ARTICLES AND REVIEWS WRTTEN BY WILLIAM
Not the Nightly News - Review published in The International Streaming Festival
In Long Live Egypt director Karim Shaaban gets us closer to the action than the news ever does. There are no hero journalists in flak jackets shouting into a microphone in front of a revolutionary swarm to safely guide us through a cheat-notes version of conflicts on the other side of the globe. In this film we venture into the swarming crowd itself to experience first-hand the experience of the people themselves... read more
A Quintessential Profile - Review published in The International Streaming Festival
The secret behind successful profile documentaries is most usually the unique qualities of the featured person themselves. This is certainly the case for Mulugeta Gebrekidan’s short The Triumph of Mind Over Matter. Although the film offers little in the way of cinematic revelations, its intrigue lies in the extraordinary abilities of the film’s central character Sintayehu Teshale. At one point during the film Sintayehu proudly explains that ’people say that he can do things with his legs that we can’t do with our hands’. It is a statement that holds the key to this film’s intrigue... read more
Kansk Festival: Our Man in Siberia Snared by a Pun - Article published in Screen Hub
The International Kansk Video Festival should be to filmmakers and video artists what Mount Fuji is to the Japanese – everyone should go there at least once. I was fortunate enough to be invited to screen my short documentary We Are Illuminated, at the tenth edition of this unique festival. The experience was like no other I've had before. At first glance this appears to be a fairly standard film festival: a ten-day program that features an international competition of 29 short fiction, documentary, animation and video art films. It also has a selection of curated feature and retrospective screenings, plus commissioned public artworks, a talent campus and student animation workshops... read more
The Russell Shuffle - Article published in Picture Skew
Each winter there is a seasonal migration across Melbourne. To the untrained eye it is hard to spot, but for those well versed in its frantic patterns it is a frightful spectacle. Some call it movie madness others call it the Russell Shuffle. For the next couple of weeks, keen twitchers can observe its rhythms flock and flow along Russell Street between the Greater Union near the corner of Bourke and the street’s confluence with Flinders... read more
The City as Protagonist - Article published in Mubi Garage
According to the United Nations over 50% of the world's population live in urban environments. In the developed world the figure is over 75%. That's a lot people living in cities. As the primary backdrop for the lives of most of us, the city landscape necessarily houses many of the great stories of cinema. Indeed the city is often cast not just as locale but rather as central protagonist or antagonist in a film's narrative. Many examples in fictional cinema spring to mind – Metropolis, Blade Runner or Lost in Translation – to name a random few... read more
AIDC 2010: The F4 Experience - Article published in Screen Hub
As an emerging filmmaker, an invitation to the F4 Festival as part of the AIDC was a fantastic and eye-opening opportunity. After four whirlwind days, I'm left with the impression that there are ways to begin a career in the documentary landscape, despite the difficulties of financing new projects... read more