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Syd-ing in the cinema - 2026 Sydney Film Festival Opening night (Ft. Nick Collins)
26 Plays18 days ago
Matthew, Mitch and a special guest Nick Collins come together to discuss the Sydney Film Festival, other Aussie Film fests, the joys (not) of networking and defamation law.
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Transcript
Humorous Introduction and Podcast Theme
00:00:04
Speaker
I am the night rain. You're terrible Muriel. Talk to me. You gonna do that Pogger Pogger? You've been talking the cop. Today is a brand new No, that's it. It's the vibe.
00:00:17
Speaker
G'day, fellow Aussie film lovers, and welcome to another episode of Under Southern Screens, the most festive Australian cinema podcast. I'm Mitch. And I'm Matthew, and this is not coming out in December. Festive. Festivul.
00:00:31
Speaker
Most festival. There you go. There you get The most festival Australian cinema podcast. Yeah, I realise I'm really... Starting us off strong I've shot us as a broad one on that one. um Can't use it again. Or control C, control V, that intro for the inevitable Christmas episode. I'll think of something else for Christmas. I think what's going to be funny is if I use the exact same one every single time we talk about a ah festival film festival. Yeah, I think that'd be pretty funny. Matthew, I think this is a first for
Relevance of the Sydney Film Festival
00:00:55
Speaker
us. This is a first. I think for the first time ever, we're actually talking about something that's relevant to the time that the episode comes out. we're not banking this one we're recording this sort of day and date i mean to be honest i think the festival ends on the 13th of june or something like that so we might actually still be late but not as late but not as late and you know it might just be a good encapsulation but yes uh today we are talking about the opening night and i guess just the general vibe of the sydney film festival 2026 the stars the lights the glitz and the glamour we are entertainment tonight going live onto the scene and we have a special guest yes yes yes that's it we had to get someone on you may have seen him in such efforts as in the suburbs 007
00:01:44
Speaker
The fan film that we shot in like 2018. He's
Guest Introduction: Nick Collins
00:01:48
Speaker
been my filmmaking brother for like 15 years. It's my mate Nick Collins. Welcome to the podcast. Hello everyone. It's great to be here. Amazing to have you here. it's great to be on the podcast. You know, I've enjoyed listening to the latest episode. So to finally be here is, yeah.
00:02:04
Speaker
result We were talking the other day because Fury Road just came out pretty recently and Nick was like, yeah, you and Mitch made some really, really great points. And to be honest with you guys, little Pete behind the curtain, we filmed that shit months ago. couldn't remember a thing we mentioned in that episode. I think I've mentioned that I often re-listen to our episodes just to kind of like listen to what we've said. Because usually it's been a month since we said it. And it's like, what what did I say? What nefarious crap am I going to have to defend? Little known fact I was traveling around when
Experiencing the Sydney Film Festival
00:02:32
Speaker
the last two episodes of Mad Makes was coming out. And I listened to the Fury Road episode seriously jet lagged in a Malaysian airport. i just i still don't remember what what I said. So what you're saying is, Mitch, yeah our podcast EPS have gone international. That's actually what I'm saying. Yeah, now i think I think there might actually be a download in Malaysia now. That's right. yeah This is a first. as We're doing Sydney Film Festival. Me and Nick, we went to the opening night.
00:02:58
Speaker
We got the vibe of it. We want to just talk about our experiences and sort of how that happened and the general film festival circuit in Australia. Just sort of have a bit of a discussion of that and see what's what in the city of Australia. But I mean... Yeah, what are people's experiences with like film festivals in Australia? How experienced are we with that vibe? Well, I'll go first. Yeah, no, I have no experience with our film festivals all at all, you know. um Yeah, I've always wanted to like submit some shorts, um you know, in the past. But like in terms of attending one, yeah, and I haven't been to one until until ah this last week when we went to Sydney Film Festival. I've been to about two film festivals. I went to the St. Kilda Film Festival and saw a bunch of shorts there in 2024, I think it was. And then in 2025, I went and saw a couple films at the Melbourne International Film Festival or colloquially known as MIFF. I also went, well, because one of them I saw was either the Melbourne or the Australian premiere of Lesbian Space Princess. Awesome.
