access all areas

a couple of years ago i was introduced to a bunch of physically impaired filmmakers through KINO KABARET. KINO is [as some people already know] my subcultural cinematic religion which became my family... this is the place where for the last two years i've been making films on & off on a monthly basis to showcase with a bunch of other under-resourced filmmakers who are also big on ideas.

together under the philosophical umbrella of "don't think, just shoot" we have risen above the crippling confines of no budget & produced numerous films of varying standard [some international film fest award winners] which are usually happily bolstered by the open jamesons & coopers bar to be savoured by the hundred or so people who regularly turn out to watch them/us.

KABARET is the more intense version of KINO where films are made within a 48 hour timeframe. it's a lot of fun & the environment is wholly coo-operative in an ego-free environment as new and old filmmakers alike come together.

earlier this year, i amongst a handful of others helped a friend, phillip debs, who is profoundly deaf since birth, sign out a short film; all things bright and beautiful as part of the coming together for sydney's only 48hour film marathon [we make a series of 48 hour films for the week with three sessions all up back on back]. it's a humbling opportunity to take stock of the aspects of life i coast through in on auto-pilot mode but conversely also appreciate the other aspects which are introduced when not so reliant on other senses. it helps that i like to wave my arms around...

the people behind KINO in sydney are the festivalists; a non profit company which has such incredible reach producing multiple film festivals throughout sydney & into the expanses of greater sydney. NSW would be such a sadder place without them.

sometimes it's hard to believe it's the work of just three nurturing vision-filled people: matt, marianne and karina aided & abetted by the sea of interns they invariably attract wanting to sit and learn at their generous & all inspiring feet.

one of their labours of love is access all areas film festival which kicked off a few days ago. bringing niche films [mostly locally produced] which are hard enough to see outside of arthouse cinema houses in major cities alone, the festival is touring NSW and taking the mountain to mohammed as it were. the films are travelling throughout wagga wagga, orange, griffith and outer regions within NSW to the people who don't take a trip to the cinema for granted. schools are included too.

issues of mobility, hearing impairment... are all covered where audio descriptions in addition to open ended captioning for all films are transmitted through individual audio receivers which are provided free of charge by the festival. carers are on hand at all venues to help make the less able more comfortable.

don't dis my [or any other's] ability. embrace the differences. reject homogeny.

guerrillas in the midst

...otherwise known as the lame midnight adventures of vic & davey.

so after we were escorted off location yesterday morning by security with repeated threats of police intervention for our property trespass whilst making our KINO film it became apparent amongst the technical meltdown which ensued that we were also down on a little property ourselves.

the only solution was operation midnight scale fence & retrieval. we couldn't imagine that nasty polish security guard wearing chanel so went in to be reunited with planes lying dormant on runways with high hopes of evasion of suspected terrorism et al.

we took a blond wig with us this time in pre-emptive view of perfecting our stall technique. we left the "how-to build a bomb" diagrams & cell details in the car leaving the engine running with doors open & lights on. just in case/for fun.

with the barking dogs hard on our heels we still had a little time for a photo opportunity albeit a slightly unfocussed one. AND we found our lost shit.

not beautiful enough

poor neglected blog... right on the back of making & screening "the unfinished tale of annabel lee" on thursday night this week i made an unplanned drunken promise at the red rattler theatre to shoot another film with my delighful muse, cat, in the following two days [goodbye life]...

after quickly shuffling the rest of my week around, i had an idea on friday morning & rocked up to the KINO KABARET meeting at 10:00 to pitch with a bunch of other crazed filmmakers on a week long 48 hour marathon based in the lab at metroscreen.

friday was spent making friends with oliver from london KINO & bringing him on board to shoot when originally i thought maybe just to shoot myself by mobile phone but realised the imagery i wanted to capture could really benefit from an HD injection.

using the sponsored canon legria on the basis that we aimed for a PG rating in order to relationship build with canon, i ran off to hunt down props. then perhaps knock out a script & secure a fairly specific location... all this whilst celebrating a friend [magali] leaving for paris & another's [amalia] birthday. to the point at 01:00 tipsily running around the cross we made an unscheduled stopover at her shop where she made the best alcohol infused wedding posey ever in the middle of her birthday sojourn between clubs. good friends and passion are irreplaceable.

by 03:00 i was making equipment & shotlists and at 04:00 davey rocked back up after a late night in between film snack where we then drove off into the night to location scout industrial wastelands...

from 05:00 our mini crew [oliver, dan, davey, cat] were starting to arrive at the corner shop to be on set for 06:30 where we set off in pursuit of the magic hour. we have some beautiful footage which sadly has still been somewhat evasive in transfer due to file size limitations regarding .mts to .mov transfer between computers. if anyone can tell us how to xfer files over 4G from one mac to another i will be permanently indebted. at least we have some stunning photos thanks to davey.

we had a screening FAIL last night. but i'm excited that we have a very pretty film here in the can. just as soon as we can use the files... fat32 we're onto you.

about last night

we shot a little film. it will play in a couple of days time for KINO KABARET which is an extreme filmmaking showcase.

all films featured are made in 48 hours. ours will technically be a bit over. due to crew/cast obligations we just couldn't shoot in the timeframe for my hyperreal staged concept which is a derivative nod to lynch in conjunction with the themed KINO screening this coming thursday night: a homage to "the man".

another punk monk, dermot [our lovely DOP] has a haiku screening tonight amongst loads of other intensive short films to see. to make up for blurred lines, i might just make another couple of films. that is, if anyone still wants to work with me...

only one death, five litres of blood-letting & a face-full of blown capillaries. insurance anyone? welcome to guerrilla filmmaking.

if you're in sydney please come to the red rattler theatre to see "the retweeted tale of annabel lee" & enjoy the punk monk propaganda lynch installation. the film screening commences 19:00.

snuff movie

the photographic evidence is in. it's not my fault ky contracted hypothermia today on her surprise conditioning mid-winter swim where she was convinced to enter stage right for an upcoming punk monk KINO kabaret 48 hr film.

yes, the water was 12 degrees celcius. yes, i sent her the SMS after visualising her semi-naked & wet which she incorrectly assumed was jest. yes, i dropped her off to get swimmers prior. yes, i told her she had to get in... but i'm only the ideas chick, the writer, the director, the gentle massager of friendships, sometime inciter of violence or passion.

most definitely however i am the good cop. the rest was all kate. she is the goebbels to my adolf, the hutch to my starsky. she callously turned our dear yellow-skinned friend completely blue. note the poised wrists & well-turned ankles. we take pleasure in the torture of others. beware a producer meets 1st AD who wants to get things moving. fast. shh, thou doth protest too loudly.

if you're interested in being involved in one of our future productions & have any kind of a death-wish please contact me directly. i'll send your details on to my trusty producer. we are branching out into snuff movies at a theatre near you soon. there's potentially many executions to come. lynch or no.