Welcome to The Curb. A show that's all about Australian culture, film reviews, interviews, and a whole lot more... Here, you'll find discussions with Australian creatives about their work and their role in Australian culture. Support The Curb on Patreon, and make sure to follow us on Facebook. Contact with us via our email. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Andrew Peirce Podcasts
Let's be honest. Life with a disability can be difficult. Luckily, we are living in the twenty-first century. This podcast is about how living in the modern world has helped people with disabilities to have fairly "normal" lives. Join me as we explore why this is and as I try to look at disability from a social model perspective and change how the world sees disability.
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Grant Hardie on the birth of Monster Pictures Studios
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25:11Grant Hardie is the co-founder of Monster Pictures, one of Australia and New Zealand's leading distributors of horror and genre films. In 2011, Monster Pictures birthed the darkly delightful Monster Fest, which has quickly become Australia's flagship horror and genre film festival. Now, in 2025, Monster Pictures, in partnership with Head Gear Films…
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Maja Ajmia Yde Zellama on creating examples of healthy masculinity with Têtes Brulées
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29:44Eya’s (Safa Gharbaoui) world as a 12-year-old Belgian Tunisian is filled with warmth and humour. She’s considered the welcome extension of her older brother Younès (Mehdi Bouziane) whose friends treat her like a part of their family. She loves viral dance moves, French rap, football, and riding on the back of Younès’ motorcycle. She’s bright and ha…
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Amy Wang on her fun and chilling feature debut Slanted
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25:24Debut Australian director Amy Wang’s twisted satire Slanted sees an aspiring prom queen undergo radical surgery to change her race. This is a film that's been called Mean Girls by way of The Substance. Nadine Whitney caught up with Amy Wang to talk about the process of getting her feature film debut off the ground, what it means to be an Australian…
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Melbourne International Film Festival Interview: Denise Fernandes on her film Hanami
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40:57Dreams, imagination and sobering realities meld in this absolutely magical debut, in which a young girl must decide whether to leave her volcanic island home. The island of Fogo, Cape Verde is singular in its beauty. Drylands give way to black-sand beaches, while villagers gather in intimately cluttered homes. Director Denise Fernandes’ attention t…
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Documentarian Rosie Jones on the cross-culture collaboration in Abebe Butterfly Song
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23:44Abebe Butterfly Song is a documentary that starts as a narrative exploration of Melbourne musician David Bridie, best known for his work in bands like Not Drowning, Waving and My Friend the Chocolate Cake, but then folds in his life-changing experience of travelling to Papua New Guinea and meeting musician George Telek and the Moab Stringband. The …
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Richard Moore on the visceral nature of Stelarc Suspending Disbelief
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1:27:41Co-directors Richard Moore and John Doggett Williams invite audiences into the space of pain, discomfort, and body exploration with their searing, curiously tender, and wonderfully life-enriching documentary Stelarc Suspending Disbelief. This occasionally profound experience follows performance artist Stelarc, a Cyprus-born Australian artist who wa…
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Storm Warning | New Extremity Collection | The Fall Umbrella Release Review
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1:00:22On this episode of physical media reviews, Nadine Whitney & Andrew F Peirce delve into some of the major releases from Umbrella Entertainment. They kick off the discussion looking at Jamie Blanks Ozploitation throw back gorno flick Storm Warning, before taking a darker dive into the mammoth New Extremity Collection which features High Tension, Anat…
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From the World of John Wick: Ballerina How to Train Your Dragon | Dangerous Animals
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38:17On this episode of the Curb review podcast, Nadine Whitney takes us deep into the realm of fighting flamethrowers with the oddly titled From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, before whisking us away into the land of dragon fantasy with the live-action spin on How to Train Your Dragon, before she takes Andrew to a remote shark expedition in Queensl…
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Daniel Bibby, Miah Madden & Mitchell Bourke take us Half Past Midnight with their short film
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1:21:22Daniel Bibby's short film Half Past Midnight follows two strangers - Harper (Miah Madden) and Marcus (Mitchell Bourke) - who meet in a cinema and decide to head out for drinks after the screening. In the bar, their relationship is revealed to be something more, something where romance once flourished, a romance that is now withering, yet for both H…
