Tag: Melbourne Documentary Film Festival

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!

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.

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