00:03:58
Speaker
Awesome movie. And in doing so, I also went to the Lesbian Space Princess speed dating event. Oh, wow. Tell me about this. promise it was open to all genders and sexualities. I didn't just invite myself in. It sounds like ah ah when a straight man goes to Yaya's. you what mean? Well, to be fair, Yaya's is now a a haven for the straights. We kicked the gays out, unfortunately. Yaya's has been colonized. not go to Yaya's. It's called gentrification, ladies and gentlemen. Yaya's, please sponsor us. Yeah. Yeah, I feel sorry for the people who had to interact with me. I was clearly not what they were looking for, for multiple reasons. I was allowed to be there. A lesbian did invite me there, but the movie was good. that's You can support the art, mate. That's fine. You can be an ally. I was there to support the dating. Nick, what did you expect going into Sydney Film Fest? My expectations were that, you know, it was going to be quite a big event for, I guess, like, you know, the the sort of local Sydney filmmakers because I know Melbourne's quite big as well. Yeah, yeah. I wasn't expecting so much press at the beginning when, just to set the scene, like, we walked into, um I believe it was the State Theatre, right? Yeah, State Theatre, which is basically similar to, like, and the Astor or maybe Hermagine Melbourne, something like that theatre district. We were greeted with these bright lights and you know this incredible red carpet with some of the you know the the key stakeholders uh that distributed the film um and uh part of the you know the panel but yeah i wasn't expecting so much uh like press like it was pretty full on like when we walked in there it's just so busy that's what i've come to realize it's just like if if you get overstimulated easily it's just like this is not the place to go like it's just like and you you don't really know where to go or what to do before the movie actually starts you're just sort of waiting in like a lobby somewhere are you supposed to talk to people but you can't really talk to people because the movie's about to start Yeah, you don't want to get into a conversation and then you're like locked in, but then you're like, oh, actually, can you shut up now? I'm trying to like watch a movie. It's oh, well, I guess we got to go in now and watch this movie. I think for like most people that aren't really familiar with a lot of the other people that are attending, you know, you your main in for a conversation is, oh, what did you think of the film? But, you know, obviously the film hasn't begun, right? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. awkwardly standing there like excited for the film as a socially anxious person such as myself that is a nightmare yeah we'll get into the bloody networking part of it later on i think um it's definitely like a community though the festival circuit so yeah definitely so yeah if you make yourself known you'll start seeing familiar faces but the issue is that i have not made myself known nor do i go to enough of them to be like known um So, yeah, we walk in, as Nick said, and, yeah, it's super, super busy. I'll list a few of that they have the stars on the screen, we saw. We saw a few little celebs. I've got to not know any of them. I saw Brian Brown's yeah head the crowd. Brian Brown's head was great, yeah. In the far distance. Far distance and in the shadow, so it was a great catch. Yeah. So we're not even 100% sure it was Brian Brown. Oh, he was in The Travelers, your favourite film. Top 10 film of 2025, mate. That was insane. That's very funny. And in the controversial romance, Anyone But You. Was he actually? Which I consider an Australian film. Yeah, you might be standing alone on that one, brother. Oh, no. That's it. liked it when the Sidney Hama Bridge was in the background. good Good stuff, yeah. We also saw Ed Oxenbold, who's the star of Paper Planes, classic Aussie movie. Oh, yeah. He was also in M. Night Shyamalan's The Visit, which was pretty cool. Oh, is that him? Yeah, he's that kid from there. And he also does like pretty cool stuff in the short film space and that of cool. Let's go to Tim Pocock, who's a star in Dance Academy. No one cares about that except me. that was pretty cool. listeners might be interested in Dance Academy. That's a little little bit of Dance Academy lore. Yeah. And Tim Pocock's are also like an established actor outside of Dance Academy as well. um Nina Oyama, who's a fantastic Australian comedian doing press on the red carpet, which is pretty, pretty cool.
