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Rough cut of “Making it Handmade” finished and other news!

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Photo by Rayna Fahey

Finally, I have finished the rough cut for “Making it Handmade!”. It feels great but also has left me feeling unmotivated, or maybe I just need some rest after arriving in my office too many mornings at 4:30am to begin work! Yes madness I know, but I’m not a very good sleeper and figured why spend two to three hours trying to get back to sleep when I could go and work, undisturbed instead!! It was a great idea at the time, but I think I’m paying for it now.

I screened the cut to Rayna Fahey of Radical Cross Stitch and Casey Jenkins of Craft Cartel, who are both in it, the other night and got a great response from them, which was ace. They said they felt inspired to go out and make more things. I just hope it has the same effect on everyone who watches it!

Other news, if you are in the Philippines, try and grab a copy of the Jan/Feb edition of Playboy magazine as there is an article about female erotic filmmakers, and yes I’m one of them. I was hoping to post the article here but I’m still waiting on the last three pages…they gave the article 6 pages!!

An article I wrote on the amazing women I meet at the Berlin Porn Film Festival (which is calling for entries for this years festival), in Metro magazine, has hit news stands, so go and check it out!

Still on amazing women at the Berlin Porn Film Festival, Petra Joy is soon releasing an exiting compilation of female made erotica, with scenes from the films and interviews, called “Her Porn Volume Two”. She interviewed me for it while I was in Berlin, so I can’t wait to see the final product. The trailer is online now, but be warned its nude and sexy, so don’t watch it at work!!! hee hee

Also got two very exciting bits of news over the past few days but have to keep a lid on it for a little while, but will let you know as soon as I’m able! I hate keeping secrets!

The Band nominated for Feminist Porn Awards

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I’m so thrilled! The Band has been nominated for a Feminist Porn Award! Very exciting. I would love to make the journey to Toronto for the awards but I’m back teaching this week so I’m guessing I’ll have to miss this one. Such a bummer, that is one of the dramas of living on an island at the bottom of the world! But still very excited to be in such good company!

Other good news is that my doco “Making it Handmade!” has a few paragraphs written about it in the most recent addition of IF
(Inside Film) magazine! Does this mean I’m moving from Smut maker to legitimate filmmaker??? Hee hee Like I would care either way!

Also two festivals has asked to have a look at “Making it Handmade!” so I need to return to editing. I’m nearly done, but I need to go and shot some more footage on Thursday. Nothing very exciting, just computer screens and the like, but its getting closer to being a complete rough cut so that is exciting. Next I need to get some fresh eyes to have a look and give me some feedback!

Australia’s sexploitation and erotic filmmaking history!

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Last week wasn’t as productive as I hoped. The intense and ongoing heat, knocked me out and made it impossible to sleep, but the rough cut for “Making it Handmade!” is still chugging along. I’m finding it interesting to see how over the year or so that I shot this documentary, not only did my interviewing technique improve but also my shooting skills. Yet again making another film has been a massive learning curve for me! I guess that is something that sucks me in…everytime you make another film you learn something new!

Any of you reading this are probably thinking, but what does that have to do with Australia’s sexploitation and erotic filmmaking history….to be honest not much, accept I was working on the film when I spoke with legendary Australian Erotic filmmaker John D Lamond. Like most Australian genre filmmakers you may not know his work but if you’ve seen that great documentary about ozploitation, “Not quite hollywood!” you would probably know who he is. Just to refresh your memory, he is the one being interviewed with a pole dancer in the background or you may have seen some of his film “the ABC of love and sex: Australian Style” and “Felicity”, just to name a few.

