated, it is now time to close the doors, but there will be one last open day on October 30 where you can see the artists at work, along with talks, demonstrations of digital fabrication technology by Assemblage Studio next door, and a barbeque. While it’s the end of an era, the impact of the initiative is tangible, not only as the Queen Street team have now taken on Heffron Hall in Surry Hills, but also as the range of commercial and government spaces now open to cultural activity is on the increase (see below). FraserStudios Open Day, October 30, 1-5pm, 10-14 Kensington Street, Chippendale; www.queenstreetstudio.com/fraserstudios.html
Breaking News: From 9 January-30 June 2012, Queen Street Studio and Frasers Property will offer NSW-based Visual Artists a "bonus round" of six-month open studio residencies. For more details go to www.queenstreetstudio.com/vis-arts-residency.html. Deadline Nov 18, 2011. Details of Performing Arts residencies will be announced shortly.
pop-up oxford street
Rocks Pop-Up Projects, Perran Costi's Personal Space: a living artwork, interactive exhibition, artists’ studio, bric-a-brac shop, teahouse and native garden photos courtesy the artist |
Now the City of Sydney is calling for tenders from artists, creatives and collectives interested in the short-term inhabitation of two retail shops and 14 office suites on Oxford Street—a unique opportunity to infiltrate the heart of the city! Deadline Nov 9, 11am, advertisements EOI 0811 and EOI 0911 can be viewed at http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Business/TendersEOIQuotes/CurrentListing.asp
RealTime issue #105 Oct-Nov 2011 pg. web
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