Melbourne Queer Film Festival #Melbourne

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**Thursday March 18 to Sunday March 28**
Astor Theatre, ACMI Cinemas, Greater Union Cinemas Russell St & Loop
Melbourne, Australia

[www.mqff.com.au](http://www.mqff.com.au/)
        
The 20th Melbourne Queer Film Festival features the best in queer cinema from Australia and around the world. Highlights include features, documentaries and shorts programs, along with panel discussions dealing with issues relevant to the queer community. As Melbourne’s second largest film festival this year’s program is overflowing with outstanding films from around the world.

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SquatFest #Film Festival is on again

It’s the TENTH year of The SquatFest Film Festival

The basic info is:

*21 Feb, 730pm (same time and day as TROPFEST)

*Secret exciting venue (check our website on the day for location)
[could be anywhere but more likely Sydney]
*BYO films and videos to show

*Do get in touch if you want to help out with organising (dog knows we need it!) on info@squatspace.com

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John Waters #Melbourne show

Brilliantly entertaining filmmaker, writer and shock auteur supremo , John Waters will perform his glorious one man show,’ This Filthy World’ in Melbourne.  America’s royal raconteur and director of cult film classics such as Pink Flamingos, Hairspray, Cry Baby and Polyester, Waters is famous and infamous as the “Pope of Trash”.  Focusing on Waters’ fascination with true crime, exploitation films, fashion lunacy and the extremes of the contemporary art world, this joyously devious monologue elevates all that is trashy in life into a call to arms to “filth followers” everywhere.

‘This Filthy World’ is an essential experience for anyone interested in how not  to make a movie, how to become famous (read infamous) and how to shock and make people laugh.

John Waters “This Filthy World”
Saturday 27 February @ 8.30pm
the Arts Centre, Hamer Hall, Melbourne
bookings  1300 182 183  or www.theartscentre.com.au

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Rabid Tripped-Out Psychedelic Lesbian Koalas, Australian shorts at the Bangalore Queer Film Festival

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Seen & Heard #Women’s Film Festival

Seen & Heard is a film festival that battles the celluloid ceiling, celebrates the diverse and extraordinary work of women filmmakers and their not-to-be-underestimated diverse and extraordinary audiences.

14 – 17 January (2010)
The Red Rattler
6 Faversham St, MARRICKVILLE
NSW, Sydney, AUSTRALIA

Find out more at www.seenandheardfilms.com

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ABC wants your mashups for Q&A

CALL FOR 1 MINUTE VIDEOS TO SHOW ON THE ABC

Q&A is looking for 30-second to 1 minute mash-ups, political, satirical and humorous videos, to end each show. This is a great opportunity for filmmakers to get their work on national television.

Deadline: Ongoing

More info can be found at http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/mashups.htm

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Psycho: 50th anniversary of this suspense masterpiece, film screaming with live score Syd Opera House Jan 5, 2010

Have you ever truly forgotten that shower scene from Hitchcock’s Psycho? The 50th anniversary of this suspense masterpiece will be celebrated at a special screening at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on January 5, 2010. Hitchcock’s Psycho as never before for one night only, as Bernard Herrmann’s score is performed live by the Sydney Lyric Orchestra.

Bernard Herrmann’s spine-tingling score will be brought to life when for the first time ever in Australia Psycho will be digitally projected onto the big screen in the Sydney Opera House’s Concert Hall accompanied by a specially assembled all-strings Sydney Lyric Orchestra.

Academy Award-winning composer Bernard Herrmann (1911-1975), collaborated with Hitchcock in 1960 to produce the soundscape- score for Psycho, which stands today as one of the most dramatic and effective examples of film & music coupling. The noted American composer, who worked on many of Hitchcock’s motion pictures including Vertigo, The Trouble With Harry and The Birds, is recognised for his keen awareness of the effect that music plays in film. There can be no better example of this than Psycho’s infamous shower scene – which Hitchcock had originally planned to leave unscored, but after hearing Herrmann’s composition agreed.

Unique among Hollywood films, the score of Psycho was written by Herrmann solely for string instruments, enabling him to achieve the brilliant sound the film is renowned for. With Concert Master, Adrian Keating – the Principal Violinist for the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra – ably leading the Orchestra, the live musical soundtrack will drive the drama of an engrossing story as never before! Psycho at the Opera House will be a feast for the senses. Conductor, Nic Buc, explains- “the sound of Bernard Herrmann’s music with its piercing strings underlying every jab of violence really is one-of-a-kind and well ahead of its era, and truly creates the excitement, tension and fear”.

