Talks and live happenings that pay homage to the small screen in a cult celebration of TV.

Talking TV

Presented as part of Hey Girl, this panel discussion, hosted by comedian Judith Lucy, will look at girls on screen in a special evening dedicated to dissecting some of the funniest and fetchest pop-culture favourites.

Featuring Mel Campbell, Jessica Knight, Billie Tumarkin and Candy Bowers this conversation is suited to girls, anyone who was once a girl and anybody who knows a girl.

It’s hard to know whether to cheer or groan at the success of Lena Dunham’s hit TV show Girls. On one hand, it’s encouraging to see real, imperfect female bodies on screen. On the other hand, it’s depressing that such images are still revolutionary. ‘There's people who don't want to see bodies like mine, or bodies like their own bodies,’ Dunham has said.

Girls is just one show that has inspired some fiery debates about female representation and diversity in popular culture. Our panel – comprising some of the smartest young women we know – will also respond to clips from Broad City, Freaks & Geeks, The Katering Show, Puberty Blues and, of course, Mean Girls. Can we see ourselves in these characters? Who is left out in representations of girls on screen? What power do these representations hold over our imaginations? And could there ever be a show about girls as gross as The Inbetweeners?

YAS KWEEN: Girls on Screen Podcast

Much to the joy of Twin Peaks fans, master of surrealist nightmares David Lynch has re-visited Twin Peaks after 25 years. Season three sees the return of many of the characters that touched our hearts and haunted our dreams. 

Join Andy Hazel, host of 'Twin Peaks: The Return, A Podcast' and a panel of writers and critics for some damn fine coffee and doughnuts as we venture back to the realm of the Black Lodge.

Twin Peaks: No One Is Innocent

Having conquered the cutthroat world of satirical online cooking shows with The Katering Show (Australian TV's all-time most viewed digital series), the two Kates are ready to take their trademark sassy swipe at morning lifestyle television in Get Krack!n, a new series for Seeso and ABC.

Each morning the Kates will shuffle through a roster of unsafe demonstrations, surly guests, unprepared experts and the over-lit decomposition of the duo’s already rocky relationship. Viewers will quickly discover that McLennan and McCartney will leave no cultural touchstone unturned, even though they are in no capacity qualified to speak on them, or on anything for that matter.

As always, neither of the women has any sense of on-camera technique. While McCartney’s Daria-esque enthusiasm is a total miss-match to the bright and breezy format, McLennan’s hosting is imbued with a fetid air of desperation. The show should be McCartney and McLennan’s Big US Break. But, like any televisual format that the Kates put their rough, manly hands to, things on Get Krack!n will go downhill fast.

This Q&A with Kate McLennan and Kate McCartney followed the screening of the first two episodes.

Series Mania 2017 Get Krack!n Q and A

This Q&A with Ian Collie, Wally Elnour, Ez Eldin Deng, Anna McLeish, Sarah Shaw, Matt Cameron and Elise McCredie follwed the screening of the first episode of Sunshine which was selected as Series Mania Melbourne's opening night screening, 

Sunshine is a vibrant, kinetic and compelling high stakes fictional crime drama that explores a world of contrasts - truth and reconstruction, past and present, hope and heartbreak – felt by those forging a new life in a foreign land. 

The 4 x 1 hour series is set in the summer of 2017 in the Melbourne suburb of Sunshine. The story follows Jacob Garang (Wally Elnour), a young, aspiring South Sudanese-Australian basketball player who is on the cusp of being picked up by scouts for the US College league. However, Jacob’s team is not up to his standard and so he angles to bring in a new coach to help with the team’s performance. His pick is Eddie Grattan (Anthony LaPaglia), a local who once played for a US college team, but has long since retired and operates a small sports store in Sunshine. Almost against his best instincts, Eddie accepts an approach by Jacob to coach his underperforming team, The Sunshine Kings. 

In the midst of his aspirations, Jacob finds himself answering to Sunshine-raised lawyer Zara Skelton (Melanie Lynskey) when he is caught up in a police investigation involving a young teenage girl who has been violently assaulted and is now in a coma fighting for her life.

Series Mania 2017 Sunshine Q and A

Is the recent trend in 80s retro films and TV symbolic of a nostalgia for a simpler era?

The 80s was a decade renowned for its excess - think money, drugs, eyeshadow and lycra. From Stranger Things and Glow to Spielberg’s upcoming Ready Player One, we look at contemporary TV and films that transport us back to the decade defined by  ET, The Goonies, big hair, pastels and 12-sided dice.

But what does this recent trend in 80s retro nostalgia tell us about ourselves? Are we nostalgic for a simpler pre-Trump age?

Join filmmaker Glendyn Ivin, academic Dr Lauren Rosewarne and critic Mel Campbell in a neon-coloured, synth-scored exploration of our yearning for 80s small town America.

Copyright Acknowledgments 

Title: Stranger Things, Series One, Episode One
Copyright: Netflix

Title: Stranger Things, Series One, Episode Two
Copyright: Netflix

Title: Glow, Series One, Episode Seven
Copyright: Netflix

Title: Wet Hot American Summer
Copyright: USA Films

Title: E.T.
Copyright: Universal Pictures

Title: The Goonies
Copyright: Warner Bros.

Title: Stand By Me
Copyright: Columbia Pictures

Title: Puberty Blues, Season One, Episode One
Copyright: Endemol Australia

Title: Puberty Blues, Season One, Episode Three
Copyright: Endemol Australia


Title: Cracker Bag
Copyright: Glendyn Ivin

ACMI Conversations: Retro Nostalgia

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Series Mania 2017 Get Krack!n Q and A

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