DocTalk

CULTURE IS NOT AN INDUSTRY
Professor Justin O’Connor (University of South Australia)

The way we talk about the film industry (and about culture in general) in our society has become narrow and stale, concerned mostly with economics or questions of representation. In this keynote speech, Professor Justin O’Connor (University of South Australia) will offer us a broad critique that does not neglect these questions but deepens them. With Covid a repressed memory and the Revive National Cultural Policy now over a year old, O’Connor asks Where the Australian cultural sector is headed. He argues that the cultural sector, still hoping to be taken seriously as a growth industry, remains one of the last bastions of the old neoliberal order, and proposes an alternative way of viewing culture, offering us a new framework to reclaim the value of creative nonfiction cinema.

INDIGENOUS PROTOCOLS AND POLICIES IN FILM: A CANDID REVIEW
Rachel Perkins (Filmmaker), Pauline Clague (Producer), Angela Bates (Head of First Nations Department, Screen Australia, Angie Abdilla (Professor at the School of Cybernetics, ANU)

The past 10 years have seen the introduction of legal and ethical protocols, funding criteria, and production guidelines, broadly designed to protect Indigenous control around the representation of First Nations’ knowledge and stories. Where have these changes been successful, and where are they failing? What do filmmakers need to be conscious of when making a film about Indigenous topics? We have put together a panel of experienced First Nations’ filmmakers, producers and researchers to give you their honest analysis and reflections on the issue.

INSIDE THE CREATIVE MIND OF DOCUMENTARY SOUND DESIGNERS

Martín Benchimol & Sofía Straface (The Castle, Argentina), Tormod Ringnes, (Songs Of Earth, Norway), Xavier Erkizia, (Samsara, Spain).

The role of sound design in filmmaking is often underestimated, yet if the project of documentary filmmaking is to help shape our perception of the world around us, then sound is arguably the most important item in the documentarians tool kit. Whether sound is used to bring the off-screen to life, deepen our understanding through sensory perception, or immerse us in another world, this panel reflects on the different creative approaches to sound in non-fiction cinema.

JOHN WILSON IN CONVERSATION WITH ISABELLA TRIMBOLI
John Wilson (Filmmaker, USA), Isabella Trimboli (Film Critic, Moderator)

John Wilson is the brilliant young filmmaker behind the hit HBO show How To With John Wilson. In a world saturated with content, his show stands out as one of the most genuinely inspired, oddball and sneakily affecting works in contemporary TV, a small miracle in today’s mainstream entertainment landscape and a testament to the profound impact a single filmmaker can have on the way we perceive the word around us. In this masterclass. he will reveal the inner workings of his unique stylistic approach to documentary filmmaking, including the use of humour and finding the magic in the mundane.

DocTalk is supported by Screen NSW, City of Sydney Council and AFTRS.