Category: Documentary

Rainbow Video

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★☆ (3.8/5)Rainbow Video

Directed by: Jessie Scott

Featuring: Philip Brophy, Ian Haig, Cassandra Tytler, Xanthe Dobbie, Jean Lizza, Diego Ramirez and Spiro Economopoulos.

Released as part of the 2023 Melbourne Documentary Film Festival

Rainbow Video is a deep dive documentary about what is fast becoming a myth, the video store.

This is a discussion, a conversation with locals who work in stores (or worked in stores), curators, film lovers, collectors, distributors and artists all talking about movies, about the ‘video logic’ of choosing a movie to watch based on a cool cover, or a cult book recommendation that can only be found, in store.

It’s about ‘opportunities of discovery,’ and ‘organised hording.’  And I loved watching it.

The conversation is told through the view of a hand-held camera with cuts to the rainbow vision of titles to shop front displays and opening hours to watching a customer rent a DVD that was so simple yet somehow riveting.

In rare moments, you can hear the crew of the film ask a question off mike, which adds to the inclusive feel of the documentary, but the voice of the director, first time film maker, Jessie Scott, is heard through the video cuts added to the discussion – those moments of Melbourne, of seeing people walk down the street, a tram whooshing by setting the scene for the introduction to a local video store that until recently, used to be a weekly, even bi-weekly journey.

I kept smiling as I got caught up in the joy of the contributors talking about all things video: the search, the conversation, the recommendations and the culture of the video store.

The artists talk of their own projects and creative process as they stand on a ream of blue paper or while sitting to have a friendly black dog come into view with tail wagging – all to a peppy soundtrack.

It’s like the audience is invited into the conversation.

And what an interesting conversation – it gets philosophical and creative and inspiring, a little political and a little sad as the credits show the video stores featured in the documentary are mostly closed.

It’s about transition and the idea of the tangible to the weightlessness of digital and what that means in the context of watching a film.

I recently went to my local library and decided to spend some time looking through their CD collection.  I felt like finding something new.  Something I might not think of listening to and found 15 disks to take home.  I was chuffed so took a photo of the CDs all laid out to post on Facebook, to get the reply – ‘Ever heard of Spotify?’  And was sad that someone just didn’t understand the spirit of finding something new and unexpected.

Watching this documentary made me feel like meeting my people because it taps into that fun of discovery.

It’s an interview of people who really know what they’re talking about, who are genuine film lovers and fascinating which says a lot about Scott as a film maker because she’s framed the discussion so well.

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★★All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

Rated: R18+ (High impact sexualised imagery)

Directed by: Laura Poitras

Produced by: Laura Poitras, Nan Goldin, Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Yoni Golijov

Composer: Soundwalk Collective

Photography: Nan Goldin

Featuring: Nan Goldin

“Droll thing life is – – that mysterious arrangement of merciless logic for a futile purpose.  The most you can hope from it is some knowledge of yourself – – that comes too late – – a crop of inextinguishable regrets.”

‘Heart of Darkness’, by Joseph Conrad

Nan Goldin was born into, ‘the banality and grip of suburbia.’

After her sister, Barbara, was institutionalised by her parents, where Barbara eventually committed suicide, leaving behind in her notebook the quote from Joseph Conrad, written above, Nan began to understand what denial was.

Nan was also sent to an orphanage when her mother couldn’t cope.

It was the beginning of losing trust in herself and what that means.

All The Beauty And The Bloodshed is about Nan’s life, as an artist and world renowned photographer, and her activism as a founding member of P.A.I.N (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now); her mission to remove the Sackler family from the art world, for galleries to refuse their donations and to take their family name from the walls.

The Sackler family made their fortune from prescription drugs like Diazepine and later, OxyContin – a drug that provoked an opioid crisis and a drug Nan herself become addicted to after being prescribed OxyContin after surgery.  Like so many others.

Nan’s fight against the Sackler Family and their company, Purdue Pharma, becomes the cumulation of her life’s work and a focus of the documentary.

