Cinema Australia

Director Justin Kurzel and writer Shaun Grant join the Cinema Australia Podcast to discuss their latest collaboration, Nitram. Nitram is a brilliant but highly disturbing film, that will no doubt divide audiences. It depicts the events leading up to one of the darkest chapters in Australian history - the Port Arthur shootings. Kurzel and Grant have been making movies together since 2011 as director and writer respectively. Their first film, Snowtown, landed like a sledgehammer and marked the arrival of two extraordinary filmmaking talents. Nitram is their third collaboration following Snowtown, and the provocative joy ride that is True History of the Kelly Gang. Kurzel’s filmography also includes Macbeth and Assissin’s Creed, which both starred Michael Fassbender. He also directed a segment of one of my favourite Australian films, The Turning. Shaun Grant’s other writing credits include Berlin Syndrome directed by Cate Shortland, Jasper Jones directed by Rachel Perkins, an episode of the American tele

Erik Thomson is one of my favourite actors. I’ve enjoyed most of Erik’s work, with Packed to the Rafters, Aftertaste and The Furnace being among my favourites. Thomson is one of Australia’s most beloved actors, becoming a household name thanks to mega-popular shows like All Saints and Rafters. In this episode we take a deep dive into Eric’s career and discuss everything from Pacific Drive to High Tide, All Saints, Packed to the Rafters and Back to the Rafters, and of course Aftertaste - a TV series in which Erik gives one of his best ever performances. We wrap it all up by discussing a few of Eric’s latest films - The Furnace, How to Please a Woman and Blueback all of which were filmed in Western Australia.

Iconic Australian filmmaker, Nadia Tass joins the Cinema Australia Podcast to discuss her career, including the making of two of her most well-known and much loved films, Malcolm and The Big Steal. Nadia Tass is one of Australia’s most respected filmmakers. Known for those films I just mentioned, Nadia also directed Pure Luck, an American film starring Martin Short and Danny Glover. Nadia’s later work includes Matching Jack with Jacinda Barrett, Richard Roxburgh, and Kodi Smit-McPhee, and the tele-film, Fatal Honeymoon, starring Harvey Keitel.

Screenwriters Arka Das and Bina Bhattacharya join the Cinema Australia Podcast to discuss their new anthology feature film, Here Out West. Synopsis: A baby is kidnapped from a western Sydney hospital by a desperate grandmother. Her flight sets off a chain of events that brings together complete strangers over the course of one dramatic day. Arka, who wrote the chapter titled BROTHERHOOD, is a writer, director and actor with a number of short films, web series and short documentaries under his belt. Bina, who wrote the chapter THE ETERNAL DANCE, is an award-winning writer, producer and director whose 2017 short film, Wild Dances, win the Audience Choice Award at the Made in the West Film Festival. Anyway... enjoy.

Filmmaker Matthew Walker joins the Cinema Australia Podcast to discuss his new documentary, I’m Wanita. I’m Wanita is the story of Wanita - a renegade country music singer from Tamworth, hell-bent on realising her childhood dreams of stardom. Self-crowned as ‘Australia's Queen Of Honky Tonk’, Wanita is still waiting for the recognition she knows she deserves.

Director Josh Reed joins the Cinema Australia Podcast to discuss his tense, claustrophobic drama, We're Not Here to Fuck Spiders. Reed describes Spiders as found footage noir. The film is set in a drug dealers house, and is constructed from found surveillance footage. There’s not much we can tell you about the story without giving too much away, but it’s certainly not for the faint-hearted. The film builds up to one hell of a final act as different characters who frequent the house begin to reveal themselves. Here, Josh discusses his film with great depth, including why he decided not he title, the risks of making such a hardcore film in Australia, and why he may never make another film again. Josh is also the son of Long Weekend and Fantasm Comes Again director Colin Eggleston which he talks about.

A Family is one of the most unique locally-produced films I’ve ever seen, so I was thrilled to be chatting with director Jayden Stevens and cinematographer Thomas Swinburn. These two very talented filmmakers also co-wrote and co-produced the film. Jayden Stevens is a director and photographer from the Gold Coast. He is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts, where his short film Between Trees won the school’s Brian Robinson Memorial script award. 

