Hot Spots: Richard Gray makes his MIFF debut

Friday 30 July 2010, 4:58 PM
By The Team | Posted in Events

With the Melbourne International Film Festival raising the curtain last week, the delicious stench of popcorn already hangs heavy in the air and the choc top cravings have well and truly kicked in.

Hot Spots caught up with director Richard Gray, whose first feature film, Summer Coda, is debuting at this year’s festival.

 We can’t wait to see the film. Can you tell us a little bit about it.

I can’t wait to see it on the big screen too! Long time coming. Summer Coda is a romantic drama starring Rachael Taylor, Alex Dimitraides, Susie Porter, Angus Sampson, Nathan Phillips, Cassandra Magrath and Jacki Weaver. Phew! It’s a big cast, but boiled right down it’s about a young woman, Heidi (played by Rachael Taylor), who comes home to Australia seeking some family closure, which doesn’t go to plan. And that’s when the adventure begins.

She meets an orange farmer, Michael (Dimitraides), and decides to hang around in Oz – fruit-picking with a bunch of crazy pickers, all the while falling love with Michael. But like any good story, things are never quite that simple – there are secrets, twists and turns along the way.

 How did Summer Coda evolve into a film project?

I wrote the first draft soon after completing film school at the VCA. The screenplay was Runner Up in Project Greenlight, which gave us a great kick along. To begin with I had an image of a girl busking and hitchhiking her way home, after growing up in the US. It always intrigued me and I could never shake it.

Next step was to find a great location. We found Mildura. It’s such a romantic setting with the orange groves, vineyards and the Murray River. We filmed there for six weeks, plus two weeks in California.

Summer Coda is your first feature film. It must feel pretty amazing to wrap that up! Was it difficult to get it off the ground?

Very challenging! They say your first film is always the hardest, and I really hope that’s true because it was hardcore. The financial crisis didn’t help us much either, but where there’s a will there’s a way! We never gave up and assembled a team of absolute champions who never gave up hope. The script had a great response from the actors, and once we attached the cast everyone started jumping aboard.

Do you think Australian-made films are instantly recognisable?

Usually, yeah. But maybe that’s just to us – ‘cause we know the locations and the actors so well. The key is to make a film that has international appeal. A story that will work wherever it plays.

What have you been enjoying at MIFF?

I love MIFF. I grew up in Box Hill and used to come into the festival on the train. It’s such a special time, running from cinema to bar to cinema in the cold.  I can’t wait to check out Red Hill and catch up on a few fine docos too.  

Where will you be heading post-screening?

Summer Coda is screening at ACMI, so Movida Next Door is nice and close –but there are so many options! I also love The Toff, Gin Palace and Siglo.

Summer Coda is screening at MIFF on Wednesday 4 August. Book your ticket here.  

LINKS:

Melbourne International Film Festival
Summer Coda
Project Greenlight
Red Hill

Little-seen worlds: now showing

Tuesday 27 July 2010, 3:31 PM
By The Team | Posted in Events

Tim Burton is a man who sees the dark corners in light rooms. He coaxes the edges of life towards the middle, turning outsiders into heroes, loners into legends and the misunderstood into magical beings. And he puts little-seen worlds onto the big screen.

What can we say – we love his work.

Coinciding with the much-celebrated and enthusiastically-attended Tim Burton exhibition, the fine folk at ACMI have kindly scheduled screenings of all of Burton’s films. If you’ve seen the exhibition and now feel compelled to see Beetlejuice, Sleepy Hollow or Mars Attacks! again – ACMI is here to help.

Films screen on Friday nights and Sunday mornings and afternoons – so you can go to the exhibition before or after a film. And tickets are only $6 – not bad! Follow the links from here to view the program.

As well as films, ACMI is hosting a series of talks and lectures. Into the Shadows: gothic suburbia in the work of Tim Burton, on Sunday 1 August looks at the ways Burton, who once described his suburban childhood as ‘hellish’, continues to be fascinated by suburbia.

