Saturday night, I had the opportunity to act as a volunteer at the Australian Directors Guild. Apart from wearing the completely wrong footwear (shout out to my TB black heeled boots) and spending the eight hours standing in utter pain, I learnt some pretty valuable lessons that made the experience worthwhile.

In all honesty, I was surprised at how ‘low-key’ the event was. If RMIT hadn’t been a sponsor this year, the awards would have definitely escaped my notice – a fact that as a media student and aspiring film maker, I’m ashamed of. The host made an interesting point when stating that “Australians won’t watch (Australian productions) unless it’s about home renovations… maybe we should just turn ‘The Block’ into a feature film.” It’s true, films by Australian directors fly incredibly under the radar whilst mediocre Hollywood  pictures bombard us.

At this point in the presentation, which was basically 10 minutes in, I began to feel indescribably angry and appalled at the injustice of it all. How dare we, as a nation, not support the creators, the visionaries, the artists, who work from our very own backyard. Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook (taking out the grande prize of best feature film) was a phenomenal picture, yet I hardly know anyone who’s watched it or at least heard of it. Why? It was screened at merely 17 cinemas in all of Australia.

Moving on, I learnt that Neighbours is celebrating its 30th anniversary…. I’m not exaggerating when I say that much of the night’s over-arching emphasis was placed upon this show. A soap opera. Readers may want to kill me for this, but I feel that Neighbours has definitely run its course. It hasn’t been good since 2008 when Rachel Kinski became besotted with Mr. Henderson and was involved in a student/teacher love affair. Nay, it probably hasn’t been good since Kylie Minogue was a lead. The storylines have become ridiculous, the acting is atrocious – not that the ‘actors’ are given much to work with – and the show has tried so hard to represent various ethnicities as to adapt with the times that it all seems like a bit of a joke. “Ah yes, we need more Indians, find me an Indian family pronto! Oh no wait, there’s current Muslim issues, we better find an Arab family so we seem accepting…”

Any who, after having a brush of fame with Dr. Carl and Susan (I find it odd that they’re still together after a whole two seasons of him cheating on her with Natalie Bassingthwaighte) my mood began to lift with thanks to a speech made by Genevieve Clay-Smith, the Winner of ‘Best Direction in a Student Film’ for I Am Emmanuel. After receiving her award, she went on to state that her two male leads (refugees from war-torn Sudan) are now receiving work in the film industry and are studying at NIDA – opportunities that prior to being cast in this film, were unheard of. “Student filmmakers can really make a difference.” If these words had escaped from anyone else’s mouth, I might have gagged, but Genevieve was so genuine that she completely moved me in ways that were unexpected. I immediately fell in love with her.

All in all, this showcase of Australian talent acted as a reminder that I’m studying Media because I love film. It’s motivated me to put myself out there and explore the stories that I’ve always wanted to tell – one doesn’t need million dollar budgets to do so. What was said at our very first lecture? “You are Media practitioners today, not at the end of your degree.” Touché Brian, touché.

Since there were no concrete tutes this week, I thought I’d give a little review of sorts –

A mod, hijab-clad vampire cruises the sullen streets of Bad City on a stolen skateboard, searching for her next victim. She spies a James Dean-esque boy who is high on ecstasy and dressed as Dracula. This is the beginning of an unconventional relationship – a middle eastern feminist vampire romance if you will. 

Excuse me whilst I revel in the brilliance that is Ana Lily Amirpour’s ‘A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night.’ Shot in black and white, the film etches a cloying, sad and solemnly fantastical story, which borrows stylistic elements from David Lynch’s ‘Wild at Heart’ and trashy comics. In stating that though, it’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced.

Set against the backdrop of an intermediate wasteland, a contemporary Arab rock meets 80s New Wave soundtrack dominates each scene – tying in the ‘California meets Iran’ vibe that Amirpour wishes to convey. The eccentric ensemble (a gangster drug dealer and past-her-prime prostitute included) that occupies the seemingly lawless town adds to the grimy atmosphere that the film feeds the audience and works well in establishing the madness of the piece.

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night had me exiting the cinema saying “What. The. Fuck. Yes. YES” but also enraptured with a new found love for Arab electro – reflecting the woozy spell that Amirpour is sure to have you trapped in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nCARJM7EUA