There's a new ladies night in town, but it's a far cry from the sessions of budget bubbly and trashy tunes you've encountered elsewhere. Instead, Camperdown's Lady Hampshire is launching a monthly pub session sans-stereotypes, promising a safe, fun and inclusive space for all female-identifying and non-cis bodies. Proudly dubbed See You Next Tuesday (it runs the second Tuesday of each month), the event taps into the pub's laidback vibe, yet offers a program of kickass, female-friendly activities to boot. We're talking beer yoga, dancehall classes, clothes swaps and drives for local women's shelters, intergenerational trivia and workshops with the likes of cake queen Katherine Sabbath. It all kicks off with a launch party on Tuesday, November 14, featuring chats with City of Sydney councillor and founding Vivid Ideas curator Jess Scully, and MTV presenter and DJ Flex Mami. Sydney's all-girl Bad Bitch Choir will deliver a special performance, followed by more great tunes from DJ Nes. The launch will also see a lineup of free tacos, along with complimentary Pimm's cocktails and Frank Strongs boozy lemonade, while the legendary Ab Fab ladies throw down words of wisdom from the big screens. You'll also catch the gloriously named Vadge Draw — $5 will get you entry into the monthly prize pool and your very own bronze clam keyring. Image: Steven Woodburn.
Soft, plush and fruity, there's a reason everybody loves a good Malbec. The South American red wine pairs perfectly with just about everything, after all — and it even has its own day of celebration. It's no wonder that Porteño is getting in on the action. The Surry Hills' venue's Malbec Festival is their first foray into celebrating the vino varietal, specifically those from Argentina; however with more than 40 different tipples on offer for $40, they clearly know what they're doing. Pairing up with Jed Wines, three things will be on offer: tasting an array of flavoursome plonk, munching on traditional Argentinian favourites from Porteño's kitchen and learning more about South American specialities. It all takes place between 1pm and 4pm on September 24, proving quite the fun Saturday afternoon session.. The ticket price includes tastings, snacks and your own Riedel glass to take home afterwards — and if you're keen to take some Malbec with you too, bottles will be available to purchase.
Sculpture and installation artist Min Wong has a new show opening at Firstdraft on October 4. Titled If You Are Struggling Then You Must Be Happy :), the exhibition explores spirituality, thirst for collectivism and human failure through the spectacle of US counterculture from the '60s and '70s. An artist deeply interested in utopian concerns — in this case the utopian aspirations of West Coast counterculture and how they relate to present-day spirituality — Wong's art investigates how the once genuinely revolutionary ideas put forward during the '60s and '70s were commodified and eventually repackaged into today's self-help/self-care culture. Playfully uniting contemporary sculpture and repurposed material from the hippie era with deliberate references to her practice of Bikram yoga, Wong desires to, in her words, "present a physical space for the viewer to experience the '60s and '70s new wave counterculture as a simulacrum of lost hope, illusory dreams and shattered utopias". Promises to be an insightful show. Don't leave Firstdraft without taking in the coinciding exhibitions from artists Cybele Cox, Aaron Christopher Rees and Masaharu Sato. Image: Min Wong, 60-minutes (2016), shot by Grant Hancock.
If you're in the wretched position of being the world's biggest animal lover but you're not allowed to own a highly Instagrammable Frenchie because your landlord's a dingus, this is the event for you. Behold — the mighty, mighty Super Furry Festival, coming to Surry Hills this weekend. Billed as a "furry, fun day filled with cuddles, activities, music and animal love" the Super Furry Festival will see the most decadent array of adventures for animal lovers in Sydney. Take a breath — there'll be a doggo treasure hunt, a dog doctor, a special market of pet products and even (dog) treat from Messina — plus a kitty cuddle and a bunny snuggle tent. As well as being a delightful day out for you and your pooch, the festival will also raise awareness around pet adoption. The whole thing will be going down at Shannon Reserve from 9am on Saturday, October 14. Entry is free, because sometimes life covers you in glitter and puppies.
Sake has really blown up in Australia over the last decade, with more and more bars able to access Japan's national drink. Of course, we're not sake masters — there are so many more varieties of rice wine that we haven't had the chance to experience yet. Enter Nihonshu Australia, an association of sake importers, who are aiming to change that once and for all. Presented by Nihonshu along with REVEL — who organise boozy events including Pinot Palooza and Game of Rhones — Australia's first sake festival is coming to Carriageworks on Saturday, October 28. There'll be more than 60 types of sake on offer, each representing the drink's different styles, serving temperatures and prefectures of origin in Japan. For $60, punters will get access to unlimited tastings plus a free Plumm glass valued at $35. Food will come courtesy of Paper Bird and Toko, while Déjà vu Sake's Yukino Ochia — Australia's only certified sake educator — will also be in attendance.
Ah, the annual festival of all things Italian — just when I thought I was out, they dragged me back in. Sunday, October 29 marks the day of celebration for the nation that brought us Julius Caesar, Nebbiolo and Dario Argento. This year's incarnation of the street fair is a special one though, as it's celebrating 31 years of the iconic exultation of Mediterranean multiculturalism. As per usual though, Norton Street will be lined with food vendors ranging from nonnas to professional culinary wizards. The big communal table will be back, and The Royal Hotel's verandah will be in full swing throughout the afternoon. There'll be entertainment, beverages, fashion and the Auto Festa, with as many Ferraris and Lambos as you can shake a cannoli at.
What better way to embrace October's fine and dandy weather than with some good old-fashioned outdoor moviegoing? Kicking off this month, Sweethearts Rooftop is serving up the ultimate cinematic experience with a new season of cult classic film screenings hosted up on its roof. From 8pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the Potts Point bar will be breaking out the projector to show a range of well-loved movie gems, including titles like Empire Records, The Breakfast Club, The Big Lebowski and Mighty Ducks. Backing up Sweethearts' usual selection of Mexican eats, there'll be popcorn galore, a swag of food specials and even movie-themed cocktail jugs. Early birds can also take advantage of a range of 'tappy hour' treats between 4-6pm. Image: James Ambrose.
