The Search for Onada

This is a fascinating story and here is an opportunity to hear it from the horses mouth.
Hiroo Onoda surrendered on a small island in the Philippines 30 years after his country surrendered to the USA to end the second world war. 
The mind boggles when you imagine the scenario.
But this doco is more than just looking at this aspect.
Here is a chance to hear from the islanders who were impacted by his secret campaign of guerrilla warfare, his fight for survival, driven by his loyalty to the emperor. 
It wasn't just 30 years of a monk in a cave, this was a soldier who performed his duty and continued his war. Mia Viaña Stewart has access to the people who lived on the island through her family and this presents a unique insider's/islanders view on the story.
The third intriguing element to this story is the question of why did the Japanese post Onoda on this island, what was the purpose, what was the strategic advantage of such posting? and this is where some conspiracy/myth elements can enter the story. Was there really a stash of gold to guard? or was it something else?
To find out the documentary needs to be completed and this is where you can help as Mia is running a modest pozible crowdfunder. This will be a love job but it still needs funds to complete

Next Stop Seoulywood - BTS

On the eve of the KOFFIA screening of Next Stop Seoulywood in Sydney I thought a squiz at some behind the scenes photographs would in order. Taken by Sheersha who filled multiple roles on the day and was instrumental at keeping the behind the scenes (off set) section of this shoot in order and running smooth. Her iphone also proved handy to collect a few production stills and here are some results.

Jo and Ian "no problemo"

A lighter moment.  ...was there never one? Ian, Matt, Jamie & Ed

Ed H - Master of Light...and dark.

Jamie F - Master of Sound/3rd Earth Meastro

Jo & Ian run the lines, Marius & Ed in the BG

It was a simple shoot, re; location, action etc and quite usual in performance and shot selection but where the challenge existed was in the dialogue/languages and the lip syncing to recorded speech.
This made a quickish shoot extend into a full day with a deadline to exit the studio always looming but the crew hummed along, the actors sung their song and we hall had a whole lotta fun along the way.

promo DL # 2

 Screens:                  Sun 25th August, 12noon 

The Event Cinemas in George Street, Sydney

Next Stop Seoulywood

KOFFIA is upon us again, how lucky are we?
Once a year The Korean Film Festival in Australia tours our east coast.
Starting in Brisbane (14-18th Aug), sailing through Sydney (21-29th Aug) and ending in Melbourne (5-11th Sept). This years theme is the many faces of Korean Cinema.

Not only is  it packed with South Korean Cinematic yumminess (check the program) but for the second year running they are running a short film competition.
There are some good prizes up for grabs and they will be decided by an illustrious jury that always includes a guest filmmaker from South Korea. This year we welcome Moon Byoung-gon.
Ten films are short listed from the entries and screened in Sydney (the home of the festival and of the Artistic Director Kieran Tully). This year you can catch them at the Event Cinemas in George Street on Sunday 25th August, starting at midday.
In 2012 I entered an ode to my favourite Korean director Hong Sangsoo but the feedback I got was that a lot of people didn't 'get it'. It relied on not only knowing this director's film work but specifically knowing the trailer for one of his films. This year I approached the competition in similar fashion to last years entry The Way He Arrived, short, sharp, sweet, with the minimum of fuss but I opened up the subject matter to a wider audience.
It's a little story about an audition. Ian Dixon plays the role of a Director who wants to break into the Korean film market with his next film and he is casting for a Korean speaking woman (Joanne Tran) to fill one of the roles, problem being he can't speak Korean, oh and she's not Korean!
So what appears to be a very spooky scenario around the casting couch quickly gets subverted with the woman fully taking advantage of the director's ignorance and prejudice. It even features Google Eyes or Google Glasses and everyones most accurate language aid Google Translate.
She gets what she wants and he is left happily in his blissfully ignorant world.

This films satisfies a lot of wants, I got to play with language, dubbing, actors and I got to use some music from Nylon Pink, The New Black, an original not one of their K-POP covers.
I didn't make it to the screening last year but this year I'm going to blitz Sydney for the day and check out all the other films in the screening.
And the bonus this year???? There is always a bonus with KOFFIA
This year they the session will also include a special screening of Jury 주리, the acclaimed directing debut of Kim Dong-ho, former Festival Director of Busan International Film Festival.
I saw this short at MIFF 2013 and it's one of the best shorts I've seen for a long time. 
Should be a lotta fun.

 

And as for the rest of the festival? I'll catch it when it's in Melbourne. See you there?

A bit MIFFed then go get MUFFed

As the dust settles on another MIFF you know that MUFF is just around the corner.
2013 is the year of the 14th Melbourne Underground Film Festival, born out of Richard Wolstencroft's frustration at Melbourne's showcase festival he has nurtured and grown a festival that aims to truly support the independent filmmakers of his home town and further afield too.

Surely, Poster of the year?

The program has gone live and is available on the web site and contains some pretty wild stuff including a doco by the Director himself 'The Last Days of Joe Blow' which at the very least will be worth a listen with the soundtrack coming from David Thrussell (remember SNOG?)

I want to just highlight a few films that I know and recommend.
For me the most exciting is MADE IN AUSTRALIA, Matt Pastor's latest feature. I aint going to go into it fully in this post but the chance to see it on the big screen is one not to be missed.
Teetering on the thin line of doco and drama, this is a self reflective journey of identity, love, sex, booze and abuse. Love to fuck and fuck to love, loath to love and love to loath.
Be it in Hong Kong or Melbourne Matt wears his influence on his sleeve be it a tad Sion Sono or stuck in a Hong Sang-soo loop. As the program says "a fascinating and raw film"

The bonus is that it is screening with his Hong Kong short 鬼佬 (Ghost Man)

Another cracker to catch is Maria Tran's Hit Girls which I covered in a previous post.
Some of the best girl on girl kung fu action to come out of West Sydney in a long time...or ever?
and there is another Hong Kong connection, JuJu Chan bangs it out alongside Maria.

