My first baby rattle
Good work in my home town Adelaide continued with Anzac Girls, a stylish period drama that depicts the real stories of Australian and New Zealand World War 1 nurses. With a cast of young talented actors, many big scenes and fantastic sets, the ABC TV financed production would be the first of several World War 1 projects kicking off in Australia as the centenary of the start of the conflict approaches. It was a visual treat for stills and fun to work on.
The cast of Anzac Girls.
My oldest and closest friend Aidan Munn, has been a professional dancer his whole career, now doing more choreography, music and teaching. Aidan thought he had retired is tired body from the stage years ago, but his lifetime collaborator, choreographer Leigh Warren, polished him up for one more show, Not According to Plan, part of the OZASIA festival in Adelaide. It was great to see this him on the stage again, a unique and charismatic performer always.
Not Acording to Plan – Dancers Aidan Munn, Bec Jones,Chien-Wei Wu and Yuan-Li Wang at the end of the show.
Aidan also recently qualified as my first close friend to become a grandfather. His son Aithlea and his partner Mimi had a beautiful girl Mira, who I met and held. The birth gave me an excuse to attempt to weave my first baby rattle. The baby rattle is a classic traditional weave with several variations. I have been weaving one a day to get my skills up, certain that I have finally found the key to my fortune.
Early attempts at weaving baby rattles.
The State Theatre Company of South Australia kept me busy shooting head shots, their upcoming production Maggie Stone, as well as their current production Vere (faith). Vere was great theatre, written by John Doyal, lead actor Paul Blackwell supurb in the lead role. I bought tickets for all my friends to see it.
Paul Blackwell in Vere ( faith).
The Adelaide Film Festival premiered 2 feature films that I had worked on. The festival opened with the Australian Premiere of TRACKS. The films real life subjects, adventurer and the original book’s writer Robyn Davidson and Photographer Rick Smolan were in town for the occasion. Rick and I met on the set of Tracks and connected well as friends and photographers. It was great to see him again, and exciting to discuss the possibility of doing a TRACKS book together.
Rick Smolan and myself on the set of Tracks.
Charlie’s Country also had is world premiere at Adelaide Film Festival, and this time I got an invitation to the opening. With all my colleagues and the cast in attendance, it was a great occasion. My amazing friend and collaborator Rolf de Heer once again creating a huge film making challenge for himself and pulling it off with stunning results. It was a great film and got voted Best of the Festival.
Jennifer Budukpuduk, Peter Djigirr, Rolf de Heer and David Gulpillill recieve applause at the end of the premiere in Adelaide.
I started shooting the documentary, Another Country, when I was on location on Charlies Country in Ramingining. The projects director, Molly Reynolds, had found the time to view and log the footage I shot on multiple cameras with dubious sound, and it was time to head back up for a week of pickups. A long day of hard four wheel driving from Darwin, in Australia’s Northern Territory, it was a pleasure to visit this remote and fascinating community once again and re-connect with some of the friends we had made. The shooting went well and the project now heads into the editing room, my first job as a Director of Photography.
Artist and musician Bobby Bununggurr talks to former Bulla Bulla Arts curator Djon Mundine, Raminginning.