Reviewed by GREG KING Documentary Director: Pete Gleeson. Coolgardie is a small mining town situated some 500kms east of Perth. It is a remote, insular and isolated town where little ever happens. The social hub of the town is the local pub, the Denver City Hotel. Every season a couple of new barmaids, usually backpackers from Europe, arrive for a three-month stint to earn some money, pouring beers. This fly on the wall verite documentary from first time feature film maker Pete Gleeson follows the latest two arrivals – Finnish backpackers Lina and Steph. Continue reading
KEDI
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Reviewed by GREG KING Documentary Director: Ceyda Torun. Kedi is the Turkish word for cat, and cat lovers everywhere will relish this simple but charming documentary from Turkey about the stray cats that live on the streets of Istanbul. Cats have been a feature of the city for hundreds of years. The adorable feral felines are cared for by the various local people who work in the market, the shops and the harbour, who also feed them. The cats are for the most part independent, but are more than happy to accept food and hugs from the locals. Kedi is the debut Continue reading
MCLAREN – interview with Roger Donaldson
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by GREG KING McLaren is a documentary about Bruce McLaren, the New Zealand born Formula One race driver and founder of the McLaren Racing Team. Director Roger Donaldson (No Way Out, The World’s Fastest Indian, etc) was granted unprecedented access to McLaren family archives, and there is plenty of great footage in this handsomely assembled documentary. The film tracks the career of the late Formula One driver and racing car engineer Bruce McLaren, who was killed testing one of his cars in 1970. Greg sat down with Roger Donaldson to learn more about the Continue reading
HOTEL COOLGARDIE – interview with Pete Gleeson
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by GREG KING On a dusty highway between Australia's most isolated city and its largest gold pit lies Coolgardie - where the arrival every three months of a new pair of foreign backpackers to work the only bar in town is a keenly anticipated event. Fresh off the plane and lured by the promise of an authentic outback experience, Finnish travellers Lina and Steph find themselves en route to a dot on the map - to pour beers, replenish depleted travel funds, and live amongst the locals. But their working holiday quickly deteriorates into a baptism of fire. Hotel Coolgardie is Continue reading
I AM HEATH LEDGER
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By GREG KING Documentary Directors: Adrian Bruitenhauis and Derik Murray. This respectful and poignant made for television documentary gives us some intimate insights into Aussie actor Heath Ledger, who died tragically young at the age of 28 in 2008, from an accidental overdose of prescribed medications. Unlike the recent documentary Amy though, this film doesn’t delve too deeply into Ledger’s dark personal demons nor the breakdown of his relationship with fellow actress Michelle Williams, who is the mother of his young daughter Matilda. In fact, Williams’ Continue reading