The documentary was filmed over two years as director Laura Poitras (Citizen Four (2014)) visited Nan at home.

The film is made up of voice over from Nan herself and the images her life’s work in slideshows.

An exhibit that repeats throughout the documentary is, ‘The Ballad of Sexual Dependency.’

Nan says, ‘The wrong things are kept private in society, and that destroys people.  All my work is about stigma, whether it’s suicide, mental illness, gender.’

The link back to her childhood and loss of her sister shown to be foundational in Nan’s work.

Her photographs are of her friends, her early work of drag queens in the early seventies, in Boston.  And that’s what really grabbed me about this film, her amazing work: the artistry in the blur, the highlights, the eyes and coy smile.  It’s like the very atmosphere is captured in a photograph.

Her vision is described in the film as her taking photos from, ‘our side.’

Because her people were the ones who only felt safe coming out at night.

But they didn’t feel like the marginalised, they thought everyone else was.

There’s parties and drugs and love.  Nan does anything to buy film.  And documents it all.

Set to the background of this provocative work is Nan describing her life, her fascinating and sometimes dark journey and she’s very candid, opening up about times in her life she’s never spoken about, like her time as a sex worker – ‘it’s very hard work’ – but feels now is the time.

It’s an emotive film.

There’s nothing flashy and there’s no layering over the focus of the film because Nan’s life is a powerful story.  There’s just more of her in the music, many songs her suggestion while also bringing NYC group Soundwalk Collective to create the score.

I found her powerful because she’s able to say, ‘I’m nervous.’

Nan has a tremor at times, but her voice remains measured because what she has to say is important.

The film shows a difficult upbringing, that essentially stole her voice that was then given back to her in the form of a camera, to capture her life, to give her a reason to be there.

And then, her art giving voice to others, to save lives.

For me, I was captured by those slide shows, the people in the photos like characters in the movie of Nan’s life.

It’s a heavy story, but the telling is simple, measured and driven not by the production, but what felt like Nan herself.

 

Fire of Love

Directed by: Sara DosaFire of Love

Written by: Shane Boris, Erin Casper, Jocelyne Chaput, Sara Dosa

Produced by: Shane Boris, Sara Dosa, Ina Fichman

Executive Producers: Carolyn Bernstein, Greg Baustead, ben Braun, Josh Braun, Jessica Harrop

Narrated by: Miranda July

Archive Footage: Katia Krafft, Maurice Krafft.

Maurice and Katia met in 1966.

The story goes, ‘The café closes.  It begins to rain.  They will never leave each other.’

Fire of Love is a documentary about two people who found each other, who shared the same passion: volcanoes.

Maurice a geologist and Katia a chemist, both are fascinated by the same phenomena in their own unique way.  The relationship of the couple and their relationship to the volcano is the driving force of the documentary, shown with care, attention to detail, turning the footage taken by the couple, Maurice recording video, Katia always with her camera, into a poetry.

Narrated by Miranda July, the story of the lives of Katia and Maurice is told with shots from above a coffee cup, the coffee disappearing to illustrate the time when they met, the conversation, the beginning of their shared obsession.

Paper lithography of mountains growing out of the earth change the texture of the documentary and are used to show the movement of the tectonic plates beneath, along with split screen of nature shots by Katia so there’s this constant flow of imagery as the audience gets to know the couple while they document and educate the world about the volcano.

This is a beautifully crafted documentary using video footage and images captured by the volconists as they travel the world, chasing the volcanoes as they erupt.  It’s mind-blowing to see humans standing in front of such a force of nature as the heat from the centre of the earth melts rock so it spews into the sky and runs like a river, destroying everything in its path.  And there they stand, in silver suits, awe struck.  Obsessed.  Nothing could be better than being right there as a volcano erupts.

The relationship of the pair is a running thread through the doco, but it’s also about the science, their exploration and documentation of what was still a mystery.

