The Curb – Details, episodes & analysis

The upcoming 18th Annual Sydney Underground Film Festival kicks off in Newtown, NSW, on Thursday 12 September with a Smell-O-Rama screening of John Waters cult classic Female Trouble, celebrating its 50th anniversary. The festival runs until Sunday 15 September with a huge array of films and features ranging from the truly bonkers Vulcanizadora to the superbly surreal Can't Stop the Music extravaganza, alongside frightfully great features like the Aussie dark comedy The Organist to the latest work of the provocative filmmaker Bruce LaBruce, The Visitor.

There will also be a book launch from myself on Friday evening at Better Read Than Dead, where I'll be joined by Jack Sargeant and Platon Theodoris to kick off my new book, Lonely Spirits and the King.

Tickets for all of these films, and more, are available via SUFF.com.au.

Ahead of the festivals launch, I caught up with Festival Director Nathan Senn to chat about what makes an underground film festival an underground film festival, how important it is to showcase films from different genre backgrounds, and what it means to amplify Australian filmmakers like Saara Lamberg, whose film The Lies We Tell Ourselves screens at the festival on Sunday 15 September.

We dig into a bunch of recommendations, stories about the films screening at the fest, and a bunch more in this in depth discussion.

If you're in Sydney for the fest, come along and say hello. It's going to be one heck of a festival.

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Law Chen's familial documentary Starring Jerry as Himself follows retired Florida man Jerry C. Hsu as he's recruited by Chinese police to become an undercover agent. The documentary follows Jerry as he retells his story about how he was recruited, what actions he needed to take to help inform the agents, and, most importantly, the lengths he goes to to hide his recruitment from his family.

Starring Jerry as Himself features Jerry and his family re-enacting Jerry's story, which is frequently tense, but thanks to the optimism and positive outlook of the world that Jerry has, the film is also rather endearing.

In the following interview with Jerry and his son (and the films producer) Jonathan, we delve into the spoilers of the film, and as Jonathan mentions at the start, the two would hope that audiences go into the film knowing as little as possible.

Starring Jerry As Himself was the Grand Jury Prize Winner at the 2023 Slamdance Film Festival, where it also received the award for Best Actor for Jerry, and it was the Audience Award winner.

In the following interview, Jerry talks about his life on screen, what it was like reenacting these moments of his life, while Jonathan talks about what it is like to have Jerry as a father.

This interview was recorded ahead of the films launch at the Castlemaine Documentary Film Festival in June 2024. Keep an eye out for a future release in Australia.

Thank you for listening to this episode of The Curb podcast. To help keep the Curb independent, visit patreon.com/thecurbau to show your support from as little as $1 a month.   

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The boxing film subgenre gets an esteemed new entry in the form of Paul Goldman's Kid Snow. Set in the 1970s, Kid Snow follows Billy Howle as the titular character, a washed-up fighter who has one last shot at glory. Shot in the red dirt of WA, Kid Snow also features an impressive line-up of Aussie actors including Phoebe Tonkin, Hunter Page-Lochard, Mark Coles Smith, and Nathan Phillips.

Nadine Whitney spoke to Paul Goldman ahead of the World Premiere at the 2024 Sydney Film Festival, with the two talking about Paul's experience of shooting in Kalgoorlie, how he cast the roles, and the allure of the drama within a boxing story.

Kid Snow has two more screenings at the Sydney Film Festival on 14 and 15 June before it heads west where it screens as the opening night film for the Revelation International Film Festival in Perth on 3 July. Tickets for all screenings are available now. 

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We once again return to the world of Alfred Hitchcock's with the third of his Best Picture nominated films, Suspicion. Joan Fontaine won Best Actress for her performance as Lina, a young woman who falls for a suave and confident man named Johnnie, played with ultimate-comfort by Cary Grant. Dave defends his favourite Hitchcock, delving into the complexity of the narrative, the uncertainty of the ending, and the eroticism of wanting Cary Grant to 'step on your neck'. Dig on in to this episode of Awards Don't Matter and find out why this one matters.

Oh, and everything you need to know about the AFL.