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Intimacy Unplugged: The Right to Love and Be Loved
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34:51Send us a text In this enlightening episode, we sit down with Maria, a full-time wheelchair user with Spina Bifida and a devoted mother of two. Maria passionately discusses her campaign advocating for the sexual rights of disabled individuals, shedding light on the critical need for awareness and education surrounding this often-overlooked topic. T…
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Nadine Whitney Reviews Jane Austen Wrecked My Life & The Materialists
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29:43Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky @thecurbau. We are a completely independent and ad free website that lives on the support of listeners and readers just like you. Visit Patreon.com/thecurbau, where you can support our work from as little as $1 a month. If you are unable to financially support us, then please consider sharing this inter…
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Harley Hefford and Luke Thomas on embedding creativity into Collingwood with Trainscendence
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19:19Harley Hefford and Luke Thomas are two thirtysomething Naarm-Melbourne based creatives who have a background in events, festivals, and bars. Their latest endeavour is an art community spread over ten floors in a new creative space in Collingwood located in the iconic Easey's building, best known for the train carriages that sit on its rooftop. In t…
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Sydney Film Festival Interview: Gabrielle Brady on the art of liberating the viewer's gaze in The Wolves Always Come at Night
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50:55As I tell Gabrielle in the following interview, when a new Gabrielle Brady film emerges into the world, it is like the arrival of a gift, one that pulls us into a mindset of considering the lives of others, including those of the crabs of Christmas Island, or maybe the horses of the Gobi Desert. It's one that encourages us to see the world of truth…
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Sydney Film Festival Interview: Zoe Pepper on the dark housing-crisis comedy delight that is Birthright
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32:28Zoe Pepper mines the generational wealth divide for all its worth in the acidic WA-made comedy Birthright. Cory (a perfectly cast deadpan Travis Jeffery) and his very pregnant wife Jasmine (an equally deadpan and delightful Maria Angelico) are getting the shaft from their rental. Stuffed in more ways than one, they load up all they can into the boo…
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Archie Hancock & Jack Zimmerman on giving space to unsaid stories in The Conversation
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49:05Judith Hancock has always felt that was different from her siblings. Having spent her youth in boarding schools, Judith felt disconnected from her family in more ways than just distance. When she returned home from boarding school, she spent most of her time with children from an orphanage where her father worked. Judith felt other aspects of diffe…
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Savouring Success: Debra Erickson’s Recipe for Empowerment at The Blind Kitchen
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27:58Send us a text In this inspiring episode, we sit down with Debra Erickson, the owner of The Blind Kitchen, who shares her remarkable journey as a visually impaired chef, entrepreneur, and educator. Debra's passion for teaching visually impaired individuals how to cook safely and confidently shines through as she discusses the resources and techniqu…
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St Kilda Film Festival Interview: Kat Dominis on building the award-winning short film Unspoken
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53:32I remember sitting in the Mercury at the Adelaide Film Festival and watching Unspoken and getting to see a rare talent emerge on screen in the form of Kat Dominis. Her lead performance left me moved, shaken, and stunned by the depth of emotions she presented on screen. As the credits rolled, I saw she was the co-writer of this award-winning short f…
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Sydney Film Festival: Amalie Atkins on the warm hug of a film that is Agatha's Almanac
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43:41Amalie Atkins loving documentary Agatha's Almanac follows Agatha Bock, Amalie's aunt, as she lives her life on a farm in southern Manitoba, tending to the vegetables, beans, and the soil. She preserves the heirloom seeds she has nurtured and maintained for decades, connecting her to her families past, and tenderly supporting herself using tradition…
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Sydney Film Festival Interview: Sean Byrne, Jai Courtney, and Hassie Harrison on the bloody brutality of Dangerous Animals
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19:35Queensland: Beautiful one day, deadly the next! For American drifter Zephyr (Hassie Harrison) the gorgeous Gold Coast supplies her with great surfing and anonymity where she can leave her dark past behind. For psychopathic fisherman Tucker (Jai Courtney) the ocean provides him with a living, but his real interest lie in dying: the death of those he…
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Sydney Film Festival Interview: Ellis Park director Justin Kurzel on being in the orbit of Warren Ellis