Their passion to chase erupting volcanoes from: Iceland, Indonesia, Italy, Hawaii, Zaire in Africa, Colombia in South America, Japan, was at the same time as the tectonic plates of the earth were being mapped.

They were mesmerised by the ‘red’ volcanoes as they stood before exploding showers of red rock, revelling in how small humans are in the face of such heat and power.

There’s a philosophy at play here, to understand what makes two people put themselves in danger, in front of such force, knowing that at any moment they could fall or miscalculate.

Their curiosity was stronger than their fear.

They go on the interview circuit, captivating the world with their stories of standing in front of such danger.  Maurice explaining in one interview that he didn’t want volcanoes to be categorized, going as far as saying classification is abusive.  He wanted each volcano to be seen as unique.

But after witnessing the devastation of 25 thousand lives lost after an eruption in Colombia (despite scientists warning of the potential eruption), their focus shifts from the ‘red’ volcano to the ‘grey’, named after the ash from these killer volcanoes, to better understand the danger, to try to predict an eruption to warn people, to save lives.

Fire of Love is a fascinating documentary that’s both exciting and poetic, romantic and philosophical.

A truly unique experience that I enjoyed from the start to its poignant finish.

 

The Tunnel: The Other Side of Darkness

Directed by: Adrian NugentThe Tunnel: The Other Side of Darkness

Produced by: Adrian Nugent, Maria Tedschi

Executive Produced by: Enzo Tedeschi

Starring: Enzo Tedeschi, Julian Harvey, Bel Deliá, Luke Arnold, Steve Davis, Andy Rodoreda, Eduardo Sánchez, Kiah Roache-Turner, Ahmed Salama, Valeria Petrenko, Megan Riakos, Andrew Mackie.

‘Play by the rules or go away.’

Remember those piracy warning segments before watching a movie?

Before steaming, you either had to rent a movie or illegally download using a piracy platform like, BitTorrent.

Most of the population decided that downloading movies for free was OK, piracy rules be damned, so when first time producers Enzo Tedeschi and Julian Harvey tried to figure out how they were going to fund their first feature film, they thought – let’s crowdfund the film, selling each of the 130,000 frames for $1, then release the film for free on BitTorrent.

A ground-breaking idea.  A crazy idea.  No one had ever crowdfunded a film this way before, but fuck it, it was the only way they were going to make it, so they went for it.

I had a lot of fun watching this doco.  I’m a horror fan, so it was a hoot getting a behind the scenes look at the making of this found footage horror flick, released back in 2011: The Tunnel.

But more than about making the film, this documentary opens up the discussion about a distribution and marketing model that had never been used before.

And it worked.

No one could see it happening.  And no distributor was going to touch the film once Enzo and Julian had made the decision to align with enemy number 1: BitTorrent.

Piracy was rampant.

It was going to destroy the industry – so they thought.

But the first-time producers saw the strategy as a way of getting around piracy – it’s not illegal if we’re giving it away for free.

And with 25 million people watching the film it was certainly a success.

Which comes down to the talent of all those involved in making the film – the script, the directing, the actors, with actor Steve Davis multitasking as camera crew, the director Carlo Ledesma also costume designer.

It’s a typical Indie experience, influenced by found footage movies such as, The Blair Witch Project (1999), Rec (2007) and Quarantine (2008).

There’s an honesty to the behind-the-scenes, the producers feeling out of their depth but obviously smart guys that well-deserved to get their movie out there.

And the rest of the cast included in the doco, The Tunnel director, Carlo Ledesma and the actors, Bel Deliá, Luke Arnold and Steve Davis came across as genuinely warm people who took a risk getting on board something that had absolutely no backing but throwing it all in, Indie-style.

As already said, good fun; with the interesting angle of making a movie through the power of the audience, hence the poster of, The Tunnel using all the names of the supporters to make up the image.

The Tunnel

Even when Transmission got onboard to distribute the DVD, there was still this controversy of associating Paramount (via Transmission) with BitTorrent.

A lot has changed in ten years.