If justice and equality were concepts that truly applied to everyone, I Am Not Your Negro wouldn't need to exist. In fact, it wouldn't be able to. Author and social critic James Baldwin wouldn't have lived through the murders of three of his high-profile friends, civil rights leaders Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. A decade later, he wouldn't have felt compelled to put his fingers to the typewriter to capture his experiences of America, intending to write a manuscript but only jotting down 30 pages of notes. He wouldn't have been shaped by standing out in a white man's world, and spent his life rallying against it. The list goes on, and the answer remains the same: none of this would've had to happen. Alas, as filmmaker Raoul Peck so powerfully and passionately conveys in his documentary, that was not Baldwin's reality — or ours now. And, as I Am Not Your Negro also makes plain, the difference between the past that Baldwin lived through and our present is virtually non-existent. With Samuel L. Jackson's solemn, patient tones reading the essayist's probing words, the movie steps through the complicated state of American race relations. The deaths of Baldwin's friends provide the framework for not only a picture of history drawn from Baldwin's observations, but of a struggle that still continues. Indeed, when talk show host Dick Cavett asks Baldwin, "is it at once getting much better and still hopeless?" in a clip from 1968, it couldn't feel more relevant now. In a film driven by eloquent statements of harsh facts, such comments keep on coming. "The truth is that this country does not know what to do with its black population," is just one telling utterance of many. Every line feels like a lament and a curse, the former spoken with sadness for humanity's true nature, the latter evidenced by the lack of progress to this day. And yet, I Am Not Your Negro isn't a lecture, as informative as its contents are. Baldwin's writings might dictate the movie's shape and structure, but this is a documentary driven as much by images as words. Peck demonstrates the reality of Baldwin's remarks through a deftly edited array of footage, pairing voiceover with historical photographs, benefiting from archival clips of spirited speeches, and weaving in appropriate snippets from movies that deal with race both overtly and implicitly. Glimpses of King, Evers and X understandably hit home hard, though so do modern parallels and pictures of recent police shooting victims. Indeed, the entire feature lands with the full force that its harrowing, heartbreaking material demands — in sharp contrast to the elegant and poetic way it has been pieced together. Any frame could sit in a history text, and many do. However, as a blend of sights and insights, I Am Not Your Negro could hardly offer a more urgent, perceptive or illuminating viewing experience. With the wisdom of someone who lived, lost, struggled, strived for change and saw others struck down in the process, Baldwin understood that knowing something to be true and facing it aren't one and the same, and that America's history of racial trouble is as built on well-meaning folks failing to act as it is by open violence and hatred. The question that Peck and his film ask is whether the audience can understand that too. Once again, Baldwin says it best: "we are cruelly trapped between what we would like to be and what we actually are." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG6VE1BRF9I
From the prawn cocktail to the huge map of Australia on the wall, The Unicorn is unashamedly Australian. And they're about to take it even further, launching a new 'My Australia' lunch series. On selected Saturdays, the Paddington pub will feature some of Australia's best chefs, who will display their interpretation of Aussie cuisine. Award-winning chef Duncan Welgemoed has been named as the first to participate. Originally from Johannesburg, Welgemoed heads Adelaide's acclaimed restaurant Africola. Since his arrival in Australia in 2010, he has quickly established himself as one of Adelaide's top chefs — his style has been described as 'more indigenous rather than modern Australian'. Welgemoed will work next to The Unicorn's head chef James Garside, dishing up three courses, including roasted sardines with zhoug, peri peri chicken with Boom Chakalaka sauce (an Africola favourite) and a smoked chocolate and salted butter caramel torte. The lunch costs $50 per person, and owner Jake Smyth has also selected a number of natural wines for the occasion, available at an extra cost.
Separate the things that matter from the things that really don't at this special event with celebrated blogger and author Mark Manson. The man behind the self-help guide The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living the Good Life is coming to Australia for a select number of speaking engagements in Sydney and Melbourne, where he'll espouse the virtues of a healthy dose of pessimism while revealing his strategies for living a better life. Presented in partnership with The School of Life, this special in conversation event will see Manson break apart "the fallacy of unfounded positivity" that is so common in self-help circles. Instead, he'll talk openly about which problems to tackle, and how to "fail better", before concluding the night with an audience Q&A.
Someone's got to say it – we're into the back end of the year and unless you are completely shameless about getting sozzled come the silly season, there's a good chance you're staring down the barrel of a few awkward festive gatherings. You know the ones – where all of your acquaintances have mysteriously vanished and you spend the night grinding out awkward conversations with coworkers/relatives/friends of friends that you're pretty sure you'd hate, if only you knew them well enough. Lucky for you, the Sydney Theatre Company are here to provide some catharsis in the form of Moira Buffini's Dinner, a twisty, nasty comedy that's likely to see somebody walk away with a fork in their eye. Paige isn't thrilled to be celebrating her husband's new book, but she throws a damn good party and it's a chance to rub shoulders with some C-list personalities. With a few schemes lined up to keep the night interesting, the one thing Paige hasn't planned for is an unexpected guest. Acerbic, slippery and with a liberal serving of spite accompanying each course, this is a perfect study in the pitfalls of forced politeness.
Sydneysiders have always liked cheese, but in recent years things have gotten serious. Dedicated fromageries have popped up across our fair city and recently we've enjoyed events featuring gin and cheese, wine and cheese and even vegan cheese. Our stomachs are working overtime to digest all the lactose — and, honestly, we've never been happier. And the love affair continues with this latest cheesy announcement. France (or more specifically, a Parisian centre for cheese, which is a real thing) is bringing Bon Fromage, a free two-day festival celebrating European cheese, to Sydney. The whole thing will happen at Carriageworks on October 14 and 15. First and foremost is cheese — the venue will be transformed into a cheese marketplace and wine bar from 11am till 6pm each day. Organisers will be bringing in half a tonne of cheese for the festival, and it will all be free of charge. Just to recap: free entry and free cheese. But the cheese festival isn't just about eating so much cheese you puke. Masterclasses will be held on how to match cheese with wine, how to tell the difference between varieties and, we assume, the correct way to draw a cheese fondue bath for yourself. There will also be a collection of stalls selling cheese for you to take home and eat later. The festival is supported by the European Union, presumably to get Australians on board with the European cheese industry. To us, this seems like a bit of a misfire because we're evidently already very invested in cheese, from Europe or elsewhere. But whatever — we'll be there regardless.
Parramatta will be stuffed full of the finest food and drink this October at the annual Parramatta Lanes festival — and, boy, do they know how to throw a party out west. The award-winning festival will take place across 12 themed laneways and squares around Parramatta, with over 50 food stalls and five bars. You'll be kept entertained by numerous live music stages (including a set by only Western Sydney DJs), lashings of sweet and savoury treats, roving theatrical performances and plenty of scattered art installations. Food-wise, we can't list everything here — we'd end up writing out a novel of so many good eats — but we will say that you can expect talent from Surry Hills sneaker/fried chicken dispensary Butter, Neil Perry's immensely popular Burger Project, wood-fired pizzas thanks to Happy as Larry, those tasty Middle Eastern street eats from Thievery and many other dishes from Jamie's Italian + Bar, PappaRich and about 40 to 50 others. For dessert, KOI Dessert Bar (run by former Masterchef favourite, Reynold Poernomo) will be dishing out sweets beside other local businesses such as Adora Handmade Chocolates, StroopBros, Sweethawk (from the team behind Nighthawk Diner), Paleteria ice cream and many more. Gin masters Archie Rose will showcase their tipples, in addition to local bar Uncle Kurt's, who will be doing a collaboration with Darcy Street Project to create boutique espresso martinis and gourmet, double smoked, NY-style hotdogs for the opening night. And of course, there will be a food truck depot.