I was interested to talk with him but also a little weary as I have found male film makers of that generation to be …..how does one put this…pigs! However, John was anything but! He was lovely, humorous and extremely personable. We talked about the trials and tribulations of making erotic films in Australia, from dealing with censorship issues to trying to find cast who can act and don’t have a problem taking off their clothes. He was as wealth of information and shared so many stories about his filmmaking adventures not only here but overseas. One story that suck in my mind was how he challenged the censorship board in regards to masturbation scenes in “the ABC of love and sex: Australian Style”, inspirational and sad that still as a society that is so inundated with sexual images in our daily lives from advertising to music video clips on TV, we still are more threatened by sex than we are by violence….. It was truly an honour to speak with him and fingers crossed I get to work with him in the future.

I have always felt like I was working in a bubble here, until I went to Berlin last year and meet so many amazing women making films, so it was nice to connect with a fellow erotic filmmaker here in Australia who strives to make good erotic films with high production design, good scripts and acting. I no longer feel so alone!!! hee hee

Must return to the edit suite as I have a strict deadline to have the rough cut finished by the end of Feb. As my dad would say its time to put your head down and your bum up!

Rough Cutting “Making it Handmade!”

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Knickers Making Day from a Kaotic Kraft Kuties Gathering.

Last week, after an extremely unproductive and frustrating week, I have decided to take a rest from writing “Talk to Me”. It was driving me nuts and I kept trying to do everything else to avoid writing. As one of my music teachers said when I was a child “procrastination is the robber of time and thief of opportunity!” So rather than continue the torture I have put the script aside until I’m once again ready to face it and make a more concerted and positive go of it!

In the meantime, my hands have not been still and I have begun rough cutting “Making it Handmade!” This is bringing me considerable joy and after three days I’m nearly half way through it! Why is making films so much more fun than writing them!!!??

“Making it Handmade!” is the first real documentary I have attempted. I’ve been shooting it for about a year now and the editing skills I learnt while working as an editing assistant under the brilliant Tony Stevens last year has been invaluable. Thanks Tony you rock!

I’m hoping to have a rough cut finished by the end of Feburary, so I must return to FCP and continue.

No doubt I will write again before the end of march….but if not keep an out for an article I wrote on the Berlin Porn Film Festival in Metro Magazine.

Script writing and other computer bound tasks!

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Happy New Year. I hope you all had a good break. Mine was spent painting the lounge room, which is now a lovely shade of yolk yellow and white!

After a recent heat wave here in Melbourne I am once again back in my office typing away. First port of call for the new year was two articles on The Berlin Porn Film Festival and some of the brilliant women I meet there, Candida Royalle, Petra Joy, Ovidie and Shine Louise Huston. This also meant I finally got to view the armfuls of film I brought back with me from The Berlin Porn Film Festival. A few stand outs were “Champion: love hurts” by Shine Louise Huston, a seriously hot and queer film for women that was beautifully shot, moody and brutal at times. It was great to see some real porn for lesbian rather than the high heeled hetero male fantasy we are served up in mainstream pornography. Petra Joy’s “art-core” Female Fantasies, great art direction and excellent sexual chemistry between the actors. Jennifer Lyon Bell’s serious sexy short film called Matinee and I revisited Ovidie’s Stories of Sex(es) which is still hilariously funny and sexy at the same time.

“The Band” is showing at the Athens Porn Film Festival this weekend, so if you happen to be in Greece please go out and check it out!

I’m still wading through the rewrite of “Talk to me”. I was hoping to have it done by the silly season but it didn’t happen so I have until the end of the month to make it work! Then I will sink my teeth into creating a trailer for “making it handmade” which should be up on Youtube sometime in Febuary, but I’ll let you know.

I must return to my re-writing and I promise to post more regularly this year than I did last!

Being tied to my computer…oh if only it was sexual too!

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Yes, as you can guess from this posts title I am busy trying to knock out another draft of my telemarketing musical that is a lesbian love story called “Talk to me” before the silly season takes over and I spend too much time consuming excessive amounts of food.