The Tunnel: The Other Side of Darkness illustrates how the making of, The Tunnel embraced a new model of viewing content, AKA streaming, while waiting for the industry to catchup.

These guys were the disruptors of the industry.

Originally released on the 10-year anniversary of, The Tunnel and now showing as part of the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival (MDFFest) I wondered why it took so long to release the documentary as it’s clear it was always the intention.

And then there’s talk of a sequel, shown in the back-and-forth interview with Eduardo Sánchez (film maker of, The Blair Witch Project).  A definite push and a way to create buzz for the possibility of, The Tunnel 2.

Why not, I guess.

And now I’m inspired to watch the feature film itself.  See link to stream here ; )

(105) The Tunnel (2011) FULL MOVIE – YouTube

Worth a watch!

Becoming Cousteau

Rated: MBecoming Cousteau

Directed by: Liz Garbus

Produced by: Liz Garbus, Dan Cogan, Mridu Chandra, Evan Hayes

Written by: Mark Monroe & Pax Wasserman

Executive Producers: Julie Gaither, Carolyn Bernstein, Ryan Harrington.

Becoming Cousteau is an inspiring documentary about the man who showed the world what lies below the surface of the sea.

With eyes staring through goggles, Captain Cousteau is quoted, ‘Diving under water is the greatest distraction.’

On land we’re constantly fighting gravity.

When asked what it’s like under the surface, he replies, ‘It’s fantastic.  Imagine having no weight.’

In the beginning it was his curiosity that led him to dive deeper under water, to a place where he could dream.

When Germany invaded France in WWII he was able to forget what was happening on land.  He was able to escape into another world.  Where, for a time, he envisaged people living under the water.

The documentary is a linear biography of Cousteau’s life, from 1935 as a pilot for the Navy, to the end of his life in 1997.  His life an evolution from an underwater explorer to inventor, film maker, philosopher, husband and father to environmentalist.

Universally respected as a scientist and explorer, his voice opened people’s eyes to the beauty of the underwater world, and the danger of losing it.

Through newspaper articles and interviews, footage from Cousteau’s many films, including Oscar Best Documentary winner and winner of the Palme d’Or award, The Silent World (1956), Cousteau showed the world life under the sea and even made an impression on Picasso who was amazed by the unexpected colours and held onto a piece of coral given to him by Cousteau until he died.

Thoughts written in journals are read of Cousteau’s experiences while sailing the seas on the explorer vessel, The Calypso.

Cousteau invents the Aqualung out of necessity, technology that allows him to dive deeper into the depths.  And seeing more, discovering more he wants to take a camera with him so invents a case, so he can film underwater.

Inventor turned film maker, he created 52 TV shows as he satisfied his curiosity to explore the ocean.

His notebook was his camera.

The documentary paints a picture of a truly amazing and brave man.  Yet there’s balance in the telling with the risk of diving further than before requiring, ‘a strong head and cold heart.’

He admits his curiosity ruling his life while he neglected his family.

And with the discovery of the sea in distress from all the pollution, there’re years of pessimism and grief for the passing of his son, Philippe.

Like the black and white film made bright with splashes of fluorescent colour, the film brightens with hope – The Cousteau Society still strong today in its efforts to conserve the environment.

But I don’t think the intention of the documentary is to share a message of conservation, although this was important to Cousteau in the later years of his life.  The feeling is more a biography of a man whose curiosity led to fascination to then love and the want to protect.

Mental As Everything

Featuring: Damon Smith, Adam CoadMental as Everything

Music: Damon Smith, Adam Coad, Barney McCall

Creator: Damon Smith

Producer: Matthew Briggs

Mental as Everything is a documentary that uses a quirky combination of animation, original music and lyrics and direct to camera discussion to tell the story of two musicians who provide mutual support and understanding for each other’s mental health conditions.