00:08:02
Speaker
And yeah, there were a bunch of other people as well. But like the main thing is it was just packed and I'm a social guy. I can turn on the social. When it gets too busy, I'm out. When there's like little to no walking room, that's when I tap out, I think. We decided like, you know, we'd go and take our seats, Matt and myself. And, you know, I was sort of coming down from this quite overwhelming experience of like all these people just sort of waiting, you know, All the filmy types. Yes, that's All the filmy types. Everyone sort of seemed to know each other but didn't. Yeah, that's the other thing. Have you found this, Mitch? Sorry to cut you off, Nick, but it's like, does it feel like everyone just knows everyone at these events and you're like the only one? I don't think I've done enough in the actual social section of these events to really get a vibe of what that's like. I had friend with me every single time, so I go, sit next to them, we watch the movie, or shorts, and then we leave. That's a whole part of it, I guess. You know what I mean? The film watching. I love movies. Funny that, you know, how film festival is actually about watching the films that you go and see. But, yeah, and so, yeah, sorry, Nick. It was bustling inside and then we went and took our seats. I sat next to this lovely lady who introduced herself. Her name was Jen. Shout out to Jen. That's it. Shout out to Jen. Shout out to Jen. I didn't catch her surname, I'm sure we could find that somewhere. Let's not talk her. But we got talking about like why we were both there because obviously everyone attends these events for different reasons. Some as an audience member, some have worked on the project.
00:09:30
Speaker
and And also like I went into this documentary without knowing a single thing about it. All I knew was the name was Silenced. We forgot to introduce the actual film. Yes, yes, so Silenced. Spoilers for Silenced. Silence is the name of the documentary. And yeah, hadn't seen a trailer. I hadn't seen, you know, a single piece of marketing. So I was going into this completely cold, um whereas Jen hadn't. So we had a little bit of a discussion about, you know, what we were looking forward to seeing throughout the documentary. And yeah, that's sort of where our networking sort of kickstarted.
Discussion on 'Silenced' Documentary and Legal Challenges
00:10:01
Speaker
The networking journey. Mitch, what are your thoughts on networking? I'm really bad at it. Oh my God, it's awful, isn't I can't do it. I don't like talking to people. I don't know. I don't like claiming I'm an artist of any sort because I don't view myself as one. So it's unhelpful when they're like, so what do you want from me? I'm like, oh.
00:10:18
Speaker
just here to hang i'm just here to make friends just good um you're an artist man i think yeah like you gotta you gotta to rise above that insecurity unfortunately i won't for the time being maybe in the future hey man there's always miff 2026 you're right you're right maybe this will be the year when i get famous i can't start a com conversation. I'm not very good at I'm the exact same. But, mate, in contrast, mr Nick Collins over here. Yeah, this guy. Bloody social magnet, this man. A real social butterfly. I mean, what can I say? I just can't stop talking. I love talking and gifted and I love getting to know people. So it was a win-win situation, I guess. Okay, so yeah, the movie is called Silence. It's it's a documentary and i' have a little under-sudden-screens story for you guys because... Hit us. I, very briefly, worked on this film. Ah! we go. That's it. Yes, I used to work for the um the distributor of of Silenced at... Fantastic workplace. I'm not just saying that because I used to work there and I love the people there. Fantastic people at Sharmill Films. And I just remember the early stages of this documentary because for all those who aren't aware, Silence is a documentary covering the systemic mistreatment of defamation law, especially when it comes to silencing female sexual assault cases and that type of thing The film itself covers a bunch of different case studies actually throughout history of defamation cases being used to silence women. In particular, they focused on the Johnny Depp Amber Heard trial, but then also they had this ah this local angle, the Australian angle of um the Brittany Higgins case in which Brittany Higgins was unfortunately assaulted in the Australian Parliament, which we don't talk about enough. That was really, really messed up um and I'm really, really glad that they brought that ah more more to light in this documentary. And yeah, I remember this film's early stages ah because Charmille had been in production with this director, Selina Miles, and producing team from the start. I remember just, yeah, the amount of just legal hullabaloo that went on behind the scenes. They were constantly having to go back and forth, what was permissible, what wasn't permissible. Stuff had to be re-edited because, of course, it deals with defamation law, right? And and what's true and what isn't true. And when you're making a movie about defamation law...