Bottomless cocktails, waffles and beats... it's hard to think of a better way to banish a hangover on a spring afternoon. Introducing Since I Left You's fourth Beats 'n' Brunch. On September 30, doors will open at midday, which is when the bottomless cocktails will start to flow — lasting an hour-and-a-half and helping everyone to settle in, before giving way to drinks specials. Keeping everyone's hunger at bay will be a massive paella, as well as a selection of SILY's waffles (including waffalafels). Meanwhile, on the decks you'll find the Post Pluto Intergalactic Groove Committee spinning a stack of hip hop jams. Karaoke too depending on how loose things get. Even though this thing's called a brunch, like the others, it'll inevitably carry onto into the late, late afternoon.
From the prawn cocktail to the huge map of Australia on the wall, The Unicorn is unashamedly Australian. And they've taken it even further by launching a new 'My Australia' lunch series. On selected Sundays, the Paddington pub will feature some of Australia's best chefs, who will display their interpretation of Aussie cuisine. After kicking things off with award-winning Adelaide-based chef Duncan Welgemoed, the second lunch in the series will welcome 10 William Street's Enrico Tomelleri. While the menu is under wraps for now, you can expect an Australian-Italian riff on the Sunday lunch. The five courses will cost $65 per person, and spots can be booked through The Unicorn. Owner Jake Smyth has also selected a number of natural wines for the occasion, available at an extra cost. Image: Lachlan Townsend.
If you don't care for waving around flags and singing the national anthem on 26 January, then consider spending the day at Barangaroo Reserve. Proceedings will kick off at dawn, with a Sunrise Ceremony conducted by the Metropolitan Aboriginal Land Council, followed by Bayala-Bayara: Sing Up Country, a Sydney Festival performance that's all about reinstating Sydney songlines. Next up, a mourning fire will travel from Me-mel (Goat Island) to Barangaroo Reserve. From 8:30am, celebrity chef Jared Ingersoll will be serving up an all-day brunch, featuring both international and local dishes, including meat pies, bacon-and-egg rolls and avocado on toast. You'll be munching to a diverse soundtrack, directed by DJ Peewee Ferris and including a live performance by singer Casey Donovan. Finally, roll up your sleeves as the sun goes down, as you'll be creating a frozen fish out of sea water, to contribute to Four Thousand Fish, a massive Sydney Festival installation celebrating Barangaroo, the Cammeraygal fisherwoman from whom the reserve gets its name.
Calling all aviation fanatics – this one's for you. The annual Wings Over Illawarra air show is back, so buckle up and get ready for an awesome ride. You'll be able to see jaw-dropping, hair-raising solo and formation aerobatics displays and marvel at the Australian Defence Force's loud fighter jets. On the ground you'll be able to get up close and personal with all kinds of aircraft, old and new, from the British Hawker Hunter to Boeing 747s. The Australian Defence Force will be showcasing its aircraft, where you can expect to see RAAF Hornets, Black Hawk helicopters and the ever-powerful C-17A Globemaster III. Vintage-plane enthusiasts will have a field day stickybeaking at classic aircraft, including the fully-restored 1955 Super Constellation and the history making Qantas 747 VH-OJA. Take a helicopter joy ride or, if modes of transportation that stay firmly on the ground are more your type of thing, a vintage train ride at the Illawarra Light Railway Museum.
In celebration of International Women's Day, work space guru WeWork is going all out — it's launching a new female-focused event series at its beautifully designed Sydney CBD digs. She Leads, the company-wide event series and initiative, aims to raise the profile of gender equality in the workplace and will see female founders, leaders and influencers join forces in WeWork spaces across 21 countries and in 71 cities around the world. For the Sydney event, WeWork George Street will host a female-led discussion on Thursday, March 8 from 6–8pm. The panel features Lisa Messenger, founder and CEO of the fashion and lifestyle publication Collective Hub, in conversation with Gaby Riddington, managing director and founder of executive coaching startup Kipling Partners. Their discussion will be followed by a Q&A and a booking signing by Messenger (who has also written 12 books). International Women's Day events will also take place at WeWork's New York City headquarters — in partnership with the city's ninth annual Women in the World summit — as well as in 15 additional locations worldwide. The company's global workforce is already more than 50-percent female, so you know they're not just talking about it, either. Refreshments will be on offer throughout the evening — including cheese-heavy grazing boards and Australian wine — and it'll be a great excuse to get to know other successful women in the city. The whole event is free, but space is limited so an RSVP is a must.
Prepare to drool all over yourself Homer Simpson-style, because the Yaks Ale Barbecue Festival is coming to New South Wales for the first time. This weekend-long celebration of all things smoked and slow-cooked will bring together some of the biggest names in Aussie barbecue, along with celebrity pitmasters from Memphis to LA. Held on February 10 and 11 at Central Coast Stadium, the festival will feature live music acts, culinary demos, a cook-off and a butcher battle. But let's not beat around the bush here: you want to know about the food. Chances are, you won't be disappointed. Bluebonnet, Burn City Smokers, Hard Style Kitchen Southside Smokers and Sugarfire Smoke House from the US are but a few of the meat maestros who'll be in attendance. Our advice? Start fasting now. Image: Southside Smokers.
If you're of an age to remember burning your friend's So Fresh CD so you could stay up to date with the coolest songs of the season, congrats. You're old now. But also, congrats because you will seriously enjoy this shindig — So Fresh Party. This blast from the past is going down on New Year's Eve at Hudson Ballroom, because there's nothing better than looking to the past on the night that everyone is celebrating the future. Expect bangers strictly of the 2000-2009 vintage, including a disturbing percentage of Channel 10 alums (Australian Idol winners/losers and ex-Neighbours actors), as well as way too much Nickelback for polite company. Also, just throwing this out there: we're desperately hoping for a timely comeback of the Duff sisters duet 'Our Lips Are Sealed.' Tickets will set you back $22.70 and of course it's obviously 18 and over, because if you're under 18 you definitely don't know what So Fresh is. Or CDs, probably.
Christmas shopping can be a drag — sometimes it's best to get it out of the way before it depletes your much-needed December brain power. But when you find yourself browsing stalls of designer products with giveaways, barbecued food, wine and margaritas, it's suddenly become a pretty good-looking evening out. A few of the residents of Rosebery's artisan centre Saporium are holding a Christmas market with designer homewares, perfect for an after-work session of shopping and eating. You'll be able to snap up gifts from Australian designer furniture and homewares store Koskela (with a 15 percent discount all evening, no less), with neighbouring cafe Three Blue Ducks barbecuing chicken skewers, pumpkin and sausages. Five buck wine and beer will be on-hand too, along with activities for both kids and easily distracted adults. Interior stylist Megan Morton will also be on-hand over the night and you'll be able to peruse her MM Souvenirs range, featuring treasures from around the world. And by simply making a food purchase, you'll go into the draw to win hourly giveaways including Three Blue Ducks cookbooks, homewares and restaurant vouchers. Image: Three Blue Ducks.