Even from the very first scene, it is obvious that it hasn’t been easy for Damon Smith and Adam Coad to share so much of themselves with the camera. This becomes clear when Damon introduces himself: ‘On the screen there is Damon Smith and that is me and this is my voice talking about myself while you watch me on the screen’. Immediately followed by, ‘This is awkward.’ And to double down on his point the word ‘Awkward’ appears in bright yellow letters against a black screen.

At first, Damon’s introduction does appear self-conscious and awkward, but it points up an interesting motif woven through the documentary. Damon is identifying himself as both an onscreen character and someone existing somewhere off screen giving voice and motivation to his onscreen likeness. This sense of duality is one of the things I found so fascinating about Damon and Adam’s story.

In some of the animations and in the lyrics of their songs Damon and Adam personify their conditions, with Adam describing panic attacks as lying in wait behind bushes while Damon poignantly refers to his Obsessive Compulsive Disorder as an, ‘Outlandish Centralised Dictatorship’. This duality is a way, I think, to separate themselves from their conditions and give some critical distance to their inner torment.

On another level, Adam describes his mind as a seedy bar filled with sketchy characters, each more heinous than the next. While, at the same time, he acknowledges that, ‘Nothing is broken on the outside.’ On the outside, Damon and Adam are two very likeable and easy going mates and it is hard to fathom that they each have such a Sisyphean struggle going on inside themselves.

In giving this window onto their inner worlds, it is Damon and Adam’s intention to de-stigmatise their conditions, but their documentary is also filled with interesting snippets along the way, such as bananas being natural beta blockers that inhibit some of the physical effects of anxiety and as well as attempting to gently debunk some of the misconceptions that still cling.

When someone who likes to be clean and organised humble brags, ‘OMG! I’m so OCD,’ its not OCD that they are boasting about. For Damon having OCD is torture. One of his compulsions requires him to fulfill a ritual where he puts on and removes his socks seven times, and he must repeat the ritual until it has been executed to the implacable standards of the dictator within, otherwise there will be a ‘hellish outcome’. The humble bragger is actually referring to a much less cruel condition, Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder.

Mental as Everything is a sensitive documentary that deals with its subject matter in a creative and insightful way, and Damon and Adam’s music adds to the appeal. A band with a double bass in their line-up is likely to produce an interesting sound and this one with its double bass, piano and drums, original music and lyrics certainly does that.

Alien On Stage

Directed by: Danielle Kummer & Lucy HarveyAlien On Stage

Cinematography: Danielle Kummer

Produced by: Danielle Kummer, Lucy Harvey

Executive Producer: Adam F. Goldberg

Featuring: Dave Mitchell (director, Paranoid Dramatics), Luc Hayward (writer, sound, costume design), Raymond Hayward (set designer), Peter Lawford (creature designer, special effects artist), Amie Wells (crew costume design).

Cast of Play: Jason Hill (Captain Dallas), Lydia Hayward (Lieutenant Ripley), Jacqui Roe (Science Officer Ash), Susan Baird (Ash Stunt Double), Carolyn White (Lambert), John Elliot (Brett), Mike Rustici (Parker), Scott Douglas (Kane/Xenomorph) and Penny Thorne (Voice of Mother).

‘Anything can happen on the night.’

Every year around Christmas across Britain, amateur dramatics groups put on a pantomime to raise money for charity.

Dorset dramatics group, Paranoid Dramatics have previously put on a crowd pleasing show about Robin Hood.  But this time director, Dave Mitchell wants to try something different.  Something close to his heart and his family’s, who’s obsession with the film, Alien is shown with great pride.

This time, he wants, Alien on Stage.

The actors: local Dorset bus drivers.

Adam, manager at the bus depot says in an interview that he’s seen the movie Alien, but ‘can’t imagine how you convert that into a stage drama.’

And that just adds to the comedy of the show.

This is one of those feel good doco’s about everyday people doing something extraordinary while having a good laugh.

Everyone pitches in.

It’s great excuse for a catchup and gossip – eating together, drinking together (instead of learning their lines).  And in the end that’s what makes the film such a joy to watch.  To see the backstage shenanigans; to get to know the people.

