THE JOYS OF THE WOMEN

1993 55 mins Rated G Dir: Franco di Chiera

A group of Italian women from Fremantle, Western Australia, formed a choir called 'The Joys of the Women’ (Le Gioie Delle Donne), to sing traditional and contemporary songs. Choir member Kavisha Mazzella is a singer/songwriter wanting to learn more about her musical heritage. The film follows her journey to Italy to record traditional music and bring it back to the choir to keep the music alive. Some of the choir members recall their experiences as post-war immigrants in Western Australia.

A joyful musical experience involving real-life characters, full of light and shade, laughter and tears as it captures the larger than life characters in the Fremantle Italian Women’s chorus.

Did you find this film uplifting?

By pursuing a passion did the women find empowerment?

THREE DRAGON TENORS

Made in (2004) 30 min Dir: Rob Castiglione

The story of three Chinese singers who have dedicated their lives to mastering western opera. It follows their journey from China to Australia and in particular the difficulties they experienced pursuing their passion of opera during China’s Cultural Revolution. It explores several concurrent themes. The first is the sacrifices that artists often must make for their art. The second is that our private passions can transcend cultural and ethnic identities.

Did you see some similarities between Three Dragon Tenors and Mao's Last Dancer?

LOVE IN LIMBO

(1993) 99 min Rated M Dir: David Elfick

Cast: Rhondda Findleton, Martin Sachs, Aden Young, Craig Adams, Russell Crowe

This rites-of-passage period comedy set in WA in 1957 is set to the Rhythm and Blues tunes of unrequited love. Sixteen year old Ken Riddle, to whom sex is a mystery, joins his two mates from work on a trip to Kalgoorlie’s infamous red light street in a fumbling attempt to collectively lose their virginity. Coincidentally his glamorous widowed mother Gwen, a talented dress designer, sets out on her own wobbly journey, to a new romance - and a new career - on stiletto heels.

Shot in Kalgoorlie, Cottesloe and around Perth the film is full of icons of the era and social mores of the day. Puffing on Lucky Strikes lit by Zippos, driving Studebakers adorned with tailfins, the characters want to fall out of limbo and into love.

Did you think Russell Crowe's performance in a comedy role was suited to him.

Was the fifties era captured in this movie..and what was the main theme of the film?

ALL ABOUT OLIVE

Made in 2005 55min Rated PG Dir: Mike Rubbo

A documentary about Olive who at the age of 105, leaves a nursing home to visit her hometown. Olive is lively, sharp-witted and spirited as she challenges the stereotype of elderly people as frail, absent minded and uninteresting!

Did Olive inspire you and change your outlook on ageing?

WRONG WAY

(2007) 8 min Dir: Mandy Corunna

A true story told by a WA indigenous filmmaker about opposition to her parent’s marriage by their Aboriginal families and traditional laws. This short film demonstrates cultural background is no barrier to being in front or behind the camera and that making decisions and taking actions sets the course of your life journey.

Did you feel empathy for the young couple?

Do you think the filmmaker captured the realism of the situation?

LITTLE SPARROWS

(2010) 88 min Rated M Dir: Yu-Hsiu Camille Chen

Cast: Nicola Bartlett, James Hagan, Nina Deasley, Melanie Munt, Arielle Gray

In the midst of an Australian summer, we meet three sisters. Nina is widowed with two young children. Anna is an aspiring actress unhappily married to a filmmaker. Christine is a med student who is yet to fully come to terms with her sexuality. When their mother Susan’s breast cancer returns, the family is faced with choices and the reality of their last Christmas together. Our lives are the sum of our decisions and there is always a determining event along the journey.

Little Sparrows is 100 per cent Western Australian made and won the Outstanding Drama at the 24th WA Screen Awards, the 2010 DigiSPAA SPAArtan Award for Best Digital Feature Film and has screened at numerous film festivals around the world.

Did you get emotionally involved with all the characters?

How did you feel about the way Susan's husband dealt with the situation?

BRAN NUE DAE

(2009) 85 min Rated PG Dir: Rachel Perkins

Cast: Rocky McKenzie, Jessica Mauboy, Ernie Dingo, 'Missy' Higgins, Geoffrey Rush, Deborah Mailman

In the summer of 1969 a young man is filled with the life of the idyllic old pearling port Broome - fishing, hanging out with his mates and his girl. However his mother returns him to the religious mission in Perth for further schooling. After being punished for an act of youthful rebellion, he runs away from the mission. Spending the night on the streets of Perth he meets up with 'Uncle' Tadpole” and embarks on a journey that ultimately leads him back home.

Winner of the Most Popular Feature Film: Melbourne International Film Festival 2009 and nominated in the IF Awards, AFI Asia Pacific Screen Award and screened in film festivals around the world, this is a joyous musical based on the original screenplay by Jimmy Chi.

Do you think the film dealt with any serious issues facing Aboriginal people.

Did you think the film adapted well from the play.

Did you find the film uplifting or feel that it was too stereotypical