Mardi Gras is back. With the festival celebrating its 40th year and the recent passing of Australia's marriage equality bill, expect celebrations to be bigger and more colourful than ever. To help you get in an appropriately sparkly spirit, Darlinghurst menswear boutique Fine Fellow, together with The Groomed Man Co, is holding a one-day glitter beard bar. It's exactly what it says on the packet: for $15 (or $10 if you pre-book online) you can have your beard expertly doused in colourful glitter. No beard? No worries. The pop-up is also sparkling moustaches and hairdos. Bookings include a complimentary tinnie of alcoholic lemonade from Frank Strongs and, if you book online, you'll get free beard oil from The Groomed Man Co (so you can keep looking slick, throughout the weekend celebrations). The Glitter Beard Bar will run from 12pm to 5.30pm on Saturday, March 3. To pre-book your spot, head here.
In the wake of the dubious election of Donald Trump to the office of President of the United States of America, the world took a shocked breath, flabbergasted that an openly misogynistic and accused perpetrator of numerous sexual assaults could be elected to such an important position. For some, however, that shocked breath was immediately followed by plans to take action against an open enemy to women's rights and gender equality. As a result, the Women's March on Washington was born. The march aims to provide a show of power on the first day of Trump's term with the goal of demonstrating that "women's rights are human rights", according to the official website of the organisation. As a show of solidarity to the women, men, and children who will march on the U.S. Capitol, over 170 sister marches are planned to take place on the January 21 all over the world, including the Women's March on Sydney, which will start at the ANZAC Memorial in Hyde Park at 11am on Saturday. The marches are not only to protest the systemic repression of women, but the unfair treatment of marginalised populations in general. According the official website for the Women's March On Sydney, the march is "for fair and civil treatment of women, minorities and immigrants". It is a researched fact that furthering the cause of women's rights leads to greater social growth for all demographics, and these marches are examples of the fact that policy decisions need to tackle the gender inequality that still so blatantly exists in our societies. Aside from the fact that gender inequality is a violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights — or just, y'know, repressing more than half the population — ignoring women's rights is detrimental to the rest of society as well, as spending time and money on women's health and rights has a multiplier effect than benefits society as a whole. The March on Washington is due to draw crowds that will rival that at Trump's inauguration, and more than 2000 people are expected to attend the march in Sydney. Image: Kimberley Low.
If you've always wanted to climb the Harbour Bridge but thought it was a little too touristy, or that it'll always be there and there's no point in rushing, now's your chance to do it a little differently. Between January 21 and March 6 this year you can not only don the famous BridgeClimb suit and hike up the stairs, pose for a cheesy photo and enjoy the view — you can do karaoke while you're up there. Your karaoke sesh will happen at the peak of the bridge, 134m above Sydney Harbour, in a custom-made karaoke suite. The views of Sydney Harbour, the city and the Opera House will be breathtaking, the tunes, not so much. After belting out your favourite song solo (or in a group if you're a little shy), you can climb down the Bridge and relive the experience by watching an eight-second video of your performance. Tickets include one BridgeClimb that runs for around two to three hours, a group photo, one of those blue BridgeClimb caps and a free pass to the Pylon Lookout. Adult prices range between $248-373, depending on the time of day and year you decide to go. Although it's the most expensive option, we recommend you climb the Bridge at sunset in summer and belt out a tune while you're there. Karaoke at sunset. Nothing better.
The ominous title of this upcoming exhibition of works created by an array of Hong Kong locals is a foreboding one, alluding to the sharp shift in natural forces in the moments before a ferocious deluge. The air pressure shifts, the humidity skyrockets, and you can almost taste the imminent storm. Before the Rain, hosted by 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art and featuring artists such as Luke Ching and Sarah Lai, hinges around works using created and found media to tell the story of a nation demanding to shape its own future while protecting its past. The artworks tell the story of the city of Hong Kong in the time leading up to the political and civil unrest of 2014, when peaceful, pro-democratic protests took over the streets of the island state. Sampson Wong, artist and artistic leader of the Umbrella Movement, has transformed the exhibition entrance into a barrage of multimedia messages, including blogs, videos, tweets, and images from the time in question in order to fully immerse the visitor in nuances of the rapid shift in the socio-political climate. And that's just the first work. Image: Luke Ching, 150 Lost Items, 2014, mixed media, dimensions variable. Image courtesy the artist and GALLERY EXIT, Hong Kong.
The 2013 Boston Marathon came to an end with the kind of bang that no one could've imagined. As spectators lined the streets on April 15, cheering and chatting while waiting for competitors to cross the finish line, two brothers detonated home-made explosives. Showing the strength that its inhabitants pride themselves on, the city banded together as victims were mourned, the injured treated and the culprits pursued. You know the details — they were splashed across the news around the world. Now, in their third collaboration based on true life events, writer-director Peter Berg and star Mark Wahlberg dramatise the events in Patriots Day. After probing an unsuccessful military counter-intelligence mission in Lone Survivor, and gushing oil in the Gulf of Mexico in Deepwater Horizon, the pair once again offer an on-the-ground look at a tragic event in recent history. It's an ambitious task, particularly given the number of characters featured, as well as the intricacies of the post-bombing manhunt. Those complexities keep the procedural aspects of Patriots Day tense and involving. Unfortunately, they don't make Berg's fondness for easy sentiment any less obvious. Specifically, the film presents a case of patriotism versus terror — or us versus them — clear and simple. In the first camp sits cop Tommy Saunders (Wahlberg), an always-everywhere everyman drawn from several real-life people, who is trying to keep his boss (John Goodman) happy by working the marathon. Cautious but determined FBI agent (Kevin Bacon) oversees operations following the attack, while a local sergeant (JK Simmons) polices a nearby town. Their targets: Dzhokhar (Alex Wolff) and Tamerlan Tsarnaev (Themo Melikidze), whose deeds and paths overlap with plenty of others, including a couple watching the race, an officer guarding a university and a Chinese student proud of his new car. Using individual experiences to piece together a broader narrative isn't a new approach when it comes to stories like this. It's simple and it's effective – descriptors that could also be used to describe the docudrama shooting style, the frenetically paced editing, and the tense, pulsing score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. It's not hard to appreciate the technical prowess on display as Berg turns much of the movie into an action-thriller. Nor can you fault him for wanting to pay tribute to the folks left to search and scramble in the aftermath of the bombing. And yet despite this, Patriots Day makes for uncomfortable viewing. The film was shot in early 2016, and therefore can't really be accused of intentionally pushing an agenda linked to recent political developments. Nevertheless, there's a lingering sense of awkwardness that springs from the way the film leans on easy cliches, stereotypes and emotions for entertainment — even though it's based on something that really happened, and even as it tasks Bacon's character with voicing a few token words of warning about needlessly perpetuating fear. That's where the complicated nature of the underlying story, and of bringing historic tragedies to the screen in general, proves most difficult for Berg.