00:12:35
Speaker
You don't want to get sued by the people that you're making a movie about. It be ironic. Especially when it's not particularly flattering to the male individuals that have been ah calling these defamation suits to court. But um it was interesting just seeing it in those early stages. i'm not going to act like i'd I championed this film because I really didn't. It was the higher up people at Sharmill that did that and the amazing team there. Just so cool seeing in its early stages and then just seeing it on screen at Sydney Film Festival, getting its props, getting its recognition. And they actually brought out a few of the key subjects from the documentary to the Sydney Film Festival. ah They brought out Jennifer Robinson, who is a like a lawyer in the Depp v. Heard initial defamation case. And then they also brought out ah Brittany Higgins herself, which was which was a really big moment. And I was so I was so happy that that got a standing ovation in the end, right, Nick? was just like, yeah, it was yeah true respect, I thought. And it was interesting because the film focuses on all these cases and all these, you know, incredible women that have been through, you know, horrific circumstances. 100%. Yeah, Jennifer jennifer Robinson. so So Jennifer Robinson is sort of the focus of the film and she her story then sort of is interwoven with the cases that that she um was was part of. And that' sort of that's sort of the structure of the documentary, which I quite enjoyed. It allowed for the audience to sort of get that legal grounding. and And also because Jennifer Robinson is Australian, it's sort of like that linkage of like, this is our entry point into all of these cases. And it was just really eye-opening, like regardless of what your thoughts are on, you know, so stuff like Depp v. Heard and the Brittany Higgins case. and then also like there are legitimate uses for defamation law. I think a story like this... needs to be told and to to shed more light because, quite frankly, in my opinion, a lot of these women, Amber Heard, Brittany Higgins, have gone through absolute hell for stuff that they didn't really sign up for, I don't think. Brittany mentions that in the in the film as well. She she says, you know... Initially, I wasn't sure if I was going to, you know, come out and and discuss what had happened to me because, you know, it becomes such a big issue. And because it's such a public work environment that she was in, right, it really does wreck your career and it puts you in the spotlight, which they didn't sign up for. heavy stuff. And like, again, as three straight white men on this podcast, I don't know how well we can do it making analytical critiques on the female experience, but um it certainly impacted me. And and I think it was an interesting choice to headline a film festival. Like it's very heavy subject matter.
00:15:16
Speaker
I usually you'd think of something sort of more celebratory or that type of thing. But, you know I think it worked in this case. And and I sincerely hope it comes to MIF so Mitch can watch it because it was just, it was like really, really impactful. I felt like everyone that got on stage was very proud of what they had as well. Yeah, 100%, yeah. They were proud to screen this as, you know, the opening film.
00:15:38
Speaker
And I'll just add, like, it's such an important film for everyone to see. And if it does go to Melbourne International Film Festival, like, yeah, no, it'd be definitely worth checking out because although it's such a global issue, it really highlights that this is happening in our backyards as well. Makes it local. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I'm sorry Mitch, you can't really contribute a ton to this episode. I'm okay with shutting up and listening. That's all That's it. And at the end of the day, we all should listen. Exactly. All three of us are straight white males. We need to shut up and listen sometimes. Honestly, facts. Yeah. I don't know why I made that a joke. That's actually true. But I am joking. Talk all the time. Always. Talk over everyone. that note, no, I'm joking. I'll just edit it so that I immediately talk after you. Yeah, that'd be good. That'd be good. If you could cut me out, that'd be good. It's little editing joke from me to you. like that Bo Burnham sketch where he's like, the great thing I love about editors is that they can cut out and then especially cuts out the thing. It was funny. It's funny in context. No, no, it's good. It's good stuff. Welcome to the internet. Where's he gone? Where's Bo Burnham gone? That's all I'm saying. Here's my hot take. Go on. I didn't really like Inside that much. Ooh, okay. All right. That's a bold claim. I like Bo Burnham. I like a lot of his other stuff, but I felt like Inside was very self-aggrandizing of his own depression. It's a bit edgelord. I mean, yeah, you're in lockdown and that sucks, but you get to make a bajillion dollars off of this. I'm in lockdown and I'm just stuck researching dinosaurs. This sucks. That sounds like winning to me, man. Dinosaurs. No, it was rocks. I wasn't even the dinosaurs. I was doing a dinosaur degree, but at that point I was only looking at rocks and I was like, this is the worst. I don't know this, man. Dinosaur degree. We're not doing this on the podcast. Okay. I'm not going to say the dumb reason why people liked it is because of this, because sure people liked it for other reasons, but I think the particular reason why it did gangbusters at the time was because it was representing the lockdown experience.
