Art Smitten

The Dancer (or La danseuse) is the feature debut of French director Stéphanie Di Giusto starring Soko as the revolutionary dance pioneer Loie Fuller. To start with, this film is beautiful. In the locations, in the cinematography, in the dance - the film itself captures and mirrors the longing of the protagonist Loie Fuller for the beauty she is searching for in dance. The film opens in the...

Hamish, Christina and Rebi interview the new Artistic Director of the Alliance Française French Film Festival, running in Melbourne from March 8-30. Click here to listen to Ben's interview with Rebecca Zlotowski, director of  Planetarium , one of the films in the festival. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel reviews La Mama Theatre's production  The Fever , by Wallace Shawn (of  Toy Story and  Princess Bride fame). See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hamish and Christian interview singer-actor Rhonda Burchmore, who’ll be performing in Morning Melodies at the Arts Centre of April 3, at 11am & 1.30pm. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christian chats with artist Tristan Meecham, the ‘Marathon Man’ playing a starring role in the Fun Run at the Arts Centre on Sunday March 12 at 4.30pm. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rebi, Molly and Jim chat with the members of Open Spatial Workshop, an artist group who's current exhibiton, Converging in time is on now at the Monash University Museum of Art until April 8. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Molly, Jim and Rebi chat with Amy Boyd, manager of the Vivien Anderson Gallery, about the 2017 Women's Show, featuring 20 Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander female artists, including Maree Clarke. The exhibiton is running until March 25. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rebi and Molly chat to Brunswick Music Festival programmer and performing musician Chelsea Wilson. The festival runs over 2 weeks from Sunday March 5-19. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sandra Thibodeaux’s The Age of Bones is an ambitious, playfully political Indonesian-Australian coproduction now being hosted by La Mama in Carlton.  For a play that extols (and some might say preaches) the virtues of working together across national and natural borders, it’s very pleasing to see how the production itself has exemplified this cultural harmony at every stage of its...

The Homosexuals, Or Faggots, is a new stage production at the Malthouse written by local theatre maker Declan Green, of Sisters Grimm, and directed by Griffin Theatre Companies artistic director Lee Lewis. I’ve been a fan of everything I’ve seen of Declan Greens works, and The Homosexuals, Or Faggots is no exception. It is a contemporary farce, set in a luxury apartment in Sydney owned...

Smithers reviews actor turned writer Camilla Blunden's solo show All This Living . Click here to listen to our interview with Camilla. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Molly interviews Nella Themelios, one of the curators of  High Risk Dressing / Critical Fashion , an exhibition that's on at RMIT Design Hub in Carlton until March 18. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aquarius  is a three-part feature film depicting the life and struggles of its central character Clara, an ageing music critic played by Brazilian actress and former Golden Globe nominee Sonia Braga. The film opens in 1980, where Clara lives with her family in Aquarius, an elegant nineteen forties apartment on the beachfront of Recife, a seaside town on Brazil’s east coast. During a fam...

The one person show is an exhilarating performance for both player and audience. For one, the performer is completely alone on the stage and must accept the accompanying pressures and risks. There is nobody to pick up the slack if the performer forgets a line, bumbles a scene, loses energy or has an attack of self doubt. If the audience reacts poorly to a line, or to a scene, or an act, there is n...

The Love Witch is a 2016 release written and directed by Anna Biller. It follows the story of a young beautiful witch Elaine, played by Samantha Robinson, who uses spells and potions to make men fall in love with her and ultimately kill them. The movie itself is shot on 35 mm film and is visually a homage to technicolour 1960s and 70s sexploitation cinema. The use of this film gives the movie a so...

Casey Affleck has been in the paper a lot recently for not the right reasons. Without getting involved or placing an opinion of the alleged allegations against Casey Affleck, I believe his career in Hollywood and acting should not be judged by his actions outside of acting. This is my own personal viewpoint, and shall be throughout my review of Manchester by the Sea.   Directed by Kenneth Lon...

Gill and Molly discuss their thoughts, feelings and impressions of Aaron Posner's play  Stupid Fucking Bird , before, after and during the intermission of its new production byLightning Jar Theatre, playing at the Brunswick Mechanics Institute until February 26. Click here to listen to our interview with director Peter Blackburn See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Andrew and Molly interview Adelaide Fisher, Ariel Cameron and past Art-Smitten host Will Dawson about their brand new community arts festival  Happenstance , taking place along the Merri Creek in Coburg North on Saturday February 25. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Molly, Andrew and Jim chat to actor, producer and director Shane Savage about North of Eight's production of Mark O'Rowe's play Terminus , on at The Courthouse Hotel until March 11. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Andrew, Molly and Jim chat to theatremaker Nicole McKenzie about one-person show,  Being a Good Person is Bloody Hard Work , now being performed at Hares & Hyenas in Fitzroy as part of the Sustainable Living Festival. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christian interviews Rosie Jones, director of the documentary  The Family which premiered last year at the Melbourne International Film Festival and is now in limited release. Click here to listen to Christian's review See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Molly and Andrew chat to Angela Conquet, the Artistic Director of Dancehouse, about their participation in the upcoming Dance Massive festival, which runs from March 14-26. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Andrew, Gill and Hamish chat to Gary Hillberg, one of the two artists behind the video art exhibition, Montages: The Full Cut, 1999-2015 , now showing at the Shepparton Art Museum until May 19. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Family is Rosie Jones and Anna Grieve’s ominously titled documentary about a bizarre Australian cult that was finally discovered by police in the late 1980s. Consisting mostly of corrupt doctors and forcibly adopted children, its leader, Anne Hamilton-Byrne, proclaimed herself to be the female reincarnation of Jesus Christ. She had prophesised a coming apocalypse and was desperately tryi...

Theatre review, An intimate look into the human cost of China’s decades long one child policy. Playing at the Malthouse A’beckett Theatre, Melbourne. A tale of two cities one family, and the reflective story of a billion, Director Wang Chong navigates the immense human consequence of the One child Policy, with an ambitious production, that overthrows many old stage techniques in favour...