The Murray River flows right through the heart of Tocumwal, and 24 riverside beaches within close proximity to town ensure you can make the most of every sunny day. With this stretch of Australia's longest river lined with shady red gums and native bushland, there's a quiet patch of shoreline with your name on it. At the end of Town Beach Road sits Tocumwal Beach, an impressive expanse of sand on the banks of the Murray. Nearby there's Apex Beach and Finley Beach, too. Image: Emily Godfrey, Visit Victoria
It doesn't take long to wander from one end of Tocumwal to the other, but this historic part of the world is overflowing with fascinating history everywhere you look. For a deeper look into Australia's fascinating history of flight — both military and civilian — head to the Tocumwal Historic Aerodrome Museum. What was once home to Australia's largest RAAF base is now a space dedicated to preserving, commemorating and educating visitors of the town's wartime legacy. Make sure to grab a coffee at The 'Drome Cafe while you're there.
The annual reason to not entirely obliterate yourself on New Year's Eve, Field Day, has announced announced its return for 2022. And while international touring isn't quite back to normal — so there's no Cardi B or Tyler, the Creator leading the bill this year — the New Year's Day festival still have you spending the first day of next year dancing in The Domain. Once again giving you a reason to skip that last NYE UDL, Field Day's 2022 lineup features a heap of fest favourites: Peking Duck, Hayden James and Mallrat for starters. You'll also be listening to Masked Wolf, Allday and Hot Dub Time Machine — and they're just a few of the highlights. Adapting to the times, and to New South Wales' pandemic rules, this year's Field Day will require all patrons to either show proof of double COVID-19 vaccination to enter, or to show a negative COVID-19 result from a test taken within the 72 hours before arriving at the festival. And yes, it's been a big few weeks for fest announcements, with Field Day following So Frenchy So Chic, For the Love, NYE in the Park, Wollongong's Yours and Owls and new touring fest Summer Camp in letting you know who'll be soundtracking your next few months. [caption id="attachment_768550" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Hot Dub Time Machine[/caption] Enough chatskies, here's that full Field Day lineup you're after. FIELD DAY 2022 LINEUP: Allday Anna Lunoe ASHWARYA Choomba Golden Features Hayden James Hot Dub Time Machine Mallrat Masked Wolf MAY-A Peking Duk Field Day returns to The Domain on January 1, 2022. Tickets on sale at midday on Thursday, November 18 via Field Day's website. Top image: Anna Warr.
A new omakase ramen restaurant from one of Sydney's most renowned Japanese chefs is coming to Chatswood. Chase Kojima (Sokyo, Gojima, Chuuka) is opening Senpai Ramen in Sydney's lower north shore. The 25-seat restaurant will open in February 2022 with a focus on presenting ramen in a new and exciting way. Senpai Ramen will be based around a series of ever-changing set menus. Omakase is a Japanese dining tradition that translates to 'leave it to the chef'. Diners at the Chatswood restaurant will be offered five, six or seven-course meals that begin with smaller plates and build towards the signature ramen varieties. Ramen on offer will include a tonkotsu ramen with seasonal flavours and unexpected toppings such as 13-hour cooked abalone and A5-grade charcoal wagyu. The initial smaller dishes will also be paired with cocktails created in collaboration with PS40 bartender Michael Chiem. The feast will set patrons back between $69 and $109 depending on how many courses you choose. "The concept of the restaurant will be comforting, relaxing service but very professional," Kojima says. "I want to help take our guests a little bit out of their comfort zone and let them try something they have never had before: an entirely new ramen experience." Senpai Ramen will run as a sister venue to Kojima's new sushi and sashimi venue Simulation Senpai which opened in Haymarket earlier this year. A centralised kitchen has been set up in Artarmon that will support both venues once Senpai Ramen opens up. The kitchen contains a new machine designed to make ramen-making safer and less labour intensive. "Making ramen, and particularly tonkotsu ramen, is very labour intensive. Traditionally to make the broth, the pork bones must be boiled and stirred by hand for eight hours. A lot of chefs get injured during this process," Kojima says. [caption id="attachment_666031" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sokyo[/caption] Senpai Ramen will open at G05, 88 Archer Street, Chatswood in February 2022. Top image: Alan Richardson
For screen fiends who spend their winters indoors at their favourite picture palaces, there's one surefire way to know that better weather has hit: the arrival of outdoor cinema season. When Sydney's chillier temperatures give way to sunny days and warm nights, the city's spaces set up plenty of openair big screens showing flicks. One such spot: The Rocks Laneway Cinema. As you might know from past runs, this film-loving pop-up sticks around for half the year, screening movies every Wednesday night — and for free. Across the end of 2023 and beginning of 2024, mark Wednesday, October 4—Wednesday, March 27 in your diary for a date on Atherden Street. Also, get ready for different monthly themes. First up: comedy classics in October, which is where Bridesmaids, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Anchorman and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me come in. Then, November will deliver five films that'll get you singing as part of its music strand: School of Rock, The Sapphires, Almost Famous, Pitch Perfect and Mamma Mia!. While exactly what'll be on the bill from there hasn't yet been unveiled, December will naturally showcase Christmas classics and January will capitalise upon vacation vibes with holiday road trip-inspired titles. Then, February will go with a summer of love focus — again, 'tis the season for it — while March is all about 80s favourites. Laneway Cinema's movies screen from 7pm each week — and although entry is free, bookings are recommended because seating is limited. Heading along also means helping a good cause, with the proceeds from every $2 bag of popcorn sold going to charity. The beneficiary changes monthly, too, with Beyond Blue receiving the funds in October, Support Act in November and the rest of the lineup to come. If you're the kind of cinemagoer that needs snacks and sips, the venues around laneway have plenty to eat and drink on offer. That means making a date with spots such as Caminetto Restaurant, P'Nut Street Noodles, El Camino Cantina and The Mercantile Hotel. Obviously, you'll need your wallet for whatever tempts your tastebuds. Laneway Cinema returns to Atherden Street, The Rocks from Wednesday, October 4, 2023—Wednesday, March 27, 2024 — head to The Rocks' website for free bookings and further details. Images: Anna Kucera / Cassandra Hannagan.
