In this episode of the Cinema Australia Podcast, I’m joined by director, writer, co-producer, co-cinematographer, editor and visual effects supervisor Jack Dignan to discuss his latest film, Puzzle Box.

Jack began his career as an Australian film journalist, publishing written reviews across multiple platforms while working on his own DIY short films. In the lead up to After She Died, Jack spent some time working on high-profile Hollywood productions such as Thor: Love and Thunder, Furiosa, Elvis, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in various roles.

Puzzle Box follows substance abuser Kait who flees to a house in the woods to self-rehabilitate, while her sister Olivia joins to document the process. Following their arrival the house's layout begins to change, trapping them inside an inescapable puzzle box.

When I interview a filmmaker like Jack, I’m quickly reminded why I started Cinema Australia. To me, there’s nothing quite like interviewing an independent filmmaker at the beginning of their career. Hearing Jack’s stories about the making of his two films was a great thrill for me and I can’t thank Jack enough for being a part of this Podcast.

Anyway… enjoy.

Episode #102 | Jack Dignan

Hello, and welcome to the Cinema Australia Podcast. My name is Matthew Eeles. 

In this episode I’m joined by actor Jordan Fraser-Trumble who gives an outstanding performance in The Cost which is written and directed by Matthew Holmes. Matthew was a recent guest on this Podcast also discussing this new white-knuckle thriller.

In The Cost, Jordon plays David - one of two ordinary men intent on dispensing their own brutal form of justice after abducting a felon who committed a horrific crime many years before.

Jordan is a great actor whose career I have been following for many years now since his debut feature film performance in Holmes’ The Legend of Ben Hall back in 2017.

Jordan’s other feature film credits include West of Sunshine, and Freelance and Love, Tea and Epiphany which Jordan discusses here also.

This is a shorter episode than usual as this interview was originally recorded for my radio segment on the Community Radio Network. 

The Cost is available to rent now across the usual VoD platforms, and is also available on DVD and Blu-ray. This one is getting some great reviews, folks, and I can’t recommend it enough.

Anyway… enjoy.

Episode #103 | Jordan Fraser-Trumble

Georgia Eyers is an Australian actress from Brisbane who has gained some serious recognition recently following her impressive lead role in the supernatural horror film Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism alongside Dan Ewing and Tim Pocock. Prior to Godless, Georgia appeared in the WA film, The Xrossing, and recently reunited with that film’s director, Steven Mihaljevich, for his surreal and unsettling psychological drama, Violett.

In Violett, Georgia plays a sick Mother who fears unspeakable evil will soon snatch her 11 year old daughter.

With both The Xrossing and Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism now available to watch via different formats, a brief cinema release was recently announced for Vioeltt here in WA via Halo Films. Screenings for other states are set to be announced early next year.

In this interview, Georgia takes us back to the beginning of her career and how she got started in the industry. She also discusses being embraced by the horror community, and tells us about the impact making two psychologically demanding horror films back-to-back can have on a young actor. 

Anyway… enjoy.

Episode #104 | Georgia Eyers

In this episode I’m joined by The Big Dog writer and director, Dane McCusker.

The Big Dog follows Richard Morgan, a stockbroker, suburban family man - and secret findom addict. 

On the morning of his son’s graduation party, Richard discovers his dominatrix has cleaned out all of his bank accounts including the money for the graduation present – a new car. 

Now over the course of one Saturday, Richard must try and recover the $76,000 without his wife discovering his secret life.

Dane McCusker is a writer, producer and director of award-winning content across multiple mediums. Originally hailing from Bathurst, NSW, he moved to Sydney in 2009 to participate in the Australia Film Television and Radio School. 

With a film debut as good as The Big Dog is, Dane is certainly a filmmaker to keep an eye on. 

Anyway… enjoy.

Episode #105 | Dane McCusker

In this episode of the Cinema Australia Podcast, I’m joined by internationally-renowned filmmaker Scott Hicks for what I consider to be a very special interview. 

Interviews like this are the exact reason I launched Cinema Australia just over ten years ago. I set out to capture Australian filmmaking stories, and th those that Scott shares here about his career are priceless. As a keen Australian film enthusiast, I spent most of this interview in a state of awe. 

Scott shares previously untold stories here, such as the complete narrative behind the production of his unreleased tele-movie, Call Me Mr. Brown, and the time he tactfully guided a inebriated Bill Hunter back on track.

Scott also talks about learning from filmmaking giants like Peter Weir and Bruce Beresford, his creative partnership with Australian acting legend Chris Haywood, and of course we talk about Shine. 

Scott and I actually got so caught up talking about his career that we almost ran out of time to discuss his latest film, The Musical Mind… A Portrait in Process. We do get there eventually towards the end of the interview, so if you’re here specifically for that, hang in there.

An Emmy, Peabody and multiple AACTA award-winning filmmaker, Scott Hicks has also been nominated for two Academy Awards as Director and Writer, and British Academy Awards for Directing and Best Film. His documentary on Philip Glass was short-listed for Oscar® nomination and nominated for an Emmy.

He was honoured as South Australian of the Year in 1999 and then as Australian of the Year for South Australia in 2008. Scott received a Doctorate of Letters and a Premier’s Lifetime achievement award.

Together with his close friend David Chiem, CEO of global company MindChamps, Scott formed MAY30 Entertainment to create quality entertainment for the international market. The Musical Mind… A Portrait in Process marks the first releases for MAY30.

