Ooh, nearly spelt a rude word just then! (think about the word shift a little more creatively and you'll see how)
So yet another fabulous night of Australian shorts, talking to film buffs and chatting with my boss Kimiko about working Inside Film. I have to admit the idea of working in film publications has never been an option I would normally have considerd for my career but according to Kimiko, neither was it for her. Her background resides in a strict radio/television production experience with 8 years under her belt at a local Sydney production house. She said she got into Inside Film only 6 weeks ago when she applied for the role of partnerships manager and was surprised they took her based on her experience. The role basically entails that she is in charge of any activities or events where Inside Film may be a sponsor on the night or do that as well as collect ratings for their awards in November, one of the most highly acclaimed Australian film awards category going around. Her job sounds cool but I don't think I could take sitting in an office for the majority of my job - i have to get out on set.
Tonight's favourite film was definitely View From The Outer, a brilliant little documentary about footy fanatics, and I mean, crazy, crazy fans who just love one thing and one thing only: their AFL team. The film features 4 fans: an elderly grandma who flies to Melbourne every Thursday from Hobart and then home again on Mondays just to watch the teams train and the games on Saturday and Sunday; a young Melbourne boy who looks like he would be more comfortable sitting in the dark immersed in his computer but who has a budding passion for the Eagles; a Magpies fan who literally eats, breathes and lives everything Collingwood; and finally, a hilarious Demons fan who is renowned for his long, dyed red and blue hair at all the Melbourne games. The characters are definitely the best part of this entire film just because they are so extreme, it's hard to think they are real. Which is exactly what I did until someone set me straight after I commented on how much of a crazy mockumentary it was only to be corrected by a kind stranger who said it was actually a documentary and the people in it were completely, 100% Australian made, real. I was gobsmacked! Seriously, these people were just nuts! Their entire lives revolved around a sport that for the life of me I have never been able to understand the attraction of and they actually exist! It was crazy but the film really was just an in-depth look into the culture of fanaticism being part of something greater than yourself, of being included and feeling like one of the team. It was a nice touch at the end when the filmmakers revealed what happened to the characters after the film had finished with the elderly lady still flying to her weekend games, the Melbourne fan buying out the entire company who supplied his hair dye, the young boy becoming closer to his father through their love of the game, and the Magpies fan still doing what he does best - living, breathing and being everything Collingwood.
I found the film extremely interesting in relation to Christine's comments earlier in the semester about making extreme characters for our films so that they would be interesting and the drama featured in the films would come more naturally. In this case however, I realised it is possible just to find these characters in real life and simply film their crazy antics and put it in a film. I'm now considering the possibility of documentary a little more thanks to this little gem.
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