australian rozie

The last week of the film festival included a visit by Gabby and baby Ruby from Wellington. It was an interesting experience having an 8 month old living with us for a week. It’s amazing what she would lick or stick in her mouth! Anyway, she was a really good, happy little baby and she really seemed to like me (unlike most other babies, which gives people the impression that I don’t like children). I had fun going to see the Biennale at the MCA & AGNSW with Gab & Ruby. The highlight was the opening night of Refashioning the Fashion at Object Gallery - the exhibition that Gabby and Chelsea had contributed an artwork for.
Back to the SFF:
On the Friday I saw The Cool School - The rise of the Los Angeles’ beat-era art scene, with archival footage, interviews with artists and critics, as well as an early collector, Dennis Hopper at the State Theatre. I really enjoyed this one, I didn’t know much about the LA art scene in the 50s and 60s (except for Ed Kienholz, Ed Ruscha) - it’s always about New York, so I learnt a lot. There was great archival footage and interviews, as well as more recent interviews with the same artists now. Of course, there was a bit of Andy Warhol in it too (his first solo exhibition was in LA), so that was a bonus.
On Saturday we saw Glass: a Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts - Scott Hicks’ eloquent portrait of Philip Glass includes interviews with Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese and was filmed over a year in which the renowned composer staged the opera Waiting for the Barbarians, wrote his eighth symphony and scored several films. This was excellent and the session was sold out. This was such an interesting documentary by Scott Hicks who introduced the film (I love little surprises like that). I wouldn’t say I am a huge fan of Philip Glass, I have probably enjoyed many of his film soundtracks without realising it was him. One soundtrack that I love is The Hours. I had wanted to get this CD as soon as I saw the film in 2003 but never got around to it. I had it on my Amazon wishlist for years and my sister-in-law gave it to me for my birthday this year. I’ve been caning (as much as you can cane a classical CD) since then. It was so interesting to see his work and private life as well as hear from his family, colleagues and friends (who happen to be famous artists themselves).
Next up straight after Glass was The Chicken, the Fish and the King Crab - The gourmet’s Iron Chef! The Bocuse d’Or is a bi-annual cooking contest in which the creation of undeniably complex dishes is performed live in front of an audience and judging panel. This Spanish doco was very funny and exciting, the audience of Sydney film/food buffs seemed to enjoy this very much too. The Spanish chef who was one of the main subjects kept patting his apprentice on the butt and telling him get a move on.