Tom Swinburn studied filmmaking at Ithaca College, and completed a post graduate degree in film at the Victorian College of the Arts where his short film A View from Below was awarded the most bold and innovative production. Their film, A Family, follows Emerson, a man living in solitary who seeks emotional refuge in the organising and documenting of family moments using low-grade impersonators. When his fake sister becomes inspired to follow his method, their relationship struggles between the forged and genuine. This is top-tier filmmaking. Anywa

Martin Wilson joins the Cinema Australia Podcast to discuss his new shark thriller, Great White. We love taking a deep dive with filmmakers about their movies, but this interview was originally recorded for our radio segment on 2RRR, so you will notice this is a much shorter interview than usual. Regardless, this is still an insightful chat with Wilson, who talks about the making of Great White and what makes it different to other creature features. He also discusses working with his cast, and the challenges of making a film while you’re up to your neck in water. Martin’s screen career spans almost 25 years. He’s an internationally-awarded director based in Perth. His extensive television commercial work includes the 'Cowards Punch' TVC campaign with world boxing champion Danny Green. Martin has directed hundreds of TV commercials for brands like Hungry Jacks and the West Coast Eagles and Great White is his first feature film. Here’s the synopsis for Great White: A beautiful trip to a remote island tu

Director Molly Reynolds joins the Cinema Australia Podcast to discuss her stunning new documentary, My Name is Gulpilil, about one of Australia’s most important actors, and one of our most significant cultural and artistic icons, the unparalleled, David Gulpilil. As you’ll hear in this interview, Molly has known David for many years. As the partner of Australian directing legend Rolf De Heer, Reynolds has worked with David on many projects throughout her career including her 2015 documentary, Another Country - a companion film to De Heer’s Charlies Country. Here, Molly discusses how this documentary came about, how and when she first met David, the highs and lows of working with the man , and of course Molly shares some great stories about how she made this incredible and elegant new documentary.

Director Nicole Miller joins the Cinema Australia Podcast to discuss This is Port Adelaide - a passionate love letter to one of Australia’s greatest sporting clubs. Nicole became immersed in the world of footy and the Port Adelaide Football Club when she directed the recent series The AFL Show, which explains the sport to a Chinese audience. This interview isn’t all about footy though, with Nicole talking a lot about cinema and her processes, as well as being mentored by Snowtown and The True History of the Kelly Gang director Justin Kurzel. It’s worth noting that this is Nicole’s first ever media interview about the film, and it was a thrill to get to know her and to learn about this impressive new filmmaking talent. I’m sure Nicole has a long career ahead of her. Anyway… Enjoy.

In this episode of the Cinema Australia Podcast, host Matthew Eeles is joined by Antoine Furlong. The Writer, director and producer of Ascendant - a new Australian sci-fi, mystery, thriller and fantasy film. Here’s the synopsis: A young environmentalist wakes, trapped, kidnapped in the elevator of a super high-rise building at the mercy of her tormentors. The rest I’ll let Antaine explain, but as you’ll hear, it really is something you have to see and experience for yourself. Ascendant is an incredible achievement in special effects filmmaking. The film was shot mostly in a confined space, but thanks to some special effects wizardry, this is world building on a massive scale. Here, Antoine discusses how he moved from working on films with his father - including Mel Gibson’s Braveheart - moving into finance, and back into movies. We also take a deep dive into the making of Ascendant which I think young filmmakers starting out in the business will get a lot out of.

In this episode of the Cinema Australia Podcast I’m joined by My First Summer director Katie Found and actor Maiah Stewardson to talk about their beautiful new film, My First Summer. After the suspicious death of her mother, a 16-year-old is stranded on an isolated rural property. When a misfit local girl discovers her, the two lost teens form a deep bond, until the police close in and threaten their secret summer love. Anyway... Enjoy.

Writer and director Michael Bentham and actor Matilda Ridgway join the Cinema Australia Podcast to discuss their new film, Disclosure. Disclosure is an intense, dialogue driven four-hander. It’s a story about what happens when a 4-year-old girl, Natasha, makes a serious allegation against a politician's 9-year-old son. An attempt by the children's parents to tackle the issue in a cooperative way soon degenerates into a vicious confrontation. The parents are played by Matilda, Geraldine Hakewill, Mark Leonard Winter and Tom Wren.

In this episode of the Cinema Australia Podcast, host Matthew Eeles is joined by one of Australia’s most experienced documentary filmmakers, Sally Ingleton, to talk about her eye-opening new documentary, Wild Things. Wild Things follows a new generation of environmental activists hell-bent on saving their futures from the ravages of climate change.  Sally trained at the Swinburne Film and TV School in Melbourne and her first breakout documentary was The Tenth Dancer which Sally discusses at the beginning of this Podcast. Sally then embarked on actively producing social issues and nature documentaries for global TV. Wild Things is Sally’s first feature length documentary.