Other lectures will discuss specific films, including sessions on the two Batman movies;  his animations; and his big action adventure movies – Mars Attacks! and Planet of the Apes.

The Burton Club is a special event happening each Thursday (now extended into August). The exhibition is open until late, plus ACMI puts on free live music, performances and more. Well worth a visit, we hear!
 

Families should also look out for the special small-fry-sized activities, including an exhibition trail. A friendly monster will be your guide – sharing secrets along the way and steering little ones towards Burton’s kid-friendliest works. Plus, kids can drop by the activity centre where drawing and colouring wildly and copiously is highly encouraged

The Tim Burton exhibition is a rare opportunity to explore a rare film-maker and artist’s world. We say, make the most of it and explore beyond the exhibition walls. And if you go to any of the above – drop us a line!

 LINK:

 Tim Burton: The Exhibition

Image credits: 
Tim Burton on the set of Corpse Bride – Derek Fey
Untitled (The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories) (Detail), Tim Burton, 1998.

Melbourne Insider: the talk of the Hollywood town

Thursday 22 July 2010, 9:25 AM
By The Team | Posted in Events

Noticed those queues of people outside city cinemas? Locals will know this means one thing: it’s Melbourne International Film Festival time again. This month’s Melbourne Insider takes a look at our city’s passion for popcorn, our love of that moment when the lights go down, and our fascination with flickering images.

So straighten your skivvy, get comfy in your directors chair and let’s roll the tape.

One of our hot tips for MIFF is the opening night film, The Wedding Party, starring Adam Zwar (of SBS’s Wilfred fame). You can read all about Adam’s filmic experiences in today’s City Weekly (Thursday 22 July).

Adam’s first film was a short called My Night with Ava, based on the true story of Ava Gardner’s Melbourne romance with a male journalist. (Ava was here in 1951, filming On The Beach.)

FYI, the rumour that Ava described Melbourne as ‘the perfect place to make a film about the end of the world’ is untrue. Another journo – who wasn’t in Melbourne and clearly had no idea what he was talking about – made that up.

And besides, it’s clear Ava liked something (or someone) Melburnian!

 FYI, the rumour that Ava described Melbourne as ‘the perfect place to make a film about the end of the world’ is untrue. Another journo – who wasn’t in Melbourne and clearly had no idea what he was talking about – made that up!

Obviously, Ava liked something (or someone) Melburnian – and she wasn’t alone. Melbourne is a favoured location of film makers.

The Wedding Party was shot in Melbourne, Tim Burton spent a whole week here when his exhibition opened at ACMI, both Robert DeNiro and Clive Owen have been hanging out here in recent weeks, shooting a new thriller, The Killer Elite. So while we’re quoting (NOT misquoting) film heroes, here’s what Tim Burton had to say about Melbourne’s ACMI:

 ‘…what I love about this place (is) the interactive nature of it. It’s not as stand-offish as the museum experience.  People who don’t normally go to a museum would go to the show.’

Tim Burton: The Exhibition features more than 700 Burton creations, from paintings to puppets and from costumes to cars. (That’s right, there’s a Batmobile on display.) The exhibition closes on Sunday 10 October.

And Robert De Niro, what did he have to say about Melbourne?

‘It’s a terrific city, even in winter, not like New York, which is cold and slushy.’ And:  ‘Melbourne is a real city, it’s got different cultures, it’s got a good energy, good restaurants, it’s a great city – good place to be.’

 You talkin’ to us? Aw shucks, Mr De Niro…you’ve got that right for sure.  And our film festival kicks international celluloid butt!  

The Wedding Party screens at the Melbourne International Film Festival tonight at 8pm, Saturday 31 July at 7pm and Tuesday 3 August at 7pm. (Thursday 5 August session is sold out.)

LINKS:
Melbourne International Film Festival
Tim Burton: The Exhibition