So, the 2022 installment of the London Australian Film Festival starts tomorrow (November 5th), with a screening of the absolutely brilliant MY NAME IS GULPILIL (2021) at Regent Street Cinema.
For those who don’t know, the London Australian Film Society and Festival is an absolute labour of love for myself and Laila Dickson (and a handful of wonderful pals who help out in various ways, including Lucy Fen, who designed our flyer and social media campaign!), but that is especially true for me this year, as we pay particular tribute to David Gulpilil. I’ve spent a lot of time over the last few years, academically and otherwise, thinking about Gulpilil, his legacy, and his immeasurable impact on Australian cinema, and this is my tribute to him.
As well as that opening screening at RSC, we have three days of Gulpilil action at wonderful, new art-deco indie The Garden Cinema next week (8-10 Nov), starting with a talk by me (a repeat of the one I gave in Chichester back in August) plus a screening of rare short films. This is followed by a pair of double bills, featuring Peter Weir’s THE LAST WAVE (1977), Gulpilil’s first collaboration with Rolf de Heer, THE TRACKER (2002), and two key late-career roles, in Ivan Sen’s Mystery Road sequel GOLDSTONE (2016), and Gulpilil’s true masterpiece, CHARLIE’S COUNTRY (2013), which he co-wrote with de Heer, and for which he won the Best Actor prize at Cannes.
The festival’s tenure at The Garden Cinema is rounded out with a short film programme from Australian Short Film Today, an almost sold out 25th anniversary screening of THE CASTLE (1997) on Saturday November 12, before we return to Regent Street Cinema for our closing gala screening (Sunday November 13) of riotous new comedy, HOW TO PLEASE A WOMAN (2022), followed by a live Q&A with star Sally Phillips (Bridget Jones, Smack The Pony) and producer Judi Levine.
Book now, book copiously, tell your friends. Please and thank you.
RELATED LINKS:
David Gulpilil, Settler Cinema and the Indigenous Body (My video essay for BAFTSS 2021)
Review of My Name is Gulpilil for History Australia journal
Where to Begin with David Gulpilil (article for the BFI website)
Dr Stephen Morgan 