There’s Karl, the stage manager: ‘the director is my dad.’

Dave the director is ex-army and admits, ‘I can be blunt.’

There’s Lydia his partner also part of the team as, Ripley.

And Granddad Ray as set designer.

All the work is from scratch with the script adaptation written by Luc Hayward who was told he’d never see his work on stage (unless he considered moving to L.A.).

Then there’s Jacqui (Ash on stage) – her drama teacher the only one who ever gave her a chance, who stood by her when her head teacher said she’d fail every exam at school.  All Jacqui wants to do is act.  Even if it’s for free.

All the cast and crew want to be there.  They want to do the work.

But then only twenty people turn up to watch the show.

It’s all disappointment then shrugged off with a smile.

Then the incredible happens when film makers Danielle Kummer & Lucy Harvey make contact (ha, ha), wanting to make this documentary.  To film the journey as the, Alien On Stage production gets a one night show in London.  At the Leicester Square Theatre.

The nerves.  The excitement.

The trying to learn the lines.

This is a cast that doesn’t take themselves too seriously.  And that’s part of the charm.

Just like the film Alien, it’s like two worlds colliding (well, the folk from Dorset a welcome visit, not eaten alive, even though they might feel it’s a distinct possibility) as the amateur theatre group gets thrust into the spotlight of the elite theatre district of London.

The incongruent adds that extra layer of wry humour which gives the documentary, as described by the filmaker Lucy Harvey, a touch of magic.

Kummer and Harvey follow all those involved in the project, replicating that square green font on computer screen (keeping in mind that Alienesque vibe), as the days count down to the big show.

It’s a behind the scenes documentary made up of interviews, rehearsals and Alien Cam – footage shot from the perspective of the Alien / Xenomorph while up on stage.

But any animation or finesse made by the documentary crew is background to the team that is, Alien on Stage.

I smiled through the entire film, seeing the genuine excitement and joy and so much laughter as the cast and crew pulled together to put on the best show they possibly could.

It’s absolutely nerve-racking.

‘My legs don’t work,’ says Lydia, just before walking on stage.

‘I’m going for a cigarette,’ says director Dave.

This is a lighthearted good fun documentary that delivers.  I’m still grinning.

The Mole Agent

Rated: GThe Mole Agent

Directed by: Maite Alberdi

Produced by: Marcela Santibáñez

Executive Producer: Christopher Clements, Carolyn Hepburn, Julie Goldman

Featuring as Themselves: Sergio as the Spy, Romulo as the Private Detective, and the Residents of the Nursing Home: Berta “Bertita” Ureta, Marta Olivares, Petronila “Petita” Abarca, Rubira Olivares, Zoila González.

Spanish (Chilean) with English subtitles.

“Elderly man needed. Between 80-90 years old.”

Job: spying on old folks and staff in a nursing home for three months.

Well, to report back about target, Sophia Perez because her daughter is concerned that Sophia’s being mistreated.

It took me a moment to realise the film was a documentary as, The Mole Agent begins with this light-hearted tone of jazzy soundtrack featuring classic moments of eighty-plus-year-olds being taught to work mobile phones; the successful candidate, 83-year-old Sergio being shown how to call via Facetime, leave voicemail messages via WhatsApp to make his, ‘Deliveries’ or pass information to private investigator Romulo to then translate back to the client.

The older generation tying to figure mobile phones always leads to some amusing moments.

But Sergio gets it, kinda.

It was when the cameras filming the documentary were shown via a mobile camera as Sergio’s being taught to use the device that the film turns from comedy spy-movie to documentary.

Then we see Sergio enter the nursing home, one resident seen holding her walker with one hand, a hose to water the garden in the other and I realise this is a different kind of documentary.

Sergio begins his mission:

‘Did you meet the new man?’ One resident asks another.

Sergio causes quite a stir.  He’s lucid.  And a gentleman.