I originally wrote the first draft of this film back in March 2003!! Its been sitting in my draw for quite a while but I have continued to make notes on how I would like to change it for the past 6 years. This draft is taking a very different path, but I’m enjoying taking it in a new direction, its refreshing and makes it easier to write in some ways.
I actually find writing quiet stressful and taxing. I have such a vivid imagination and can see my whole film in my head; what the characters look like, who they are, what shots I would use, how it will look, but transferring that to paper for me is painful. People have often said that if they read my scripts and then watch my films they are surprised how different they are! Sanne who was the DOP said the script for ‘The Band” was cheesy and she said the main character was very bland and dull, but that the actress I cast brought another layer to it that wasn’t in the script…I guess I am an actor’s director. I love rehearsing my scripts with actors and seeing what works, giving them the freedom to change and shape, maybe I need to write all my scripts by just video graphing the actors work shopping it and go from there???
However, I often write my whole script or ideas in longhand…yes I’m talking about using a pen and paper. I know its old school but I find it can sometimes open up my mind and provide solutions particularly when I have writers block, or am frustrated. The other useful tool, is going off to write somewhere else. A new environment and space you can gaze out into can make all the difference.
On another note, check out this short doco Louise Lush shot of the Berlin Porn Film Festival. Also if you look back at the old posts from Berlin Porn Film Festival here you will notice I have now added some photos. Above is my hero Candida Royalle and myself at Opening night of the festival.
Enjoy and have a good silly season.

Berlin Porn Film Festival wrap up and other news!

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Its hard to believe that it has been a month since the opening night of the Berlin Porn Film Festival. After my last post, my days just became a blur of interviewing some of the amazing female film makers at the festival and being interviewed myself.

Some of the highlights were meeting Ovidie for France who made a hilariously funny film called “Histories de Sexe(s)”, great realistic sex scenes, excellent acting and dialogue that had me splitting my sides with laughter! She also interviewed me for a tv channel she works for in France and I interviewed her! Talk about mutual appreciation society and love!
Got to see a documentary about Petra Joy (the Joy of Porn) and her path to making erotic films, which made me realise what a unique group of women film makers where represented at the festival and how different our visions are compared to the mainstream industry! Petra also interviewed me for “Her Porn 2” which is the second in her series on women erotic film makers. She also held the Joy Award to support and encourage more women to make erotica. A film by Australian, Lousie Lush. Her film was a refreshing take on erotica and I hope this is the first of many films to come from her.
Another highlight was being interviewed for German cinephile magazine “Cinearte“. Sabine, who interviewed me was well researched and a joy to talk with. So if you are in Germany I think it will be coming out in jan 2010!
While, Berlin was a crazy 6 days I got to meet so many amazing people and I can’t recommend enough, despite the expense of going to an overseas festival the contacts you make face to face are priceless!
Since returning home, I have done an interview for Playboy in the Philippines! And if you speak or read french check out this article written by a lovely woman called Stephaine!
Also The Band was released on 17th November in the US! Its available through amazon and is uncut, much to my delight! While in Berlin I learnt that the R rated version of the film has been cut by 2mins!! Still haven’t seen the dubbed German version yet but looking forward to having on hopefully in my hot little hand soon! Still no word on an Australia distributor, dingers, I mean fingers crossed there will be one soon!
Much to my disappointment I have also discovered someone has ripped and illegally posted an edited version of The Band online. This saddened my greatly as being a small independent filmmaker who has spent the last three year of her life working unpaid on the film, my only way of recouping is through distribution deals and actions like that stop that opportunity. So whoever you are I am disgusted by your disrespect and people like you will kill independent film makers who offer an alternative to the mainstream cinema. Basically, I think you are an arsehole and if I ever meet you would like to make you a few new ones…and that’s being nice!

Opening Night of the Berlin Porn Film Festival

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Oh wow! I was a little nervous before it all started, but with a glass of champagne in hand, I was whisked off to be interviewed by a queer german TV show. They put me in front of a great piece of art which was lots of different photos of colored vaginas! I have to admit though I was quite distracted as there was also a squirting video/ performance art piece playing on the wall and I kept on catching glimpses of it as they interviewed me.