The signature event of our city in summer, the Sydney Festival, kicks off 2013 with the Dirty Projectors, Vivienne Westwood, a series of blind dates, and a giant rubber duckie. They feature among the first line-up curated by new festival director Lieven Bertels. All up more than 750 artists from almost 20 countries will present nearly 100 works of music, performance, and visual arts from January 5-27. It kicks off with the three free acts of Day One that go from 9.30am until late into the night on Saturday, January 5. We loved Florentijn Hofman's five-storey-high Rubber Duck when it appeared in France's Loire River earlier this year, and we'll love it closer up when it bobs into Cockle Bay to mark the opening of the Sydney Festival in the two-hour spectacle billed The Arrival, complete with acrobats, 3000 littler ducks, and the opening of the Pyrmont Bridge. It's preceded by Fun Run, a theatricalised marathon focusing on one guy on a treadmill in Hyde Park (you can even be a part of it — no running required), and followed by the Daptone Super Soul Revue, a huge outdoor dance party in the Domain that thrills every year. To make room for the musical carnival winding its way into town, Sydney will re-erect many of last year’s much-loved pop-up music hubs. The Festival Bar is moving to Sydney Town Hall to play host to downtempo electronic producer Nicolas Jaar, sepulchral Mercury Prize nominee Richard Hawley, our own Dappled Cities and nu-disco pioneer Lindstrøm with the Future Classic DJs in tow. Over in Hyde Park, the Festival Garden will be the setting for an eclectic array of indoor and alfresco performances including one by tuneful darling of the interwebs Perfume Genius. Particularly strong on program 2013 are cutting-edge performances that play at the boundaries of music, theatre, and other worlds. In addition to the jaw-dropping Vivienne Westwood fashion show/Handel opera mash-up Semele Walk, the pioneering 2004 mixed-media work with the Aboriginal title, Eraritjaritjaka, from German Heiner Gobbels gets its first and only Australian staging. In the tradition of sell-out hits La Clique, Smoke and Mirrors, and last year's Little Match Girl, two house shows will fill the Famous Spiegeltent: dirty-sexy circus cabaret Cantina from Strut & Fret, and Frank Woodley and Simon Yates’ physical theatre and silent comedy INSIDE. The About an Hour series presents some of the most interesting, cutting-edge works of the festival for just $35, while, thankfully, the Tix for Next to Nix booth will be back in Martin Place, selling $25 tickets to all shows. With this mighty program looming and La Nina gone, we're quite prepared to line up. Read our list of the 12 best things to see at the Sydney Festival in 2013.
It could be easy to take it personally if you’ve had the kind of life Kutcha Edwards has. Part of the stolen generation, he was separated from his parents from the age of 18 months to 13 years old. He’s struggled with this separation, his aboriginality, racism, drink and drugs throughout his life. But Kutcha’s never been one to take it lying down, and "Get Back Up Again", the first single from his just released third album Blak and Blue, is a testament to his attitude. Facing adversity and bouncing back is a recurring theme for this blues-soul singer, who’s used his life of ups and downs to weave raw, honest and intimate songs about his life, family and culture that have seen him earn a place as one of Australia’s most respected soul singers. A compelling storyteller and a powerful live performer, his music has taken him from ovals in the NT, to sharing a stage with the likes of Paul Kelly. In this show, you can expect a combination of originals and songs which have had meaning and impact, which make up Kutcha's latest album.
Are you a bit of a film nerd? Do you obsessively watch Lynch or recite the words to Napoleon Dynamite nonstop? Well, there’s something the Dendy Newtown are screening which you might be interested in (along with the rest of us). Written and directed by Mark Cousins, The Story of Film: An Odyssey is what he's calling his 'love letter' to film, through the medium of film. Over five parts (The Beginnings, Studios and the World at War, New Wave, Politics, Pop and Protest, and Birth of Digital and the Future), Cousins leads us from the birth of film to what the future might hold for movies. Charlie Chaplin, all of those glittery Hollywood types, Taxi Driver, Star Wars, and Moulin Rouge are all in there. And yep — there will be interviews with some of (hopefully) your favourite filmmakers and actors. You had better prepare yourself for some serious amounts of screen time.
Their name is a play on the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers cult comic character 'Fat Freddy' and each of their album covers features some rather excellent animation, but Fat Freddy's Drop are taking the cartoon thing a big step further for Graphic 2012. As a specially commissioned collaboration with celebrated NZ street artist Otis Frizzell — son of kitsch Kiwiana expressionist Dick Frizzell — the nine times platinum genre flouters will present the worldwide premiere of their fourth album Blackbird with immersive animated visuals to complement their larger-than-life sound. An indefatigable concoction of dub, reggae, soul, jazz, blues and techno garnished with signature grooves, Fat Freddy's have sold half a million records worldwide. These two shows will be the only chance to preview Blackbird before its release next year. https://youtube.com/watch?v=eCJg63SziL4
Co-ordinating your outfit for the Blue Light Disco. Feeling so nervous about slow dancing at the formal you could hurl. These are iconic experiences of youth, shared whether you were cool or a dork. School Dance finally brings these experiences to the stage, with emphasis on the dork. "Darwin's theory of evolution at its cruellest," the omniscient narrator reminds us. Windmill Theatre, who produced the show, are actually a children's theatre company, but with School Dance they've expanded their remit to include any adults who like an excuse to get a bit silly. Director of both company and show Rosemary Myers decided to prod the seeds of an idea that had been planted on an earlier collaboration with writer Matthew Whittet, sound designer Luke Smiles, and set and costume designer Jonathon Oxlade, who reminisced on their teenage nerdom while working on the show Fugitive. The men play Matthew, Luke, and Jonathon, three fictionalised versions of themselves at an earlier, unaware age. Best of all, the now mid-30-year-olds grew up in the 1980s, and references to Gremlins, E.T., and acid wash denim abound, wrapped up in a high-energy, Scott Pilgrim-esque package. Was music ever finer than in the '80s? The answer is clearly no, because each track played tonight is better and more rapturously received than the last (although Bonnie Tyler and Spandau Ballet are somewhat climactic points in the mix). The action veers onto course when Matthew literally starts to disappear, shortly after being ignored by the popular girl Hannah Ellis (Amber McMahon, who adroitly handles all the female roles). His legs go first. Then his torso and head. On stage, this is shown through the wearing of a black, slightly sparkling body stocking — one of the many creative, smoothly plausible tricks of staging going on. The set, lighting, and foley provide constant wonder. To rescue Matthew from the 'land of invisible teenagers' (a tentative title), the teens will need to call on Jonathan's knowing older sister, He-Man, a unicorn, and a massive act of bravery. The experience of watching this show is one filled with laughter, cheering, applause, and squeals of recognition. It's ecstatic and triumphant, bonkers yet homey. It's not highfalutin — there's hand farting, an extended, glorious passage of it, causing the kid behind me to lose his head — but School Dance reaches special heights all of its own. It's obvious a lot of love went into it, and the audience can't help but reciprocate. Image: Jonathon Oxlade, Luke Smiles, and Matthew Whittet in School Dance. Photo by Lisa Tomasetti.