Director Maite Alberdi states that the team got authorisation from the nursing home with the understanding that the film was a documentary about the elderly (not following an unknown ‘spy’ reporting back to a private detective everyday while being filmed by the crew).

The production team were given permission to film for three months with 300 hours of material captured, plus the material filmed by Sergio himself using a spy pen – very clever, if not a little obvious.  Particularly when other residents try to take the pen from his shirt pocket.

So the cameras are seen in the film and explained to the residents with the line about a documentary about the elderly so when new resident Sergio enters, it’s only natural the crew would take interest in the most recent addition.

At one point a resident sitting out in the sun points out to another gran, ‘They’re supposed to be filming a movie, not spying on us.’

But Sergio manages to continue his investigation about the treatment of Mrs Perez without getting busted.

There are many sweet moments: the thieving Marta with her quick hands, always asking when her mother’s going to take her home; there’s the poet Petita reciting her beautiful thoughts, the random resident cats and the surprise birthday celebrations.

There’s Berta who has a crush on Sergio saying she would consider giving God her virginity.  Through her future husband (Sergio).

But realising the film is documentary and not a spy comedy, although there are some funny moments, makes the film that much sadder.

The Mole Agent is like a homage to the isolated and lonely elderly, left and abandoned by their families.

And the depth of sadness felt by these old folks as they try to buck-up and be positive but are really grieving about their lives lost in sacrifice to children who never visit them…  It’s a bit of a heart-breaker.

Over time, instead of spying on the old folks, Sergio befriends them.  And they absolutely love him for it: ‘Thank-you for the company you give us,’ says Zoila.

Even the camera crew were missed, ‘and we missed them!’  The crew reports.

The audience is shown how life is lived in these homes, getting to see behind the closed doors as the cameras become part of the landscape.

The Mole Agent is sweet and very sad; completely different to what I was expecting and truly unique.

When Alberdi was asked, “What do you hope audiences take away and learn from The Mole Agent?”

Alberdi replies, “I would like people who watch this movie to leave the movie theatre wanting to call their parents or grandparents. It is an invitation to look within yourself and ask what you can do better.”

The Biggest Little Farm

Rated: PGThe Biggest Little Farm

Directed by: John Chester

Produced by: Sandra Keats

Featuring: John Chester, Molly Chester, Todd Chester, Alan York

It all began with a promise to a rescue dog . . . that he has come to live with his forever family.

When John, a wildlife filmmaker, and Molly, a chef with a tiny garden on her porch and a passion for home-grown produce, are served with a notice evicting them from their apartment because Todd, their dog, has a bad case of separation anxiety, the solution seems obvious.

Buy a farm for the dog and spend every day out in the paddocks and the fresh air with Todd. What could go wrong?

Although it could be squarely classified as a documentary, this film is something special. In keeping with the principles of storytelling, there is a powerful sense of being part of a drama unfolding in real time, as well as a sprinkling of philosophy and gorgeous cinematography. I wasn’t expecting to be, but I was entranced.

The film opens with great plumes of smoke rolling across the paddocks toward the house as Molly stands at the kitchen window and stares. With two-way radio chatter and whumping helicopter blades providing the backbeat, John prepares to set the animals loose and Molly belatedly grabs random belongings and flings them into a suitcase.

But all this comes later. First there is the farm. An abandoned orchard encircled by bare hills and large-scale, monoculture holdings. All around, intensive farming methods predominate, and it’s the exact opposite of what Molly and John have in mind.

When the couple start out, their little patch of soil is as unyielding as granite and a cluster of hives they find tucked away among the trees is a ruined monument to its dead bees. So the first thing is to engage a soil expert and the next is to find out what happened to the bees.

In their first six months, Molly and John will spend an entire year’s budget of their investors’ money without producing a thing. But they do find Alan, a board-short clad farm consultant with a passion for compost and a vision. He describes a farm that will function as an eco-system, eventually coming to harness the power of nature, maybe not easily, but as simply as a wave bearing a surfer ahead of its crest.