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33:08Director Justin Kurzel has crafted a filmography built on exploring the impact of trauma and violence on a nation. Whether it be his excoriating debut film Snowtown or the acts of cautionary storytelling with Nitram and The Order, Kurzel’s work questions how violence and trauma lingers in our bodies, our minds, and in our lands. That’s a notion tha…
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Sydney Film Festival Interview: Tony Gardiner and Lachlan Marks on the bloody and bonkers short DIY
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49:46There's a delirious level of dark comedy that thrives in the new short film DIY from director Tony Gardiner and writer Lachlan Marks. A woman, played with a disarming ease by Claire Lovering, is mourning the passing of her dog. As she drills into the wall to hang up a picture of her pup, she is surprised to find blood coming out of the hole. Headin…
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The Cinema Within director Chad Freidrichs on Walter Murch and the power of editing
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57:12Chad Freidrichs is a documentarian who has crafted a filmography built with a series of fringe stories that unveil fascinating narratives that exist just outside the periphery of normalcy. His first feature doc, Jandek on Corwood, sees a reclusive folk and blues musician gain a following, all the while he never truly engages with his followers fasc…
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Andy Johnston on the tenderness of male affection in Coming & Going
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1:12:33Part of why Coming & Going feels like a quiet revolution of a film is the manner that Andy presents vulnerability, loneliness, and tenderness on screen. 'Baby, you are gonna miss that plane' is what Julie Delpy said to Ethan Hawke as she danced in the climax of Before Sunset, creating one of cinemas finest romantic moments. Andy pulls from the echo…
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Manifesting Change: Tiffany Yu's Guide to an Anti-Ableist World
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39:01Send us a text In this inspiring episode, we sit down with Tiffany Yu, a passionate disability advocate who has made significant strides in the field of inclusivity and social justice. Tiffany shares her personal journey with disability and how it has shaped her identity and professional path. As the founder of Diversability, she is dedicated to bu…
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Director Matthew Rankin on the kindness that sits at the core of Universal Language
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29:27Matthew Rankin is a Canadian filmmaker who hails from Winnipeg, Manitoba. His work, which includes the acclaimed award-winning 2019 feature The Twentieth Century, has often been called 'experimental' or a slice of 'absurdist comedy'. That's partially true, but I'd go a step further and say that there's a touch of humanist storytelling to his work, …
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Conservationist Isabella Tree on the power of inviting nature back into your world as shown in the documentary Wilding
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26:21Isabella Tree is a noted conservationist and the author of the acclaimed book Wilding, which tells the story of Isabella and her husband as they undertook the immense and impressive journey to rewild their failing four-hundred-year-old estate in England, bringing beavers and cranes back to the country for the first time in years. Wilding, alongside…
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Archie Lush, Alex Power & Mark Zanosov on building the simmering heat of their Freo-shot short Blunt
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34:02Co-writer and actor Archie Lush, director Alex Power, and producer Mark Zanosov take us to the streets of Fremantle, Western Australia, where their short film Blunt pushes us into the simmering heat of the kitchen. Under the spatter of duck fat and the glint of sharp knives is the mounting pressure of being a top tier chef, a notion that's amplifie…
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Karan Kandhari and Radhika Apte on the hilariously aggressive punk film Sister Midnight
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15:35Nadine Whitney had the wonderful opportunity to speak with Karan Kandhari and Radhika Apte about Sister Midnight and how as original and ‘weird’ as it is, it’s also representative of people who are rarely seen as (essential) inhabitants of Mumbai. Both Karan and Radhika are an absolute joy to listen to. Kandhari’s film is a marvel of inventiveness.…
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Genevieve Bailey on the importance of Always Listening to stories of struggles with mental health
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50:49Genevieve Bailey is a documentarian who has drawn attention to the impact of societal struggles with mental illness through her empathetic and nurturing body of work. With feature films like I Am Eleven and Happy Sad Man, Gen embraces a supportive mindset, using the power of cinema to bring real stories to audiences. It's that sense of support that…
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Robert Connolly talks about bringing Nicolas Cage to the salty sea of The Surfer