Kick off the New Year with a scream and book your place in the shower scene!

VENUE: Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House
DATES: January 5th 2010 (Tuesday)
DURATION: 109 Minutes
BOOKINGS: P +61 2 9250 7777; E: bookings@sydneyoperahouse.com
W: http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/whatson/psycho_with_orchestra.aspx

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Green Earth video call-out. #environment #climate change #filmmakers #Brisbane

Green Earth Group Inc. is asking filmmakers of all backgrounds and levels of experience to get out there and start shooting short films for
the Green Earth Festival. Brisbane, Australia

Deadline: 31 January 2010

Find out more at http://greenearthfestival.net/info/video-zone.html

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Enrol now: Video Journalism with Carmela Baranowska #Open channel #Melbourne

Starts January 7 | Enrolments close December 22

Cross-media skills are essential for journalists. This practical course gives you the knowledge you need to plan, shoot and edit stories as a single-person crew. You will be guided by Walkley Award-winning journalist and filmmaker Carmela Baranowska (Scenes From An Occupation, Taliban Country) and screen your story to a news producer. This course is suitable for print journalists or emerging documentary makers.

Open Channel Training | Under Video Journalism

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Blog: throw another tofu-burger on the barbie will ya mate. #Geekgirl on behalf of #tcktcktck

Tcktcktck invited me to write a blog on climate change. I knew immediately what I wanted to pen about – animals!

Have you ever tried to get your head around what it actually takes to feed the planet!? It’s something I find difficult to come to terms with.

Even my little shopping village of Northcote, Melbourne, Australia opened a new butcher the other day. Another one! You’d think 4 existing butchers plus all the restaurants in the area would provide enough meat.

I’ve become more educated lately on the nature of food production, and films like Food Inc are a good start to understand the process from pasture to plate.  Although, I still don’t quite understand who is feeding, farming & processing the 60 billion animals we kill each year.

It’s horrific that most of this is inhumane and, to be quite frank, not producing animals that even taste good. I’m not a vegetarian (yet) but I have massively reduced my consumption of meat and although I try and stick to the MOOS principle (Meat Only on Sunday). I have a lot of reverence for what I eat, and I am conscious of what it takes to get my food on the table.

I know most people eat meat for the flavour and texture. And my smart vegie friends know a lot of tricks developed by Asian food producers who provide some meat-tasting alternatives. Unfortunately, most of this is soaked or prepared in soy sauce and as a Coeliac I can’t go there. But, there must be a huge potential in coming up with an alternative to meat, which tastes like meat, but ain’t. As much as the electric or hybrid cars are being driven (excuse the pun) by an industry that has to, perhaps rather than wants to. There’s a huge market in developing electric sheep, too.

As Copenhagen (COP15) rapidly approaches I would think that food production especially animal production would have to be high on the agenda. But, if ordinary folks like me can’t persuade the masses to re-think what they eat, what about politician turned good guy Al Gore, musician Moby or even PETA pet Pamela Anderson?

Australia needs to take part on a moral and uber-logistical stand on this issue. We can no longer farm or export meat in an inhumane fashion. Even if we do get our farming processes to the point it is compassionate, we need to become sustainable: that means all of us need to reduce our consumption of animals! “Throw another tofu burger on the barbie will ya mate”, might have to become our new national saying!

So, consume less & be informed more!

My personal top ten
1) stop live animal exports (join the Humane Chain)
2) make choices that respect animals; don’t eat them – or at least buy free-range, organic etc
3) moderate your meat consumption
4) support organisations that are compassionate re: ‘farming’  like Campaign for a Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare (UDAW)
5) support organisations that also protect our marine life like Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd
6) keep having a go at growing your own food and find out what and when to plant
7) read labels when buying food and insist that labels reflect ingredients like palm oil
(de-forestation is destroying the natural habitats of Orangutans)
8)become a volunteer join local organisations that protect animals and wildlife (Wildlife Victoria)
9) keep informed of campaigns and if need be, write or tweet our Australian politicians

10) On Dec 12, 2009 join the world for a global day of Action

With much love & respect, RosieX

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