Alan’s concept is to base the farm upon the greatest bio-diversity possible, from the micro-organisms in the soil to an orchard stocked with 75 different varieties of fruit trees (to begin with), in the belief that such profusion will regulate the farm and inoculate it against the epidemics that bedevil its monoculture neighbours. Well, that’s the theory, and the Apricot Lane Farm is stocked lavishly. Until I saw the trays of chickens and a plethora of piglets arriving, I didn’t really appreciate what it meant to actually stock a farm.

As the soil regenerates, the farm is gradually populated with an array of domestic animals and crops, and the wild species, too, are returning. Among the swarms of bees, flotillas of ducks and gopher gangs moving in, are the hungry-eyed coyotes, running their nightly missions on the henhouse, along with a procession of invaders, such as the squadrons of starlings laying waste the to the fruit crop.

Alan had said that it would all balance out, but he didn’t say how. This time it would be up to Todd to lead the way.

Finke: There and Back

Rated: MFinke: There and Back

Directed by: Dylan River

Produced by: Rachel Clements, Isaac Elliot, Meredith Garlick, Trisha Morton-Thomas

Narrated by: Eric Bana

Director of Photography: Clair Mathon

Featuring: Isaac Elliot, Scruff Hamill, David Walsh, Daymon Stokie , Luke Hayes, Toby Price.

‘Fast as all hell, rough as hell and dangerous as all hell.’

If that sounds like your idea of fun, you might want to head up to Alice Springs on the Queen’s Birthday long weekend for the Finke Desert Race.

Each year 15,000 spectators and 500+ riders turn up for the Northern Territory’s biggest annual event.

It’s a two hour dash through the scrub to the Finke Hotel, 230 kilometres through the heart of Australia, and for the riders, ‘It’s like holding onto the edge of a cliff for two hours’.

While the car and bike events each crown a King of the Desert, the dirt bikes are the glamour event. Theirs is the raw confrontation with one of the most challenging off-road events in one of the most remote places in the world.

Part of the allure is that a dark horse can come up from behind and steal the crown.

With race favourite Toby Price forced to compete in the four wheel drive section due to injury, the field for this year is wide open. As Finke is raced on corrected time, and each rider sets off individually, the race leader will not necessarily be the winner.

Behind the scenes there are high stakes for these potential dark horses in their ubiquitous trucker caps, with the film honing in to tell the stories of six competitors from a field of nearly 600.

Yamaha hasn’t taken out the race in 9 years and local boy Daymon Stokie, despite a broken hand, hopes to steal the crown from fellow local and KTM rival David Walsh.

Scruff Hamill has driven up from Sydney to race a 1970s’ bike he’s restored himself, while Isaac Elliot will attempt the race on a bike with special modifications. A decade earlier he fell during the race and, while it rendered him paraplegic, it didn’t dilute the Finke fever running through his veins.

Every year there are gut-wrenching stories. Who will take the crown this year? The desert will decide.

Breathtakingly beautiful, ‘The desert is an all-powerful force that looms over every rider,’ and stunning cinematography, using aerial and ground-level views, even bike-cam, captures the inscrutable beauty of this ancient world, while glimpses of the night sky are awe-inspiring.

As Eric Bana’s voiceover intones, ‘It’s God’s country, it’s like nowhere else’.

With its clouds of dust, drifts of red sand, relentless heat, dangerous curves and infamous whoops (like the corrugations on dirt track, only bigger—much bigger) the Finke is intense.  It is very much a confrontation with human fragility. According to emergency services, just about every bone in the human body has been broken somewhere along the track. As one rider very perceptively commented: ‘The hardest part of the course is the four inches between your ears.’

The Finke has changed since it began with a group of larrikins in the 70s. According to one ex-rider, ‘It’s a bit different now; it’s a bit serious.’ But some things haven’t changed. There are still plenty of ways to put yourself on the ground. Hard. Even if you’re not in the race, you can ride the 44 gallon drum hooked up to bungie ropes. It’s the Finke version of a mechanical bull.

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