Take a bag of glitter, a dozen red bulls, and thousands of pre-teen girls’ high-pitched screams and you’ve got Fangirls, a musical so rich with energy and euphoria you’ll think you’re at an actual pop concert. It’s 2019 and fourteen-year old Australian schoolgirl Edna (playwright and composer Yve Blake) is desperately in love with Harry…
Review: A Girl In School Uniform (Walks Into A Bar)
Peter Brook once said, “I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage.” He claimed that for theatre to exists, one just needs a space and an actor. Pointing out the existence of radio theatre, he insisted that even light is not necessary for theatre. I’ve never seen Brook’s ideas demonstrated as…
Video: My Top Ten Films of 2018
Today I’m setting a new record. Every year, I write about my top ten films of the year and I typically don’t get my article posted until maybe January or even February. I’m ashamed to admit that today is the day I finally post my countdown of the best movies of 2018. Yes, it’s 9…
Korean Film Festival Ends On A High Note
Last Saturday night marked the close of the Sydney run of the Korean Film Festival in Australia with Another Child, the directorial debut of veteran Korean actor Kim Yoon-Seok, who also stars in the film. The moving drama chronicles the families of two teenage girls, whose lives become irrevocably intertwined when the father of one…
Hear for You Film Festival Encourages Deaf Teenagers to Embrace Filmmaking
This year marks the 3rd annual ‘Hear for You’ national film festival, a festival designed to get deaf or hard of hearing teenagers involved in filmmaking in a supportive environment. The festival had its national premiere at the Golden Age Cinema and Bar in Sydney, a boutique Art Deco cinema which provided an intimate and…
Attention Musicians & Filmmakers: Don’t Miss Out On This Music Video Festival
In amongst the many short film festivals around Australia, it can feel like the music video genre gets lost in the mix. But instead of being condemned to a Saturday morning of Rage re-runs, one Sydney festival is dedicated to showcasing new Australian music videos. CLIPPED Music Video Festival is an annual one-day event that…
Melodrama & The Remake: The Cinematic Influence Of Sirk On Fassbinder
All art inspires other art. By telling stories, filmmakers impact people all across the world, and encourage them to tell their own stories. Such is the case with Douglas Sirk, whose 1950s melodramas have inspired many contemporary filmmakers to experiment with the melodramatic form in their own filmmaking practice. Sirk’s 1955 All That Heaven Allows inspired and informed the…
Video: My Top 5 Rom-Coms of All Time
This article and video were originally posted on Blitz UNSW. Everyone loves a rom-com. It’s like the perfect go-to for a Friday night movie where you want a happy ending, and you don’t want to think too much. Netflix’s commitment to the genre has brought a rom-com renaissance to our screens in recent years. To All…
4 UNDERRATED CITIES TO VISIT ON YOUR NEXT EUROPE TRIP
When I say Europe, where do you think of? Probably London, Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Berlin etc. If you’ve been to any of these places, you might also be thinking of the thousands of people swarming the Eiffel Tower trying to get the perfect Instagram. Or the long line of people queuing for an overpriced London…
PLEASE DON’T MAKE ANOTHER SEASON: WHY TV SHOWS NEED TO LEARN TO QUIT WHILE THEY’RE AHEAD
Like many, many people on the internet, I entered Big Little Lies season two with equal parts excitement and apprehension. On one hand: Meryl Streep! Nicole Kidman! Reese Witherspoon! How could I resist? On the other, season one was so, so good, a perfect mini-series that worked so well because of how tightly the show moved through…
5 REASONS WHY MUSIC FESTIVALS ARE BETTER ALONE
Music festivals are crazy, awesome, messy places, where there’s no phone service and everyone’s usually a little bit drunk. While going with a group can be fun, keeping the group together while everyone tries to see different acts is near impossible, and trying to coordinate with lost friends can be massively stressful. So here I…