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25:27Lorcan Finnegan's wild and weird trip-fest flick The Surfer is one that's had local audiences salivating at the prospect of its arrival. That anticipation went into hyperdrive when Oscar winning actor and walking cult-factory Nicolas Cage was announced as the leading man, a bloke returning home to the South West to buy his family home, reconnect wi…
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Jacob Richardson on heading to Greece for his feature film debut The Aegean
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47:57Jacob Richardson's feature film debut The Aegean sees the Queensland based writer-director embrace the Grecian story of a widower, Hector (Costas Mandylor), who finds himself in the orbit of Khristos (Light), a refugee who finds himself in the waters of the Aegean Sea. As Khristos finds himself becoming embedded in Hector's life, he discovers an un…
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Allison Tyra talks about the over 600 stories that make up her essential book Uncredited: Women's Overlooked, Misattributed & Stolen Work
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51:19With her essential website Infinite-Women.com, Allison Tyra has built a deep database that contains more than 6000 biographies from around the world and throughout history, documenting the biographies of women who have made a mark in history. Her debut book, Uncredited: Women’s Overlooked, Misattributed, and Stolen Work, expands on the database wit…
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The Blind Blogger's Bookshelf: A Love for Literature
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35:17Send us a text In this inspiring episode, we sit down with Max Ivey, known as "the Blind Blogger," to explore his remarkable journey through life as someone with Retinitis Pigmentosa. Max shares his insights on reading, writing, and the importance of accessibility in our digital world. From his unexpected transition from a career in carnival manage…
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Kelly Schilling on working with Marta Dusseldorp and building the emotional truth of With or Without You
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31:40Kelly Schilling's feature debut film With or Without You is the powerful and impactful story of a mother, Sharon (Marta Dusseldorp) and a daughter, Chloe (Melina Vidler), who are forced to navigate the complicated reality of alcohol addiction, an affliction that Sharon uses to manage her anxiety alongside Valium and men. For Chloe, the man in her l…
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Cian Mungatj McCue and Sarah Price on their new First Nations screen industry initiative Damulgurra Stories
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21:31One of the more exciting news points in recent weeks has been the announcement of the new First Nations initiative Damulgurra Stories. Founded by Larrakia man Cian Mungatj McCue, of Moogie Down Productions, and award-winning casting director and producer Sarah Price of Castaway NT, Damulgurra Stories aims to transform the way productions work with …
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Lars and the Real Girl Umbrella Entertainment Blu-Ray Collectors Edition Review
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19:11Lars and the Real Girl is Craig Gillespie's 2007 indie comedy-drama about a man who has an unconventional relationship with a sex doll. That man is a young Ryan Gosling, who is supported by Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider, Patricia Clarkson, and Bianca the Doll. Umbrella Entertainment have released an impressive collectors edition of the film which …
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Gold Coast Film Festival: Jane Larkin on the lived-in perspective of her elite sports drama The Edge
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40:13Before commencing her career as a filmmaker, Jane Larkin was an Australian representative sprinter, pushing her body to the limits on the track. In the moments of preparation, cooldowns, and every minute in between, Jane was building friendships, learning from fellow athletes, and seeing a world of sports that we rarely get to see in cinema. After …
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German Film Festival: Andres Veiel on the urgency of his new documentary Riefenstahl
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14:44Andres Veiel's latest documentary, Riefenstahl, delves into the dark and deep archive of the private estate of Leni Riefenstahl, exposing the deep ties the filmmaker had with the Nazi regime. Andres uses footage and correspondence from Riefenstahl's own personal records, including hidden interviews and documents that present a different side of a d…
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Verses and Voices: A Poet's Perspective on Schizophrenia
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33:03Send us a text In this episode, we welcome special guest Dale Walsh, who shares his extraordinary journey of recovery from schizophrenia through the lens of his poetry. Dale offers insightful perspectives on living with mental illness, drawing from his personal experiences. Together, we delve into various facets of mental health, including the role…
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Saskia Archer on building a foundation of empathy in her acting
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40:50Saskia Archer is an actor on the rise. From the streets of Sydney, to the turf of Tasmania where she embarked on a path to become a paramedic, to a shift to WA where she built her acting skills at the WA Academy of Performing Arts, and now, to the bustling city of New York, Saskia is seeing the world and forging a path in acting doing so. Genre-fan…