Sparked by the impending 25th anniversary of the Academy award-winning blockbuster Shine, The Musical Mind… A Portrait in Process explores the power of the musical brain. Featuring exclusive, intimate footage of super-star international musicians in their private worlds, it opens an intriguing portal into the musical mind.

Anyway… enjoy.

Episode #106 | Scott Hicks

Heath Davis joins the latest episode of the Cinema Australia Podcast to discuss Christmess which he wrote, directed and co-produced. 

If you keep up to date with the latest Australian film releases, you’ve no doubt heard about Christmess. It’s getting a lot of buzz at the moment with sold out screenings on the East Coast, upcoming screenings in Western Australia and Tasmania. There’s national media interest and you may have even spotted a digital billboard for the film on your way home from work. 

If you’ve already attended one of the screenings, you would have heard Heath talk during a Q&A. He’s doing his best to travel around the country with the film which is admirable. This is a filmmaker who backs and believes in his work. 

Heath is one of Australia’s most exciting filmmakers, and there are few filmmakers whose new films I anticipate more than his. If you haven’t seen Book Week, I highly recommend it. Heath’s other films include the crime thriller Locusts and Broke as well as a stack of shorts which have enjoyed success at Tribeca, Flickerfest, MIFF and more. 

Christmess follows Chris (played by Steve Le Marquand), a once famous actor who now performs as a shopping centre Santa Claus after his alcohol addiction puts a pause on his acting career. After bumping into his estranged daughter, he seeks help for his recovery in order to win his daughter's forgiveness.

Christmess co-stars Middle Kids lead singer Hannah Joy in a breakout performance, and Darren Gilshenan in arguably the best performance of his esteemed career. 

Put simply, Christmess is unmissable. It’s the perfect tonic to most of the mind-numbing Hollywood dross currently saturating mainstream cinemas. The Hunger Games Part 47… really?

More and more Christmess screenings are popping up daily, so be sure to follow Christmess on socials to find out where you can see it near you. 

Anyway… enjoy.

Episode #107 | Heath Davis

My guests on this episode are The Rooster writer and director, Mark Leonard Winter, and co-producers Mahveen Shahraki and Geraldine Hakewill.

The Rooster is simply must-see cinema. It’s an experience. The Rooster transcends cinematic boundaries, delving deep into the human experience and illuminating the darkest corners of our minds with a shining light. Mark Leonard Winter’s visionary storytelling proves that he is not just a talented actor, but a genuine filmmaker.

The Rooster follows Dan, a small-town cop. When the body of his oldest friend Steve (Rhys Mitchell) is found buried in a shallow grave, Dan seeks answers from a volatile hermit (Hugo Weaving) who was the last person to see his friend alive. As Dan gets closer to the truth, he must confront his own personal demons and he discovers that hope can be found in unlikely places.

This interview plays as a companion piece to my interview with Mark which I published last year ahead of the film’s screenings at MIFF and CinefestOZ. While that interview was a deep dive into the making of the film, this interview is a bit more playful.

Anyway... enjoy.

Episode #108 | Mark Leonard Winter, Geraldine Hakewill and Mahveen Shahraki

My guests on this episode are The Switchblade Sisterhood writer, director, producer and cinematographer, Davo Hardy, and actor Kieran Hudson, who makes his feature film debut as lead actor in this film. 
  
Regular listeners of the Cinema Australia Podcast will know that Davo is no stranger here. This is Davo’s third time as a guest, and it’s always a pleasure to hear from Davo as his career progresses. 

The Switchblade Sisterhood follows a young woman grieving the death of her mother. Discovering she has a half-sister, bearing a grudge over their late mother’s abandonment of her, the two take solace in exploring the deceased’s belongings; where they find a book on radical second-wave feminism and a literal switchblade.

Both of which are used as weapons of choice in a bitter rivalry about fractured families, gender roles and personal, contemporary and intergenerational politics.

The Switchblade Sisterhood is available to watch now via davohardyfilms.com where you can also find Davo’s previous films including features and shorts. 

Anyway… enjoy.

Episode #109 | Davo Hardy And Kieran Hudson

My guest on this episode is Bill Bennett, the writer, director, and co-producer of The Way, My Way - a charming true story of Bill himself, and one of his many walks on the 800-kilometer-long Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route through Spain. The film is based on Bill’s best-selling memoir of the same name.

Bill is one of Australia’s most experienced and respected filmmakers, having made a ton of feature films and numerous documentaries over a forty-year period.

Bill has received Australian Film Institute Awards for Best Film and Best Director; he’s had two films in the Official Selection at the Cannes Film Festival, four films in Toronto, and had three major international retrospectives.

As usual with this podcast, we go much deeper than just a filmmaker’s most recent film.

Here, Bill takes us all the way back to the beginning of his career and his almost-immediate success with early films like A Street to Die and Backlash.

Bill also shares some incredible stories about making films like Spider & Rose, Kiss or Kill, Two if by Sea with Sandra Bullock, and The Nugget, which he filmed with a very ill Belinda Emmett while 9/11 was happening at the same time.

Regular listeners will know how much I love doing these retrospective-style interviews, so this one was a real treat.

Anyway… enjoy.

Episode #110 | Bill Bennett

Collecting Australian filmmaking stories. Discover more at www.cinemaaustralia.com.au.

Episode #110 | Bill Bennett

Cinema Australia

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