Sidebar: Cannes Film Festival Traditions
00:17:28
Speaker
Yeah, but it's a little bit hypocritical when you're recording the whole thing from your guest house. That's part of my problem, all right? That's literally like... It sucked for everyone, I get it, it sucked way more for other people than it did for Barber. But anyway, back to Sydney. Back to Sydney. Yes.
00:17:44
Speaker
Shout out Silence. I thought was really, really fantastic. It got the classic Cannes standing ovation clap for like five minutes, which is great. was going to say long for Cannes standards, five minutes means they hated it. Oh, really? Okay, well... You can tell I haven't been, mate. Apparently the Cannes standing ovation thing is really munted because now every single film gets standing ovation and it's now based on how long that standing ovation is and if it's under a certain amount it means it actually sucked. It's like what? What is this weird world? It's so odd. I wonder what the longest standing ovation in history Cannes has been. Look it up. I'm sure that's noted. I'll go from 15 minutes. Jesus, mate. We had Once Upon a Time in America, Paperboy, Two Days, One Night, Capernaum, and Happy as a Lazaro. I know one of those movies. Yeah, I only know Once Upon a Time in America. always paper boy no i was thinking of um the hugh jackman film paper paper hero paper boy back here i was thinking of paper towns the uh the y.a coming of age movie either that or the water boy starring adam sandler take your pick at 17 minutes we had the neon demon at 18 minutes we had mud the 2012 um matthew mcconaughey film
00:18:57
Speaker
19 minutes, we have Sentimental Value. 20 minutes, we have Fahrenheit, 9-11, and The Black Ball. I don't know what either of those movies are. Black Ball is apparently in a 2026 film. Fahrenheit, 9-11 is a Michael Moore documentary, I believe. And at 22 minutes, we have Pan's Labyrinth, which is the current record. Wow. Which honestly, actually, of all the films that get the record, I'm actually happy with this one. It's so dumb. Like, standing ovations, they're great.
00:19:17
Speaker
Why are we doing it for 17 minutes, bro? brother. There's some rough stuff in here because at six minutes was Furiosa, a Mad Max saga. Could you imagine like everyone just like, you know, turning around like, okay, so like when's this going to end? Like, who's going to be the first one to like stop clapping? I was like, I need to leave. I can't just stand here and clap for 20 minutes, dude. I have to leave. Because how they did it at Sydney was they were like, please wait in your seat until the credits have concluded so that yeah we can congratulate the filmmakers. That's nice.
