PYT Fairfield’s new monthly film program where you get to participate in an informative film workshop curated by an industry professional, and enjoy a film they hand-picked for the occasion!
PROGRAM SEVEN: Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) curated by Yvan Karezi
Curator: Yvan Karezi
Film: Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
Date: Thursday 12 October 2023
Screening: 6pm – 8pm
Workshop: 8pm – 9pm
About the workshop
The workshop delves into the essence of a successful remake, especially when dealing with a story that has been retold countless times. Participants will explore the challenge of remaking classics like Dracula, what ingredients are essential to captivate modern audiences, and contemplate what they would do differently to breathe fresh life into a well-worn narrative.
About the film
Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a 1992 American horror film directed and produced by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker.
When Elisabeta commits suicide, an enraged Vlad Dracula swears to avenge her death. Things take a turn when he meets Mina and takes her to be the reincarnation of Elisabeta.
About Yvan Karezi
Yvan Karezi is a Kurdish-Australian performer and multi-disciplinary artist. With a strong background in stage and screen performance, she has trained at Sydney Theatre School, Screenwise Australia, and The Actors Centre.
Since 2020, she has actively contributed to PYT Fairfield’s Ensemble program, collaborating with prominent organizations including Fairfield City Council, Fairfield City Gallery and Museum, Story Factory, Hume Housing, and Youth Week. Yvan, a South-West Sydney native since 1997, passionately advocates for making the arts accessible to all.
PROGRAM SIX: Talk To Her ‘art within art’ curated by Bina Bhattacharya
Curator: Bina Bhattacharya
Film: Hable Con Ella (Talk To Her) by Pedro Almodóvar
Date: Thursday 14 September 2023
Screening: 6pm – 8pm
Workshop: 8pm – 9pm
Tickets: $10
About the film
Hable Con Ella (Talk To Her) (2002)
Hable Con Ella is a psychological drama that follows two men who form an unlikely friendship as they care for two women who are both in comas.
About the workshop
“Talk To Her” – art within art, the dance of Pina Bausch and silent film within Almodovar’s masterpiece.
Spanish auteur Pedro Almodóvar, widely considered to be the greatest filmmaker of all time, is famous for building a rich cinematic universe. As well as baroque, operatic storylines, rich colour and masterful tone straddling comedy and tragedy, a common device in his films is using other types of art – dance, theatre, films, live music concerts, – in his films.
His masterpiece “Talk to Her” (Halba con Ella), winner of the 2002 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, feature the dance of iconic German choreographer Pina Basuch and includes a memorable silent film sequence. In this workshop, filmmaker Bina Bhattacharya will discuss how filmmakers can include elements of other artforms to make their films as sweeping and impactful as possible.
About Bina Bhattacharya
Bina Bhattacharya is an award winning filmmaker and AWGIE-nominated feature film writer from Campbelltown in South-West Sydney. Bina was one of eight writers for the anthology film ‘Here Out West’ which was the opening night film of the Sydney Film Festival 2021. She directed the music video for Punjabi-Australian singer Parvyn’s single ‘What You See’, which was featured in Rolling Stone India. Bina works as a Creative Producer – Youth and Emerging at PYT Fairfield – Western Sydney’s leading professional theatre company with a focus on youth. She is scheduled to shoot her debut feature film as sole writer and director, “From All Sides” at the end of 2022 with her production company Gemme de la Femme Pictures. Bina is a film lover and proud resident of South West Sydney who regularly says her goal is “to do for Campbelltown what John Waters did for Baltimore”
INCLUDED IN THE PRICE OF YOUR TICKET:
- Screening of both films
- 1hr film workshop
- Bottomless popcorn and drinks
Past Programs
PROGRAM FIVE: Thursday 15 June 2023, Night Cries & Jedda curated by Bianca Willoughby.
In this special program of Popcorn & Pencils we invite Bianca Willoughy to curate our next program. Bianca is a disabled transgender Walbanja, Yuin woman working across multiple art forms. She has chosen 1955 film ‘Jedda’ and short film Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy. Jedda was known as the first film in Australia to hire Aboriginal people in lead roles and the first to be filmed in color.
Curator: Bianca Willoughby
Films: ‘Jedda’ and ‘Night Cries’ (Short film)
Date: Thursday 15 June 2023
Screening: 6pm – 8pm
Workshop: 8pm – 9pm
Tickets: $10
About the film
Jedda (1955)
Set against the harsh natural surrounds of outback Northern Territory, Jedda captures a rare and honest glimpse into the heart and history of indigenous Australia. Young Jedda is caught between two cultures forbidden from learning about her indigenous heritage and never fully accepted by the other.
Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy by Tracey Moffat
Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy is the story of a white woman and her adopted Aboriginal daughter, told with vibrantly coloured landscapes and a richly constructed soundscape.
The film is in part a response by visual artist Tracey Moffatt to Charles Chauvel’s celebrated feature film, Jedda (1955).
About the workshop
Using Tracey Moffat’s art film Night Cries as an example, we will examine how cultural and historical precedents represented in cinema can be reinterpreted into our own personal and cultural narratives in order to reconcile the past.
About Bianca Willoughby
Bianca is a disabled transgender Walbanja, Yuin woman working in video, sound, performance, photography and installation. Bianca’s ground-breaking experimental interdisciplinary practice involves collaboration with artists and practitioners from a variety of creative fields including dance, theatre, 3D and VR design, performance, drag, music, costumes and textiles. Her work is informed by queer/crip theory and trans/ queer activism. She also performs in queer spaces under her stage name as Bianca River Moon. Bianca’s work and practice has undergone many incarnations over time, making visible the hidden aspects of her identity and lived experience of neurodiversity, disability, chronic mental and physical illness, Aboriginality and gender non-conformity.
Bianca considers herself an audiophile and cinemaphile and has an extensive library of films and music. Her postgraduate studies at UNSW explored the complex relationships between cinema, cultural representations, contemporary art, feminism and gender studies.
INCLUDED IN THE PRICE OF YOUR TICKET:
- Screening of both films
- 1hr film workshop
- Bottomless popcorn and drinks
PROGRAM FOUR: Thursday 13 April 2023 – Wushu curated by Maria Tran
The curator for Program four of our Popcorn & Pencils is Maria Tran – an award-winning US based, Vietnamese-Australian actor, filmmaker, and martial artist from Fairfield/Cabramatta working across film & TV, stage & performance, & fight action choreography. She is the founder of female-led Phoenix Eye Films (AUS & US). In true Maria style she will be sharing ‘Wushu’ a film produced by Jackie Chan himself.
About the film: Wushu
Ten years ago, five students joined a martial arts school and learned the disciplines of Wushu and the bonds of friendship. Today, both will be put to the test after they and a former student stumble into a child kidnapping ring.
About the workshop
We invite Director Antony Szeto and Actress Juju Szeto for a special Q&A hosted by Maria Tran.
PROGRAM THREE: Double Bill Special
Thursday 16 MARCH | 6pm-9pm
Filmmakers: Hasiba Ebrahimi and Aziz Paindah
Films: Under the Red Light & A Letter From My Son
Workshop: 7pm – 8:30pm
In this double bill special we invite Hasiba Ebrahimi and Aziz Paindah to share their short films; Under the Red Light and A Letter from my Son.
Under the Red Light Blurb:
Under the Red Light aims to give voice to Afghan women who spend their days working on the street, highlighting the hardships that they face in everyday life in a society where they already feel invisible.
About Hasiba Ebrahimi:
Hasiba Ebrahimi is Sydney based Performer, producer, and writer. She is one of Afghanistan’s most talented actress and recognized by the film industry in Iran as one of the top five most enduring actress from the 2000s. She has played leading roles in several internationally recognized productions (A Few Cubic Meters Love, Under the Red Light, SHEREEN and, Hava Maryam, Ayesha). In 2022 she performed in Australian theatre debut performance of PYT Fairfield’s Dorr-e Dari: A Poetic Crash Course in the Language of Love at The Sydney Opera House and Arts Centre Melbourne.
A Letter from my Son Blurb:
Ms. Gul, a middle aged woman is living with her son’s bride. Her son (Khaliqdad) who has been abroad since two years, writes a letter to his family. Ms. Gul takes the letter to everyone in her village and no one can read her son’s letter.
About Aziz Paindah:
Aziz is a film maker and photographer living in Sydney. He migrated to Australia in 2014 from Afghanistan. Aziz studied a Master Class in Documentary Film in the Geosciences Faculty of Kabul University. He also worked on multiple film projects in Kabul as a camera operator and is now excited to share his first short film A Letter From My Son.
About the workshop:
The workshop will be run by both Hasiba and Aziz and will explore themes around cultural matters and how to address them in the context of film.