It was a great night, all three cinemas were packed to the rafters and they also added in more seats! Madness. I had so much positive feedback at the end and people kept coming up to me all night, it was such a high! Yet, again I didn’t sit in the theatre and watch it with an audience, but my spies told me that everyone was having a good laugh, which is what I was hoping…that people thought it was funny and sexy!
I meet some amazing women film makers, Petra Joy, Shine Lousie Huston and Candida Royalle, who I had interviewed earlier that day. Meeting Candida was thrilling. I have admired her for a very long time. I remember being about 15 or so and reading an article about her films and thought, “Wow, this woman is amazing’! And she is. I could have stayed there for hours but I had to get back and get ready for the night. Such an intelligent and sexy woman! She is so open and so willing to help other women who want to make erotic films.
This afternoon I went to get some tickets for other screenings and I meet Oli and Tat from Madrid, Spain who run an independent adult film festival in Madrid. They were so much fun and it was great to practice my spanish, I haven’t laughed like that for a long time. To make it even better they have invited The Band to screen at the festival in Madrid next year!! I love Madrid and everytime I have been there it feels like home, so this blew my mind! They also asked me to recommend other Australian film makers who are making erotica or film about sex, so any of you out there reading this check out the link and send them your work! They Rock!
I’m on the jury for the short film competition here so I have to head back and sit in the dark womb of the cinema, will keep you posted with what else is happening here!
I’ve been trying to upload pictures but for some reason my internet connection keeps crashing!

Berlin Porn Film Festival

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Well tonight is the night that The Band will open the Berlin Porn Film Festival! I would say I’m nervous but have so much to do before then, it probably won’t hit me until I’m standing up in front of the audience before the film starts!

Sanne Kurz who was the brilliant DOP for the film has arrived in Berlin and we have been having a great time catching up..its like we haven’t been apart but when you have such a strong creative bond with someone it is hard to lose all connection!
I went past the cinema yesterday to pick up my pass and the well organised team were putting the finishing touches on hanging artwork and putting up posters. One volunteer has travelled all the way from Ireland to come and be a part of it!
Today, I’m off to meet the German distributor, Wolfgang of Cult Movies. He is coming to do an interview with me but I’m not sure what for yet…but I guess I will find out this afternoon.
After that I have a meeting with the other jury members who will be voting on the best short films, then I’m off to interview Candida Royalle. She has been such a support for me over the years so it will be great to finally meet her in person.
Keep tuned for tomorrows post as I will have photos and stories from Opening night!

The road to Berlin!

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Only 3 days to go and I will be heading off the Berlin Porn Film Festival!  I’m very excited and can’t wait to see The Band on the big screen.  I was just musing the other day how conservative Australia is and the fact that if The Band was screened in public here we would be committing a crime, yet in Berlin its all fine!  Mmmmm maybe I should move to Germany…..

Also, Sanne Kurz who is a wonderful and talented DOP (director of photography) who shot The Band wasn’t going to be able to make the screening as she will be off shooting in Prague. Boo hoo!  However, she contacted me yesterday to say she will be there!  YAH!  I’ve also got some close friend’s coming from London too, so I’m guessing we will be in for some good times.
However, I will have to limit my late nights as I’m a mad woman who can’t sit still, and have decided to shoot a documentary while I’m there!!  Well I figured all these amazing female film makers who are breaking boundaries and reinventing the adult genre, its too good an opportunity to miss.  I’ll be interview pioneering erotic film maker Candida Royalle, Art-Core creator and award winning film maker Petra Joy, photographer and artist Emilie Jouvet from France, Fetish film maker Julie Simone; and erotic star/ cross over mainstream actress and film maker Ovidie.  Its going to be a kick arse group of women!
Can’t wait.  Keep you eyes peeled here for the daily updates I’ll be posting while in Berlin!