Just over a year ago Thee Oh Sees came to Australia to play Melbourne's Sugar Mountain Festival and sell out Sydney's Annandale Hotel. If you a) missed out on a ticket, b) got kicked in the head by a rogue crowd surfer and can't remember most of the show or c) had your eardrums ruptured and couldn't hear most of the show then don't stress, because they're coming back this month. The San Francisco band are known for having a sound that is difficult to pin down and a live performance best described as cacophonous. Frontman John Dwyer has been consumed by music for over 25 years and finds inspiration in everything from Dracula to Donald Duck. How he soaks those up and spits them out in the form of such moshable rock 'n' roll anthems I don't know, but maybe the huge range of and genres he draws from is why these tracks are so raw and harmonious simultaneously. Dig out your lest dad-like earplugs and be wary of flailing limbs, because this is a show you don't want to miss. https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZVcnX3B9WsU
Some define summer by sun, sea and sand. Others define it by harbour views, lounge music, cocktails and grazing plates. Lest we forget to mention the champagne. Until 10 March, Moet Ice is presenting the Coast Roof Top Bar. A pop-up champagne bar offering drinks and grazing options, Coast Roof Top offers an evenings good time in decadent surrounds. Think botanical landscaping, crisp white furniture and alfresco dining. On offer is a selection of small and shared plates and a considered drinks and cocktail list. Win. For more information or to book a couch email reservations@rooftopbar.com.au or call 02 9267 6700.
Are you Ready For the Floor? Are you itching to "do it do it do it now?' Naturally. Hot Chip want you to dance your stripy little socks off and then some. After they do Falls and Southbound Festivals, Joe Goddard, Alexis Taylor, Felix Martin, Al Doyle and Owen Clarke are coming to The Enmore with their own kind of electro pop. They almost challenge you to keep to their infectious tunes. Yeah they've got some Mercury Prize and Grammy Awards, and yeah their fifth album has received critical acclaim, triple j love to play them and they've been in the top 20s charts for ages now. But we know what you're interested in — can you dance to their stuff? Hell yeah. As The Independent says, their shows are all about "blinding lights pulse at disorientating speed in time with a fierce percussive onslaught." Yes – be afraid. But in a good way. https://youtube.com/watch?v=zd_JW73R1Wk
Under her stage name of Cat Power, US musician Chan Marshall has established herself as one of those real rarities in music nowadays — an original. Trying to categorise her music is difficult, especially as it has evolved ever since her debut in 1993. Calling it 'her take on soul' or 'her brand of indie' is unjust since nothing she makes feels try hard — it all feels real. From the sparse, haunting melodic indie of 'Cross Bones Style' to the uplifting blues of 'Lived In Bars' to the discordant R&B of 'Cherokee', Chan is always unmistakably unique. Her 2012 release Sun is her first album of original material in over six years. With increasing onstage confidence (and her notorious onstage meltdowns a thing of the past), Chan's more striking stage presence matches her powerful voice. Seeing her at the Enmore Theatre will be well worth your hard-earned dollars. https://youtube.com/watch?v=PDbPrOuXq2s
Don’t think you’re going bananas when you read the titles of all the works on display by Peter Tyndall at Anna Schwartz. They are all the same. Clearly concerned with the way we process visual art, this critically acclaimed Australian conceptual artist names everything ’A Person Looks At A Work Of ARt/someone looks at something… LOGOS/HA HA. When you think about it, for an artist, naming every artwork the same probably saves as much time as if you and I were to never again ponder what’s for dinner and just eat the same thing every night. Luckily, this career-spanning retrospective is more interesting and diverse than eating takeaway from Thai Me Up seven nights a week. Through 22 December, this is a rare chance to see 20 years of the cryptic images, unidentifiable icons, and text that inform Tyndall, and create his visual aesthetic which is heavy ideas posing as pop art. Image: A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/ someone looks at something..... LOGOS/HA HA 1979-1989- by Peter Tyndall.
The Blake Prize has lost it's religion. It was originally conceived in 1951 as a way to promote religious art in Australia. In this second coming, the $20,000 prize has been born again as a "spiritual" rather than a strictly "religious" prize. Let's face it: in 2012 a prize dedicated to the promotion of Christianity would be a bit anachronistic and, well, uncool. Not only would a Church-y competition ignore the reality of 21st Century, multi-faith, secular Australia, it would also only appeal to a pretty narrow fragment of gallery-goers and artists. This means 2012's Blake Prize isn't what you might expect. The subtext of this year’s show seems to be [blank] is the new God, and artists step in to supply whatever the [blank] is. The [blank] variously and obliquely turns out to be new age spirituality, love, compassion, social justice, the unknown, the mystical, the ecological, the void, the unexplained, the meditative, the secular, the superstitious, the impossible or the agnostic. The Dreamtime, Krishna, the Buddha and Mohammed also get a look in. There's even a work that says social networking is the new religion (Grace Kingston’s Dan #2 from the Grace + Series). Sadly, there's nothing that comes close to 2009's winner, "Rapture" by Angela Mesiti, an exquisitely shot, slow motion silent video of fans in a Big Day Out moshpit. It was a sublime study of devotion and modern hero worship that seemed to make sense with the Blake's new devotional equivalence. This year’s prize has gone to two winners: "Writing on Air - Mantra Triptych" by Eveline Kotai, a two dimensional abstract work described as a “meditative ritual” informed by Buddhism, and "The Threshold" by Fabian Astore, a video work that follows a free-spirited girl running inside a mosque, and uses smoke-like digital effects to suggest an open-ended approach to religious practice. Two winners? Seems a good fit for the prize trying to be all things to all people. Image: "Hope" (2012) by Jane Becker and Sue Saxon. Fairy lights, eggshells and glue.
Chippendale's MOP gallery is currently full of record players, spray painted uniformly black and popping out of the white walls. On one of these walls, in an MTV-style spoof video clip, almost naked women leap around, spray painting more record players and themselves. The show is called Reinhardt Dammn: Burn Rate, and it’s by a Brisbane artist, Scott Redford. For those often confused by the contents of art galleries and their bottomless avenues of interpretation, Scott Redford has a remedy: he’s provided a short, zine-ish publication that more fully explains the ideas behind his work. It’s a welcome effort — after all, the context surrounding an artwork doesn’t just affect the work, it changes what the work is. It turns out Redford's show is stuffed full of ideas but it's difficult to find a coherent stream within his manifesto. The publication, and the show itself, read like an unfinished thought, flitting between the artist's frustrations about the reliance of Australia's art world on government funding, what he sees as the redundant concepts of high and low art and the impact of manic media consumption on contemporary art. As a result, not all the dots are connected and the purpose of the blackened, technologically redundant record players remains a little elusive. What’s most interesting are the zine’s final pages, which contain Redford's application for a grant to the Australia Council (the government art body that funded this exhibition), as well as a previous, unsuccessful application. It's an unusually honest and transparent move. There's a lot going on in Reinhardt Dammn: Burn Rate, but it's still refreshing to see someone unveil the usually opaque machinations of the art world.