PROGRAM TWO: Saturday 5 November 2022 – EMA curated by Matias Bolla
The Curator of our next Popcorn and Pencils program is Matias Bolla, a local Australian-Chilean filmmaker born and raised in Fairfield. Matias is a lover of art-house cinema and reggaeton music, so he thought what better way to share his two passions than with a special presentation of the Chilean film ‘Ema,’ a reggaeton dance drama directed by Chilean powerhouse Pablo Larrain (Spencer, No).
About the film: Ema
Ema (Mariana Di Girolamo) follows a magnetic and impulsive dancer in a reggaeton troupe. Her toxic marriage to choreographer Gastón (Gael García Bernal) is beyond repair, following a decision to give up on their adopted child Polo. She sets out on a mission to get him back, not caring who she’ll need to fight, seduce or destroy to make it happen.
About the workshop:
The workshop run by Matias which will follow the film will explore Lyricism in Latin Cinema and how lyrical/poetic moments in film enhance the emotional viewing experience.
About Matias Bolla:
Matias is a Chilean-Australian filmmaker who grew up in the bustling Chilean community of Fairfield in Western Sydney. Matias has a passion for visual storytelling and bringing the stories of his upbringing and heritage to the wider world – working across documentary, drama, music videos and commercials.
In 2013, Matias was awarded a scholarship to study an Advanced Diploma in Screen and Media at the International Film School in Sydney where he focussed on Directing, Screenwriting and Producing. Since graduating from film school Matias has been engaged in a number of different production roles with significant experience in post-production. In 2020 Matias co-edited the feature documentary film Wash My Soul in the River’s Flow about iconic singer/songwriters Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter, which Premiered at Sydney Film Festival in 2021 and is available to watch on Stan. He has also worked as an assistant editor on films such as The Dry and Palm Beach.
Matias was one of eight screenwriters selected for the Behind Closed Doors initiative run by Co-Curious in 2018, and was nominated for an AWGIE for his work on anthology feature film Here Out West which opened the Sydney Film Festival in 2021 and released on ABC iView in August 2022.
Matias’ short documentary Campesinos about Patagonian Gauchos was selected for 11 International film festivals and was also selected as a Vimeo Staff Pick in 2020. Matias is currently working on the feature-length documentary adaptation of the same name.
Matias recently co-created and co-directed a documentary food series for the Australian Broadcast Corporation titled 8 Nights Out West released in August 2022.
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Program two – Lyricism in Latin Cinema: Saturday 5 November 2022
Curator: Matias Bolla
Film: Ema – 1.00pm
Workshop: 3.00pm – 4.00pm
Film rating (MA15+)
PROGRAM ONE: SATURDAY 20 AUGUST – HAIRSPRAY (1988) curated by Bina Bhattacharya
The Curator of the first film as part of our Popcorn and Pencils program is Bina Bhattacharya, PYT Fairfield’s very own Creative Producer – Youth and Emerging and Campbelltown-based filmmaker.
Bina is always saying that she wants to “do for Campbelltown what John Waters did for Baltimore”. But what does that mean? Bina will show you exactly what in this special presentation of John Waters 1988 classic “Hairspray” accompanied by a workshop exploring “sense of PLACE in cinema.”
About the film: Hairspray (1988)
You may have heard of “Hairspray” the movie musical starring John Travolta, but before it was a musical it was a cult movie with transgressive drag queen Divine, Sonny Bono and Deborah Harry. Set in 1962, “Hairspray” tells the story of overweight teenager Tracey Turnblad (a young Ricki Lake) who lands a spot on a popular TV dance show and goes on to teach racially segregated Baltimore a thing or two about integration.
About Bina Bhattacharya:
Bina Bhattacharya is an award winning filmmaker and AWGIE-nominated feature film writer from Campbelltown in South-West Sydney. Bina was one of eight writers for the anthology film ‘Here Out West’ which was the opening night film of the Sydney Film Festival 2021. She directed the music video for Punjabi-Australian singer Parvyn’s single ‘What You See’, which was featured in Rolling Stone India. Bina works as a Creative Producer – Youth and Emerging at PYT Fairfield – Western Sydney’s leading professional theatre company with a focus on youth. She is scheduled to shoot her debut feature film as sole writer and director, “From All Sides” at the end of 2022 with her production company Gemme de la Femme Pictures. Bina is a film lover and proud resident of South West Sydney who regularly says her goal is “to do for Campbelltown what John Waters did for Baltimore”
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Program one – Sense of PLACE in cinema: Saturday 20 August 1pm – 4pm
Curator: Bina Bhattacharya
Film: Hairspray (1988) – 1pm
Workshop: 3pm – 4pm
This program is proudly supported by Fairfield City Council.