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Eli Craig has a message to horror audiences: go see Clown in the Cornfield in cinemas if you want sequels
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16:28Eli Craig smashed onto the slasher scene with his genre-defying comedy event Tucker & Dale VS Evil, and he's back with another slasher that upends expectations: Clown in a Cornfield. Clown in a Cornfield is based on the first entry in Adam Cesare's Frendo series which chucks a group of teens into the mayhem of a Midwestern American town where they …
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Mother of Chooks co-director Jesse Leaman on the joy of making a film with his mum
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36:09Every so often, you sit down to watch a film, and find that it unexpectedly fills a hole you didn't know you had in your life. You might not know you needed a charming, dose of positivity in that moment, but as the seconds tick over, you find yourself being swept along in a wave of joy that your day shifts and things that would usually bother you s…
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How Umbrella Entertainment physical media essays are written
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1:00:32And we're back with another review discussion with myself, Andrew, and my colleague Nadine Whitney. In this episode, we discuss the work that we both did on the Umbrella releases of Eyes Without a Face and Hounds of Love, while also discussing the importance of the supplementary materials that come with physical media releases, alongside the work t…
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Fantastic Film Festival: Bluebird director Darwin Schulze talks about his creative vision to bring adventure back to Australian screens
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35:26ion to our humanity. At twelve years of age, Darwin won the award for Best Film by a Child Producer, Best Cinematography, and Best Editing at the KidzFlicks awards for his short film Red Panda Man. He had previously made a claymation short film called My Eco Friendly House. Darwin then also was a Tropfest Jr finalist for his short Milk. Again, he w…
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The Correspondent director Kriv Stenders on the need to support a free press in 2025
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29:03In December 2013, Australian journalist Peter Greste, alongside fellow Al Jazeera colleagues Mohamed Fadel Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, were arrested in Cairo, Egypt under charges of holding illegal meetings with the Muslim Brotherhood, an organisation declared as a terrorist group by the Egyptian Interior Ministry. Kriv Stenders is a prolific Australi…
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Small Steps, Giant Leaps: Transformative Impact of Little Deeds
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39:24Send us a text In this episode of Twenty-First Century Living, Greg and Hollis explore the unique career path of Greg Cantori, whose journey from bicycle repairman to advocate for aging-in-place has reshaped the landscape of home safety. Discover how Greg's knack for practical solutions and his entrepreneurial spirit led to the establishment of Lit…
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Darcy Newton and Luca Catalano Get Raucous and Loud with their Kingswood Doc CLAPTRAP
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27:04Aussie band Kingswood are rock royalty, having played shows with AC/DC and The Hives, tearing down the rooves of Aussie venues in equal measure with their unique brand of raucous rock. In 2024, the band undertook a record-setting road trip across Australia with the Hometowns Tour, the longest ever music tour, encompassing 112 shows over six months,…
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Fragile Frames, Unbreakable Art: A Brush with Resilience
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27:10Send us a text In this inspiring episode, we sit down with Katherine Klimatas, a talented graphic designer who shares her journey of creativity and entrepreneurship. Katherine, a graduate of Loyola University, has not only built a successful business but also advocates for change and awareness as a designer living with brittle bones disease. Join u…
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Lou Sanz on engaging with empathy with the pitch black comedy Audrey
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1:07:43In 2024, director Natalie Bailey and writer Lou Sanz unleashed Audrey onto audiences in Australia and America. Here's a film that I called a caustic comedy that rains like refreshing acid rain. Here's the story of a mum, Ronnie (played by Jackie van Beek), who opts to literally take over the life of her daughter Audrey (Josephine Blazier) when she …
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Alice Maio Mackay on the new wave of transgender cinema
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51:12At just twenty years old, transgender wunderkind Alice Maio Mackay has crafted a filmography that would make most seasoned professionals envious. Alice's filmography is built within a defiantly independent space that centres queer stories on screen. From 2021's short film The Serpent's Nest, to the run of genre defying horror and sci-fi feature fil…
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