Still from The Boy Who Loved Rain.
by Simon Sellars
Originally published in RealTime issue #81 Oct-Nov 2007.
RECENTLY IN REALTIME AND ELSEWHERE I’VE BEEN CRITICAL OF AUSTRALIAN SHORT FILM AND ANIMATION, SO MUCH SO I’M BEGINNING TO BORE MYSELF (AND DOUBTLESS OTHERS) WITH THE OLD REFRAIN. STILL, I VOICE THESE CRITICISMS FROM A POSITION OF RESPECT FOR […]
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Still from Carnivore Reflux.
by Simon Sellars
Published in RealTime issue #80 Aug-Sept 2007.
AT THE MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION FESTIVAL’S CAREERS IN ANIMATION FORUM, AN AUDIENCE MEMBER WANTED TO KNOW WHAT INSTITUTIONS LOOK FOR IN THEIR ENTRANCE INTERVIEWS. ROBERT STEPHENSON (VCA) SAID THAT AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE BODY’S MOVEMENT AND MECHANICS IS USEFUL. HE SUGGESTED WOULD-BE ANIMATORS ENROL […]
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Still from Sniffer.
by Simon Sellars
Originally published in RealTime issue #75 Oct-Nov 2006.
Although MIFF’s short film agenda was certainly exhaustive, my ‘best on ground’ was the Focus on Nordic Shorts selection, uniformly excellent and sharing the blackest humour, absolute self-deprecation and a savage willingness to torch convention. Sniffer (director Bobbie Peers, Norway, 2005, 12 mins) imagined […]
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Alice et Moi, dir. Micha Wold
‘Power without Punchlines’ by Simon Sellars. Originally published in RealTime magazine, #68 Aug-Sep 2005.
The St Kilda Film Festival did not get off to an auspicious start. Opening night was supposed to showcase the cream of Australia’s top 100 shorts but the session was characterised by tired scenarios and an almost […]
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Melatonin, photo: Kirsten Bradley
by Simon Sellars
Originally published in RealTime Magazine, #62, August/September 2004.
I’m told “sleep music” is a new genre: music to listen to while dozing off. Emboldened by this, I visited Bus Gallery with palpable excitement. I’ve often yearned for a club that, instead of inducing forward motion through hyper-accelerated beats, piped in music […]
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Jonathan Nix, ‘Hello’
by Simon Sellars
‘The Intricate Making of Animators’. Originally published in RealTime magazine, Aug-Sep 2004.
Australian animators are a hardy mob. Working in an industry that’s noticeably cramped, they are largely under resourced and mostly undervalued. I recently talked to a range of animators from around the country who have had one or 2 short […]
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by Simon Sellars
‘The Making of a Tasmanian Film Industry’. Originally published in RealTime magazine #61, Jun-Jul 2004.
In RT58, I interviewed a group of Melbourne directors and producers about the environmental factors that influence their films. Besides the weather, the main aspect cited was Melbourne’s distance from Sydney: geographically and financially (most of the funding flies […]
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Still from Harvie Krumpet (2003; dir. Adam Elliot).
‘Krumpet Wins!’ by Simon Sellars. Originally published in RealTime magazine, no. 57 Oct-Nov 2003.
Adam Elliot is being trumpeted as Australia’s most successful short filmmaker, and it’s hard to argue with that. In June, his 23-minute claymation, Harvie Krumpet, won three of the four major prizes at Annecy, the […]
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Cornerfold screenshot: I Am A Toaster: Courtney Collins/Allison Colpoys
by Simon Sellars
Originally published in RealTime magazine, no. 55 June–July 2003.
The New York Times recently posited that only two things succeed on the Internet: shopping, as perfected by Amazon, and searching, as perfected by Google (pornography could be added, too, perfected by everyone). The Times paints […]
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