food for thought

from our recent punk monk propaganda group art exhibition: decorating loos. 


in addition to the installation created with clare & alex, we also spent a couple of late nights in the gallery with jay getting trigger happy with stencils and text...

suburbs spawn existentialism

BTS with AWOL MONK: talking to heremaia rudkin about the "what if girl"

extract from #KSZ 02 [sydney kino zine]

ironically this month's behind the scenes featured filmmaker whose amazing almost bus stop romance originally captured my imagination at newtown flicks is featured in #KSZ02. the zine was released last night on the night of kino#37 where steven kastrissios who featured last month in BTS with AWOL MONK for issue 01 had an equally enigmatic almost bus stop romance short film screen as his first ever KINO film. stop the zeitgeist bus! the trick is whether there's a trifecta... tune in next month & see.

heremaia rudkin despite being disarmingly handsome is a quintessentially bashful kiwi boy made good. although he’d never admit it.  

we shared some locally brewed beers last wknd on an erskineville pavement under the sun & talked about the recent success of his no/lo-budget film WHAT IF GIRL which was awarded the panavision industry prize at the recent cool kid on the festival block, newtown flicks as well as playing in the shortlisted “audience bites back” finale night which featured the most popular film from each previous sesh. 

upon seeing the film i made a direct beeline. he oozes a polished yet casual KINO sensibility asking big questions in small format. his film is, dare i say, like him likeable. extremely identifiable. in a savvy understated eastern suburbs kinda way. despite being an inner west fest, the dilemma universal.

a graduate of NZ film school, heremaia dabbles in video production by day to pay bills but his passion for story telling takes him into the wonderful world of film at night. and yes his nan helped finance his short. hello australian film industry.

newtown flicks is the test fest for the film & it’s an undeniably great result & infinitely valuable springboard. newtown flicks provides a respected forum & veritable hotbed of talent lurking beneath the cinematic radar while gallantly competing this year with the competitive film calendar by going head to head with the 57th sydney film festival. a scheduling nightmare but still viable due to the scope of the programme. closing night was near full with all bums accounted for on seats.

encouraged heremaia now looks to his new town to provide the stimulus & setting for many more films with an avant garde music video in the works & a very different story. We talk 7D. canon has really hit the indie filmmaker sweet spot — there’s an observable trend. every other indie filmmaker is ditching their large format HDV cameras & downsizing/upgrading to the canon DSLR with HD video range.

his challenge [a problem common to many emerging financially-strapped filmmakers] however is to build a tribe to work with.

like the born-again pimp i am, i tell him about the new cine religion at fraser studios one monday a month & he promises to come. one thing there is no shortage of in sydney is a film subculture coupled with a community which supports & nurtures fresh talent. whether or not he does come, there is no “what if” about heremaia's promising screen future.

NB. images used are copyright the filmmaker [heremaia rudkin]. thanks to heremaia for use of pics]

BTS with AWOL MONK is a regular behind the scenes segment which can be found in every issue of kino sydney's zine produced by punk monks clare devlin-mahoney, alexander papasavvas & kate taylor with contributions from other kino lovers. [#ksz]

but where are all the pretty horses?

BTS with AWOL MONK: - talking to steven kastrissios about the horseman

extract from #KSZ 01 [first issue sold out may 2010]

steven kastrissios is a man of immense paradox. BEHIND THE SCENES he’s gentle, humble & wry. we’ve become great friends since we met in 2008 at a night of horror international film festival.

but his multiple award-winning accolade ripping feature film THE HORSEMAN which he’s just sold for international distribution reveals a guy ritchie on steroids meets early rolf de heer auteur. his characterisation brutal. bad boy bubby has left the building & moved into pest control. *sideways look*

the horseman story is one of fairytales. the kind with blood, sweat & tears. lots of blood. this is no holds barred action with gritty realism. steven envisaged it & succeeded. in the cinema i’ve seen people leave. in horror. i did some quiet gut wrenching of my own.

made on the wings of a short prayer based on his feature screenplay to garner interest, the brisbane exile then made this, his first feature in true blue indie fashion.

instead of a big fat greek wedding his parents invested their house against the now defunct 10BA cert [since replaced by the producer offset] to support his dream & his sisters eloped. well almost.

the gamble paid huge dividends since the end of 2006 when a small multi-tasking crew used one location in oh so many ways to stretch budget till the lycra was all spent & producer rebecca dakin could cook no more after a brilliantly choreographed 4 week shoot for what is technically a no-budget film. by australian standards.

as the awards rained down, steven returned to newly adopted sydney from a successful session at texas’s SXSW 2009 to wrap the marketing material for distributors & consider the calm before the prevailing storm.

we discuss the current climate for making films. “noone returned my calls before either” he says as we ruefully discuss my plans for his shiny new 5D mark II & share fantastical post-apocalyptic visions for future projects.

he leaves after drinking wine to catch a plane for his sister’s engagement party. like the prodigal son/brother he is, he has returned & she got her dowry back.

NB. "the horseman" images [including production shots] are copyright kastle films. thanks for letting me use them steven. the rest are copyleft/creative commons courtesy of yours truly.


for details re: the horseman australian theatrical release later this year please check kastle films.

BTS with AWOL MONK is a regular behind the scenes segment which can be found in every issue of kino sydney's zine produced by punk monks clare devlin-mahoney, alexander papasavvas & kate taylor with contributions from other kino lovers. [#ksz]