Clips featured in this episode:

Dinner Scene // Milk Scene // Joan Fontaine Talking About  Her Oscar Win

Watch the original theatrical trailer below:

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Awards Don’t Matter – @AwardsDontPod

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The Melbourne Documentary Film Festival kicks off its in-person in-cinema screenings on July 21st through to July 31st at the Cinema Nova. Screening at this years fest is the film, Mental as Everything:

Damon Smith has estimated that he has spent around 50 thousand hours of his life, so far, participating in absurd ritualistic behaviors associated with his obsessive Compulsive Disorder. With the help of his anxious friend, Adam, these two, Australian musicians, share, with original music, preposterous humor, and outlandish animations, the intricate and debilitating nature of what it is like to live and talk about mental illness in a world where it's ok to talk about a broken arm but not ok to talk about a broken mind.

Andrew caught up with Damon to chat about how the film was made, what the creative process is like for a musician turned filmmaker, and the main theme of the film: mental health. It may sound like a dark subject on paper, but Mental as Everything embraces the subject with heart and compassion, and most importantly, a levity that is often missing with the subject of mental illness.

Pick up tickets to Mental as Everything here, and make sure to follow the Mental as Everything Facebook page too.

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We arrive at maybe the most notorious and contentious Best Picture winners... ever? John Ford's How Green Was My Valley which triumphed over the 'Best Film Ever', Orson Welles Citizen Kane. In a possibly strident, and yet no less passionate, defense of How Green Was My Valley, co-hosts Dave and Andrew discuss John Ford's enduring classic, encouraging modern viewers to embrace this film without the shackles of its Oscar glory. Somehow we even wrap in a comparison to Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One.

Listen to Dave's Top 25 Films of All Time list on Talk Film Society here.

Oh, and also make sure to watch The Little Foxes too.

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Andrew F Peirce – @TheCurbAU
David Giannini – @Darnthatdave
Awards Don’t Matter – @AwardsDontPod

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The Scandinavian Film Festival is fast approaching, and Andrew caught up with the Icelandic Film Centre's Festival Manager, Christof Wehimeier, to discuss all things Nordic with an interview that explores the importance of cultural representation on film, what exactly makes up a Scandinavian film, and the need for festivals like this.

Head over to the festival website for more details, and keep up to date with the festival via their Facebook page.

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Perth's Revelation Film Festival has been partially delayed due to lockdowns, but that doesn't stop the films being talked about. Andrew catches up with local filmmaker Sharnya Yates to discuss her short film, Choice, which screens alongside Rebel Dykes. This is a powerful short film that deserves to be seen by all. 

The plot is: 

Nina is a caring, loving, but exhausted mum & wife who has tried to be everything that everyone needs. Responding to the coming out of her transgender teenager, Nina battles with the choices that she and her family have to make and how these choices will affect her child! …. but timing is everything!

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Charlie Chaplin is best known for his silent films, but quick in the minds of film lovers would be his iconic speech that concludes his Best Picture nominated film, The Great Dictator. Co-hosts of Awards Don't Matter sift through this powerful satire and assess how difficult it is to craft biting comedy that shakes its fists at the powerful. Find out in this episode whether Chaplin's maniacal dictator film still matters or not in this episode.

Featured in this episode is a clip of Daniel Taradash presenting Charlie Chaplin his honorary Oscar at the 1972 44th Academy Awards:

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Follow the hosts on social media at the links below:

Andrew F Peirce – @TheCurbAU
David Giannini – @Darnthatdave
Awards Don’t Matter – @AwardsDontPod

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Perth's Revelation Film Festival kicks off on July 1st and runs through til July 11th. Andrew caught up with festival programmer Richard Sowada to discuss how the festival has changed due to the ongoing pandemic, the impact of streaming services on film festivals, and more.

Make sure to head along and check out some of the stellar films screening at this years festival, and if you can't head along, support the festival by donating here. And, if you're not in Perth or can't attend the festival, then curate your own festival by watching previous Rev films on RevStream.

For everything else Rev, keep an eye on their social media pages here:

Facebook // Instagram // Twitter

And check out the trailers for this years films on YouTube here.

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