00:19:47
Speaker
the film ends, right? Like credits start rolling, people start clapping. That's fine, right? I get that movie just ended. Clap, clap, clap. Then you get the text boxes of like, here's what happened to Brittany Higgins. Here's what happened to Amber Heard. People are clapping for the successful moments in that. And cheering. And cheering as well. cheering again. That's cool. That's cool. Very understandable. Honestly, pretty sick in my opinion that they're able to celebrate those wins. Then the actual proper credits start rolling again. So we're talking the vertical scroll credits. Yeah. People start clapping again. and I'm like, okay, the clapometer is on its way. Does that even count as the standing ovation are we just counting that as just like clapping for the film? It's just clapping for the film. And then the film ends and people start clapping again. You know what mean? yeah Look, I'm not going to say that the film didn't deserve a lot of applause and a lot of clapping and I think it even deserved that standing ovation but that was a lot of clapping. I love clapping. Big fan of clapping. This is what happens when Mitch doesn't come with us to the film festival, mate. We've got to talk about the ethics of standing ovations and clapping. It's actually very exciting because when i then go to Melbourne Film Festival, we can figure out what other things... I will say, Miff has been a dream to always attend so, you know... Being able to go this year will be you know absolutely fantastic. That is exciting. The opening is cool. I will say it's lost a little bit of its luster in recent years because they do it at Hoyt's Melbourne Central now. Is that actually... We can go check out the IMAX laser screens. Maybe after the MIF opening night, we can head over to Strike Bowling. hello
00:21:18
Speaker
Oh, we can go to the pancake parlor. I hope that's cold because then that one specific pancake will be cheap That's it. And then we can go to the JB Hi-Fi downstairs. How about that, mate? At the Melbourne Film Festival opening night. It would be closed by then. That's the after party right there at the pancake parlor. Yeah. I mean, I know was just dogging on Miff, but I would very much like an invite. Thank you, please. Bye. Yeah, we're really bad at like, we keep burning bridges and then being like, actually, let's back over that bridge real quick. Let's rebuild that bridge really quick. Yeah.
00:21:47
Speaker
But yeah, yeah, we watched Silenced and then it was time for the fabled Sydney Film Festival After Party.
Social Dynamics at the Festival's After Party
00:21:56
Speaker
Oh. And yeah. Did you see Alexi Toliopoulos? I did not. I did not see him throughout the entire night. I don't know where he I'm sure he was there. Please come on our pod. We'll talk about Looking Fowler Brandy, bro. We'll talk about Looking Fowler Brandy. your favorite movie. Did the film? We'll talk about anything. We'll talk about anything you want. He was just talking to Sean Baker the other day. you see that? No, I didn't see that. They did like a seminar with Sean Baker. About what? About just movie making and stuff. Oh, sweet. I should watch that. So the Sydney Film Festival after party, what were your expectations going into this, Nick? Because it's like, what are you... Is this how movies are made? Again, back to the everyone sort of knew each other, but no one sort of like went out of their way to like introduce themselves as such, like without, you know, sort of having some sort of idea of who they were, right? So like, My expectations were sort of that, you know, there was going to be a lot more social interaction, but there wasn't a lot like for you and I. It was sort of more... Everyone just sort of sticks in their little groups, but it's like, do these people know each other? This is literally just basic social skills, by the way. Maybe me and Nick are just like socially inept individuals. I don't know, this Nick guy sounds like he knows how to talk to a person, I feel like that's probably not He's got the gift of the gab Mr. Collins does. I can't deny that. Yeah. Maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm the problem. He was sinking the ship. I was. That's it. He was like killing it. And I'd come over like, Hey guys, what you think of this movie? guys like dance Academy?
00:23:19
Speaker
It was funny. We were Oh, there's the president of Sydney film festival. Should we go up and say what a terrific event? And then Matt like turns to me, he's like, do you want to do that? I was like, go for it, legend. It's like when you um you're at a friend's house and you really want to play PlayStation 3 and you're like, can you please ask your mom to play? with if we Can you ask your mom if we can play games on her phone? Please. i get like no you to I can't ask. You I That's true, mate. I've just got to go to a few more events like this and then I'll get better at it. You've got to become face, man. You've got to become a face. People have to come up to me, man. You've got make a brilliant film and everyone's going want talk to you. This is a call out to anyone that's going to MIFF or St Kilda or Tropfest or Sydney Film Fest. If you see either me, Mitch or Nick Collins at one of these events... Come over and say hi. It'll make us feel important. We should make a banner for this podcast and just kind of take it in. See, I was thinking that as a viral marketing opportunity, printing off little pamphlets and business cards. And that was actually another thing, right? Yeah. Nick, tell us about what happened after the movie. Oh, yes, that's right. Oh, finally I had it on. I don't actually know where mine went.