Anyone who ever had a sneaky pash in a dark corner of the pre-refurbed Abercrombie after multiple tequila shots and five sweaty hours of late night dance floor debauchery — and anyone who never got the chance — will be glad to know Purple Sneakers now has a not-so-shiny new home on Oxford Street. It wasn’t just great music but the promise of friendly faces and unmitigated antics that drew people through the Abercrombie’s doors until Purple Sneakers moved out in January 2010. New weekly rave Discovery promises to offer up much of the same along with an increased propensity for sweatiness (Brighton Up Bar is miniscule compared to the AH) and a lineup of bands/DJs/Producers that belies the venue’s size — the launch night was headlined by Step-Panther, who NME named one of the best new bands of 2012. All that in a venue far more convenient for hailing cabs in the early hours of Saturday morning. What more could you ask for?
For craft beer lovers, the best week of the year is upon us — Sydney Craft Beer Week is back again from Friday, October 21 through Sunday, October 30. Since there are a ridiculous amount of events on this year, we're bringing you the top ten to make sure you don't miss a beat. The best part — most of them are free. Drink on, craft beer friends.
Step into the strange and seductive world of Greek cinema as it lights up the screen at Palace Norton Street, as well as cinemas around the country. Now in its 23rd year, the latest edition of the Greek Film Festival boasts an expectedly eclectic program, ranging from fiction features to documentaries and a couple of Australian productions as well. The festival will begin with an opening night screening of Worlds Apart, a romantic anthology film from writer-director-actor Christopher Papakaliatis co-starring Oscar winner J.K. Simmons. It's one of a number of critically acclaimed contemporary films on the bill, with skewering social satire Chevalier and darkly comic thriller Suntan both deserving of a look. Other highlights including a pair of local productions by Greek-Australian filmmakers, in bold religious drama Sacred Heart and medicinal marijuana documentary A Life of Its Own. There's a lot to see, but find our picks of the five must-see films at this year's Greek Film Festival below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfE7zzOXR3A CHEVALIER One of our very favourite films of this year's Melbourne International Film Festival, Chevalier offers of deadpan critique on male insecurity. Directed by Attenberg's Athina Rachel Tsangari, who also co-wrote the screenplay with regular Lanthimos collaborator Efthymis Filippouk, the film is about six men on a yacht as they compete to determine who is "the best in general". How quickly can you solve a Rubik's cube? How good are you at household chores? Everything — and we mean everything — becomes fodder for their ridiculous contest, in a film that is both hilarious and profoundly sad. In addition to sessions at this year's Greek Film Festival, Chevalier is screening in Melbourne at ACMI until October 20. Read our full review here. SUNTAN Where Chevalier offers a cringingly funny look into the middle-aged male psyche, Suntan provides a more sinister view of a similar subject. Makis Papadimitriou stars as Kostis, a doctor who takes a job as a GP on a small Greek island, only to fall hard for a beautiful young tourist. But infatuation soon gives way to misanthropic obsession, as director Argyris Papadimitropoulos leads viewers down a path they may not wish to tread. The sun-soaked cinematography belies the darkness at the heart of this picture, which proves an uncomfortably compelling watch. A LIFE OF ITS OWN As the Australian medical community continues to debate the potential benefits of medicinal marijuana, Greek-Australian journalist and broadcaster Helen Kapalos delves into the controversial subject for herself. Inspired by her encounter with cancer sufferer Dan Haslam, who used cannabis to relieve his excruciating pain, A Life Of Its Own: The Truth About Medical Marijuana explores the social and political factors that shape legislation around the drug, while chronicling groundbreaking research that could make a world of difference. Kapalos will be on hand for public Q&As following screenings in Sydney and Melbourne. SMAC Critically acclaimed in its native Greece, Elias Demetriou's SMAC won the audience awards at both the Athens Outview Film Festival and Cyprus Film Days International Film Festival, and shapes up as essential viewing at this year's GFF. Evangelia Andreadaki stars as Eleni, a middle-aged lesbian woman struggling with a cancer diagnosis. In order to quell her fears of dying alone, Eleni invites a homeless man to live with her, leading to an unlikely friendship. Whatever you do, don't forget to bring a pack of tissues. BENEATH THE OLIVE TREE Inspired by secret journals written by imprisoned female political dissidents during the Greek Civil War between 1946 and 1949, Beneath the Olive Tree is described in the GFF program as "an exposé of courage, ideals, forgiveness, healing, and the important role our past plays in our present and future". Using a mix of archival footage, contemporary interviewers and motion capture animation, young New York-based documentarian Stavroula Toska recounts the remarkable stories of incredible women accused of crimes they didn't commit. The Greek Film Festival will run at Palace Norton Street in Leichhardt from Tuesday, October 11 until Sunday, October 23. For the full program, visit greekfilmfestival.com.au.
What could possibly be more Sydney than gathering seven of the city's most diverse musicians on the rooftop of a Parramatta carpark, and asking them to combine their music with dance, video projections and art installations for an epic one-off multimedia performance? Not much, really. And, as such, this is precisely what the Sydney Sacred Music Festival plan to do with a brand new work called Worlds Collide, which will be premiered atop said rooftop this September. In conjunction with Riverside Theatres, the festival's artistic director Richard Petkovic has gone about finding some of the best (and most culturally distinct) musicians in Sydney in an effort to take Australia's multicultural roots to the mainstream after he recognised a noticeable lack of diversity in the local music scene. "We've got these fantastic artists from different backgrounds — amazing DJs, amazing world musicians — and this is a great new work that represents us all," says Petkovic. "I do a lot of work in Western Sydney, and there I was able to find these hidden treasures in our community." So the choice of location — the rooftop of Parramatta's Wentworth Street carpark — was a natural choice. It's a unique venue and, according to Petkovic, represents where real people live. "I've always wanted to do an event on a carpark roof and when I looked at it I thought, 'this is not a gig that is going to suit people in a seat'," he says. "I want people to move, dance, get excited and really engage with the event." Musically, styles will span everything from world music to dance; meditative drones and sacred African chants will combine with the hip hop rhymes of Mt Druitt's Esky the Emcee and South Asian underground beats of Coco Varma's Sitar Funk. Art installations from Khaled Sabsabi, Marian Abood and Ghasan Saaid will also be featured. Sydney Sacred Music Festival begins on Friday, September 2 at Pemulwuy (Prospect Hill) with a performance from internationally acclaimed artist William Barton. Worlds Collide will kick off from 7pm the following night on Saturday, September 3 on the rook of the Wentworth Street carpark, Parramatta. You can buy tickets here. Image: Jens Thekkeveettil.
Going sailing with your dad is like going to IKEA with your partner — it will either bring you closer together and, at the end of the day, you'll be back-clapping and high fiving all over the joint, or it will drive you sorely apart. If you think you and your dad fall into the former camp, take you're assuredness to the seas of Sydney Harbour for Father's Day 2016. Don't have your own yacht? Not many people do. That's where Red Balloon come in. Purveyors of fine experiences as they are, they've sourced the yacht for you (the America's Cup) and will get you and your pop out on the seas with minimal action required on your behalf (like maybe you'll have to pull a rope or something, but that's it). For $65 per person, you'll get a two and a half-hour round trip journey on the 24-metre vessel, which will pick you up and return you to Darling Harbour.