JuJu Chan & Maria Tran star in Hit Girls

 Lastly I want to mention the twins, Chris & Rob Smellin, two of the most earnest and diligent filmmakers I've had the pleasure to know. Oh and they make pretty good films too.
The laugh is that they have two films in the festival this year....get it, they're twins!!!!!!
oh and the films are both pretty fucked up pieces. Creepy, bloody and kinda confronting.
She's Having a Baby is totally about damaged goods and
Last Night has the damaged goods looking for vengence.
These guys just get better and better with every film they make and the great thing is that they get seen all around the world too. You could call them festival favourites but it sounds a bit tossy, don't it? But their list of festival credits, for every film they have made, is the longest that I know.

These last three are all showing in what is called Mini MUFF and I'm sure they are surrounded by other great shorts but I'll let you discover that.

MUFF XIV September 6th to 14th at Revolt Cinemas 1 & 2 Check it!

Past Students rocking the World # 6

WELCOME TO DOOKIE
don't know where it is? That's cool most don't but if we get behind this project then you will!
Regional Australia has been in decline now for years, decades but not centuries and Dookie is no exception.
It's in the food bowl of North Central Victoria, tucked between Shep and Wang. I only know it because I flirted with Ag science once upon a time and it has the college out there.
Oh shit that's right it also has a train! but that hasn't stopped there since the 50's
 

 Past student, MIFF buddy and friend Alta is part of a creative team that is going to put Dookie back on the map.
A short comedy about the last two citizens of Dookie running a campaign to get the train to stop and 'hopefully' repopulate the town, get it back on its feet so to speak. But Dookie does have real people living there and part of the effort is to raise awareness of their town and I would suggest the plight of most regional/rural towns of Australia.
Concept is good, Team is good and they have some great people getting behind the film.
They're running a crowd funder at the moment on Pozzible if you feel so inspired.

God's Country....right!

Resurrection Music MIFF

Love a good music doc and yesterday I did two
but gee although they were the same they were also entirely different.
Both were about resurrecting an old music and bringing it to a new audience of today. 

Harana,
about the dying art of the serenade in the phillipines.

The Stone Roses - made of stone
about the seminal Madchester Brit Band's reformation & come back gig

So both had a similar format. After revealing the music, they roll out the exponents of the music (rather old at this stage), they bond and play, then they rehearse for a finale show. That's pretty stripped back but sorta it essentially.

Music as feel good.
It's pretty hard to dodge if the musicians are good and these are two examples of just that!

Harana was like a nice cozy, fluffy blanket that slowly enveloped you until you realised you were warm as toast with a beaming smile on. And what a great feeling that is. The gentleness and fragility of the Haranaistas is totally engaging and you wonder if they are up to it. Some have not performed for 20+ years, but as their journey unfolds we are witness to a beautiful bond between them that grows and becomes infectious and before you know it you to are connected. Lovely settings, beautiful souls and sublime music and singing. And it's all in the name of love. Brilliant!

Made of Stone was a lot more up-beat, the music was more recognisable but you still had that warm feeling and that big big smile.  This doco didn't have a lot of material to work with which may come as a surprise but just have a look at one of their early interviews (1988 or so) and they just don't go beyond monosyllabic answers whilst looking supremely stoned. Most of the doco features the band reforming and rehearsing for the big come back concert but the way it is structured, using the archival footage sparingly and effectively takes us on their journey in a truly engaging way. Unlike the band in its heyday the film is not indulgent but gives you just enough of the music to please the die hard fans with one great extended track at the end which demonstrates the bands ease with 'the groove'. They have such a great tight sound for a four piece. The editing of this section is excellent and great example of the craft of cutting to music but still driving a story. Beautiful!

But it would be a disservice to the films and the filmmakers if it wasn't pointed out that the musicians, ie the people are very central to both these films. We get into their world, their extraordinary world.

and there is still a chance in Melbourne to see both these docs

Sun 4 Aug 9:00 PM ACMI 1

Tue 6 Aug 6:30 PM Greater Union Cinema 6

Don't MIFF out!

Well I'm going to open my MIFF 2013 account with the latest film from Australia's most exciting auteur, Ivan Sen. My opening night will be Mystery Road and following it up the next day with a talk by Ivan Sen and Aaron Pederson.

 
Most have heard of his debut feature Beneath Clouds from 2002 which traveled and was well received at Cannes. But I came to his films via the intense, brooding and thoroughly noncommercial masterpiece Dreamland.


Dreamland - Trailer from Dreamland The Film on Vimeo.

This was followed up by Toomelah, bleak but beautiful and totally engaging. But it is the way Ivan makes his films that is just the icing on the cake. He is a one man band, not 100% but essentially. He writes, directs, shoots, composes and probably edits (though I'm not sure of this?) No one in Toomelah is an actor but can you pick it? No one had a script as such, Ivan fed them the lines that were for the shots/scene they were doing.


This one also traveled to Cannes in 2011.

But that is all in the past now because Mystery Road is upon us.
Ivan has returned to a more usual filmmaking process (he had a crew) and word is it is shot beautifully and has an amazing performance from Aaron Pederson plus other actors like Hugo Weaving, Ryan Kwanten, Jack Thompson, Jack Charles, Tasma Walton and Damian Walshe-Howling. Sounds cool on paper eh?

I'm up for a cracker. This Friday 26th July at the Forum. It is currently sold out but they will release the final tickets at 5pm on the night and there is always the stand-by queue at the venue.
One screening only? so it's tomoz or never! Why only one screening?