00:24:32
Speaker
So we're walking out of the theatre and this lady was handing out like pamphlets and screaming out, support women in in the film industry or whatever i looked at the photo of the the lady used on the pamphlet and it was the person handing them out was like what a great way to like sort of really got you really got you get yourself out there that's viral marketing man like as soon as the film finished she was there and like fair enough i think it's a pretty apt we could do the same and say support aussie film something like that For Aussie film, please listen to a podcast. About Aussie film. So, yeah, the after party happened. It was at the Sydney Town Hall, which is very similar to, like, I know Miff does their after parties at the State Library. The beats were good. The food was good.
00:25:16
Speaker
Conversation was good when we were having it. The conversation was there, yeah. It was pumping. The thing I wasn't expecting, though, is that a lot of the celebs actually went into the after party. Ooh. With us. So like Nina Oyama was there. um I saw Tim Pocock in there as well. I was going to go up and talk to him, but then I got skilled. That's fair. He's a very attractive man. He is actually, you know, yeah. And he's very talented as well. This is the bit where I found Jen in the crowd whilst, you know, we were trying to help ourselves to one of the delicious passes that was there on Selection. And that's where I introduced Jen to Matt and we had, you know, a great conversation about the film um and some of the stuff that she was working on at the moment and vice versa. Fantastic. I came into it being like, let's just make one connection, one friend or whatever. And we did. and that's So mission accomplished. Oh, yeah. Good job. Making friends is awesome, isn't it, Mitch? It's hard, but it's good. That was it. The event started at, I believe, 7.30 and it was meant to finish at around 9 for the after party. But I don't think we got into the after party until at least 11, 11.30.
00:26:23
Speaker
ah that's crazy It ran long and I think the results of that, because they had like a million different speeches from like, obviously the festival director and then like the minister for the arts and then the minister's minister for the arts and then the Lord Mayor of Sydney came and and all that stuff like that. Welcome to country as well. Welcome to Country as well. Yeah, that's true. And and overall, I think, because there was some boomers in front of me who were like, every time someone new came on to do a speech, they were like, oh come on. And then like when the final speech came on, the movie started, they like checked their watch and it was like it had been like 45 minutes since we were supposed to start. Yeah. That's just the nature of the beast. And I think like stuff like Welcome to Country and stuff is all all valid stuff, but maybe. It's important stuff, yeah. Maybe just tone down the speeches just a little bit. You know I'm saying? Just a little bit. little too yaptastic for Matt Slater. I need subway surfers playing in the background yes to ah just to get it going. At least but when I went to St. Kilda Film Festival last year, at least they had like an AI transcribing like what the host was saying on the screen. So it'd be funny things in the back. That's comedy gold right there. But yeah, that was...
00:27:23
Speaker
That was pretty much it. and It goes without saying that it kickstarted the festival, right? And that's why people are there. too i think that they said like 280 something films, Nick, right? Like something like that. It's impressive. Mostly Australian as well. Mostly Australian. They had a few like international ones as well.
Conclusion: Impact of Sydney Film Festival and Australian Cinema
00:27:38
Speaker
ah You know that movie Myland Kicks that's getting all the rage on social media and stuff like that? It had its Australian premiere at Sydney Film Festival. And especially with like films like Silence in particular, these are films that so deserve to be seen by a wide audience. They're important.
00:27:53
Speaker
A lot of them are very large scale. like Like Silence was globetrotting. you know like They were going all over the world. Very, very impactful filmmaking. But yeah, that's Sydney Film Festival. The inside scoop. Wrapped, done and dusted. Mitch, what do you think? Does that make you want a film festival? I'm so excited to go to the Melbourne one and stand in a corner and not talk to anyone. I'll be with you, mate. Nick will be there too. We can stand in a corner together. Actually, Nick can take us to introduce people. Yeah, that's it. He'll be our social linkage right there. And then you can be like, do you like Dance Academy? And I can say, have you heard of this podcast? It's really rad. It's called Under Southern Screens. And I get punched in the face because it's just a natural reaction to whenever some white guy starts talking his podcast. I was going to say it's the human centipede of networking. Nick is the one with the in, I'm the one with the niche cultural reference, and then Mitch is the one with the plug. Yeah. I'm just imagining us like in single file, like snake. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You come in first with a handshake. Matt comes in next to like humanize us. And then I come in to ruin it all for everyone. To lower the boom. yeah, no, like in all seriousness, shout out Sydney Film Festival. Shout out silence. Shout out the people at Sharmill. Love you guys to death as usual. Mitch, do you have a question for me? God, we're getting subtle with it. Matthew, I do have a question for you. What is your question, Mitch?