In this episode of the Cinema Australia Podcast, host Matthew Eeles is joined by The Furnace director, Roderick MacKay. To escape a harsh existence and return home, a young Afghan cameleer partners with a mysterious bushman on the run with two 400oz Crown-marked gold bars. Together the unlikely pair must outwit a zealous police sergeant and his troopers in a race to reach a secret furnace - the one place where they can safely reset the bars to remove the mark of the Crown. The story is set in Western Australia in 1897.

In this episode of the Cinema Australia Podcast, host Matthew Eeles is joined The Xrossing director Steven Mihaljevich and producer Carl Maiorana to discuss their new coming-of-age drama. The two also co-wrote the film. After the murder of a young girl in the Perth Hills, three boys harass a reclusive Aboriginal man known in the neighbourhood as “Black Bobby (played by Kelton Pell). One of the boys, Chris (played by Luke Morgan), must apologise to Bobby and make amends. Encouraged by his media classmate and friend, Abbey, (Georgia Eyers) Chris builds an unlikely friendship with Bobby. Old friendships are tested and new friendships take shape against the forces of ignorance and crime in the neighbourhood. Betrayal, incarceration and more tragedy are now all at the cross roads. Carl and Steven share some great stories about the making of The Xrossing, including their decision to spell the tittle with an X and they also share a very interesting story about how they cast the film following the tragic death of

Writer and director Kurt Martin joins the Cinema Australia Podcast to discuss his new Australian drama, Moon Rock for Monday. Kurt Martin is a director and writer from Sydney, Australia. He has directed numerous short films, TVC's, Music Videos, Web series and Pilot TV series, and has worked on several feature films as an assistant director (1st/2nd) including Teenage Kicks, The School, Out Of The Shadows. Kurt’s body of work has received numerous international nomination's including Switzerland International Film Festival, Schnit Shorts, Tokyo Lift Off, Mumbai Navi International Film Festival and Los Angeles Lift Off Film Festival. His screenplay writing has also been shortlisted for the world’s most prestigious screenplay competitions, including the International prestigious BlueCat ScreenPlay Competition. Kurt is a member in the Director's Chapter in the Australian Director’s Guild and the Australian Film Institute / Australian Academy of Cinema, Television and the Arts.

In this episode of the Cinema Australia Podcast, host Matthew Eeles is joined by director Samuel Bartlett and actor Matt Doran to discuss their new Australian thriller, Intersection. When a conman discovers his son is abducted, he is forced to drive the city streets completing an escalating series of trials to appease his child’s kidnapper, and atone for his career of deception. Director Samuel Bartlett studied at the leading national Australian Film TV and Radio School, completed his Masters in Film at Sydney University, and studied story with renowned structure specialist Karel Segers. Matt Doran is a seasoned actor with over three decades of performing experience. In the 90s he was a mainstay character on the hit TV show Home and Away. This TV success launched his film career, working with Terrance Malick alongside Sean Penn in The Thin Red Line, then working with the Wachowski’s on The Matrix and with George Lucas in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones.

In this episode Cinema Australia's Matthew Eeles is joined by Mark Lamprell, the director of new Australian comedy, Never Too Late. Never Too Late follows four Vietnam veterans, famous for escaping out of a POW camp, who must now break out of the nursing home from hell to fulfil their unrealised dreams. Mark is a pleasure to interview and is very generous with his answers and stories which I appreciate. Mark has worked in the film industry for many years. In this interview we discuss launching his career with Kennedy Miller productions, working with George Miller on an abandoned script for Hollywood film, Contact, his time working with an incredible cast of acting veterans with Never too Late, and I get real geeky by asking Mark about working with Australian producing veteran Antony Ginnane and working on the cult classic slasher film, Cut! Anyway… Enjoy.

50 EPISODES! In the 50th episode of this Podcast, Cinema Australia's Matthew Eeles chats with Rams director Jeremy Sims. Rams is a remake of an Icelandic film and follows two Brothers Colin (Sam Neill) and Les (Michael Caton) who have been fighting for decades. Both are award-winning sheep farmers but when disaster strikes and disease threatens their flocks, will they be able to work together to save their sheep, their legacy, and their community? Jeremy is a director, producer and writer of film, television and theatre. Prior to directing Rams, he made Last Cab to Darwin, Beneath Hill 60 and Last Train to Freo.