00:29:15
Speaker
I would like to know what is the most Australian thing about opening to the Sydney Film International Film Festival? The most Australian thing, in my opinion, about the opening night of the Sydney Film Festival is the fact that everyone's in a room together. They all think they're the sickest people on the inside, but they are physically incapable of showing any sort of confidence in themselves or their work outwardly whatsoever. Tall poppy syndrome. And I wouldn't have it any other way. I hate people being better than me. I hate talking about myself, but I also hate people being better than me. It sucks that the guy who directed The Backrooms is only 20 years old. that is crazy.
00:29:55
Speaker
What a crazy thing. Apparently it's really good too. I need to go see it. I need to watch that movie, man. Oh, my sister saw it and didn't like it. Oh, okay. That's interesting. review of Backrooms, the non-Australian film that none of us who actually host this podcast have seen. But yeah, like that's the ep. Yo.
00:30:13
Speaker
ah Mitch, what are we watching next week for Under Southern Screens? We're going back to the movie format, hopefully. Yeah. Well, next week we are delving into a um ah modern exploitation film, I guess we could kind of call it. The Furies. right Going back to our roots. That's awesome.
00:30:29
Speaker
B there B square? I mean, this part out, but it's intriguing that we're lying to our audience about when we've recorded this. We literally recorded that ep like a month ago. The illusion's been broken. know what I think of that movie. Find us at TikTok, Instagram, Threads, and YouTube at UndersouthernScreensPod. That's also send us an email at UndersouthernScreensPod at gmail.com. Nick, where do you live? Please tell us. Somewhere in the Australia. Okay. Somewhere in the Australia. Well, that's why we're here, mate. Yeah. Yeah. Where can we find you? And like, are you working on anything in particular? Where can we find out more about what you are working on? Well, you guys can check out my YouTube channel. just Nick Collins. It's got some of my, know, filmography on it from, you know, the past couple of years. And Matt features heavily in a lot of it. But yeah, no, working on a few things as well. There's potential for a podcast as well. Oh, um we heard it here first one of my uh great friends michaela tabano who's um you know sort of in the film scene as well so let's get her on as well watch this space i mean nick thank you so much for coming on the pod thank like it was so good to see you at at city film festival and then throughout all of last week he's one of the he's one of the g's he's one of the number one and it was lovely to meet you yeah lovely to meet you too um
00:31:45
Speaker
No, appreciate you guys having me on the podcast and hopefully it's the first of many. I am excited to see you again. And Mitch, I just want to extend my thank you for listening to me and Nick rabble on about an event you didn't go to. That's another thank you. It's all good. Is anyone going to thank me for anything? No, it's fine. Thanks for being a lovely guy, Matt. Thank you for, you know, attending the Sydney Field Festival with me. That's great. Asking me to help you network at the aftertiny. That's right, yes, that's it. We got this podcast. Thank you so much for listening, you guys. And keep an eye on those southern screens. Got them. Boom, boom, shake the room. We'll see guys next week. First time, every time.
00:32:24
Speaker
Thanks for listening to another episode of Under Southern Screens. We'll be back next week to talk more films down under. We just want to attribute that our opening title is Heavy Duty by Zoo and our closing title is Heavy Weight by Fell Creek. Thanks so much for listening and Mitch and I will see you in the next episode.
00:32:41
Speaker
See you next time.
00:32:45
Speaker
Under Southern Screens would like to acknowledge the stolen lands on which this podcast is recorded and produced and pay tribute to the Wurundjeri and Woiwurrung people of the Kulin Nation and Kamaragal people of the Eora Nation.
00:32:58
Speaker
Sovereignty was never ceded and we pay respect to all Indigenous Elders past, present and emerging. Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.