Green Hill Publishing, Australia, 2021
This is a wonderfully funny, wonderfully clever social-political satire that takes a swipe, albeit not a vicious one, at almost every aspect of contemporary life.
Former diplomat Peter Rodgers aimed to write a book with a laugh on every page, and he has succeeded. There is a serious intent and much research in this work, but the humour is what the reader carries away, demonstrating that a skilled hand has directed it.
Palace Electric and Hoyts cinemas from 14 January 2021
Family CG-animated feature, 78 min
Parental guidance recommended for younger children
The legendary HEINZELMÄNNCHEN of Cologne were gnomes secretly finishing craftmen’s work at night until they were ousted by a tailor’s malevolent wife 200 years ago.
Ever since then, the Heinzels have been hiding in a secret underground habitation where any contact with the upper world – and, most of all, with humans – is strictly forbidden. But one day, lively Heinzel girl Helvi decides that she cannot stand the restriction of this little world any longer.
Continue Reading“The Elfkins – Baking a Difference – Film Review”
Day and evening classes, from 3 February 2021
Folk Dance Canberra Hall
114 Maitland Street, Hackett ACT 2602
www.folkdancecanberra.org.au
With music from countries around the world, you can enjoy the travel currently not possible in real life by attending a class at Folk Dance Canberra. Classes are suitable for all ages and all levels of dance experience.
Folk Dance Canberra is a welcoming community providing physical and social well-being through world dance. No partner necessary (socially distanced Covid safe dancing).
Image: Advanced class with participants from 16 to over 70, courtesy Folk Dance Canberra:
Atlas Productions, Australia, 2020
This debut novel set in Brisbane in the 1890s provides the perfect vehicle for an author with the twin passions of history and social justice.
Joanna Beresford chooses for her heroine Lilian, a young working class woman from an immigrant background, who is forced to fend for herself in the quest for education and improved social standing – and often merely to survive.
Suki & Hugh Gallery 38A Gibraltar Street Bungendore, NSW
Saturday 13 February – Sunday 21 March 2021
Opening on 13 February 2021, 10am – 4pm
Observe is Sydney artist Jane Gerrish’s third solo show. In it she transports us to the glamourous Côte d’Azur of the 1920s and beyond, revealing captivating detail of the master Henri Matisse in his studios.
Continue Reading“Jane Gerrish – Observe”
At Palace Electric, Dendy and Hoyts in Canberra from 7 January 2021
81 minutes, rated PG – Family
The premise of this originally Danish film (with American voicing) is that our dreams are a kind of sound stage managed by a group of benevolent creatures ensuring we wake in time to avert disaster.
The now rather common story line of a family blending with unlike children having to cope with a sudden unannounced coming together in a home setting, unprepared by previous meetings or outing, feels rather too derivative for my liking.
Continue Reading“Dreambuilders – Film Review”
Submissions welcome until 8 February 2021
The FlashWrite Project invites story submissions of a maximum of 1500 words that encapsulate local life experiences.
Stories related to the 2021 Gunning Arts Festival theme Rejuvenation are especially welcome. Submissions can be lodged electronically or in hardcopy.
Full details on the project and how to submit stories can be found on the Gunning Arts Festival website: https://www.gunningartsfestival.com/activities/flashwrite-project/ .
A selection of the stories is being published online in the lead up to the 2021 Gunning Arts Festival and some will be selected to be performed and published in a booklet to be printed as part of the Festival.
The first FlashWrite stories are available for reading at website: https://www.gunningartsfestival.com/activities/flashwrite-stories/.
Gunning is a small rural town an hour north of Canberra and GAF hopes readers enjoy these short story insights into life in the region.
The FlashWrite project is sponsored by BJCE Australia’s Biala and Gullen Range Wind Farms and supported by an Upper Lachlan Cultural Funding Program grant.
The Upper Lachlan Cultural Funding Program is funded by the Upper Lachlan Shire Council.
Hachette, Australia, 2020
The Charleston Scandal is Pamela Hart’s 37th book, an absorbing and highly readable historical fiction that dives into the issue of class and privilege in British society in the 1920s, particularly in the royal and sub-royal echelons. It is also a delightful glimpse into the life of the theatre at that time.
Quirky Kid, Australia, 2020
Siblings is a story told from two points of view and the book itself reflects this. Read from one end, the book is in the voice of the sister, while from the other end it is in the voice of the brother. The stories meet in the middle with the same dilemma.
Hachette, Australia, 2020
Set in Baghdad, Iraq, in the time of Saddam Hussein, this novel explores questions of trust, of truth and honour, of the love of family and of grief.
Palace Electric Canberra
Preview 20 December 2020 at 4.10pm
Nationally from 26 December
Running Time: 123 minutes, rated M
This fictionalised historical drama from the 2020 British Film Festival is inspired by real events, though it takes the liberty of throwing together characters whose paths did not actually cross.
It is the story of three little-known female heroes of WWII, engaged in Churchill’s ring of female spies, who came under the umbrella of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) Their mission was to conduct sabotage and build a resistance.
Continue Reading“A Call to Spy – Film Review”
X Gallery Bungendore until 8 February 2021
32 Gibraltar Street, Bungendore, NSW
Open Friday to Monday or by appointment, phone 6238 0550
It is clear that the 2019-20 bushfires were a deeply etched experience for both artists, who are residents of Braidwood, and yet there is a spare restraint in their work.
Allen & Unwin, Australia, 2020
Known to television audiences as one of the founders of The Chaser, Dominic Knight is also the author of The Strayan Dictionary, Strayapedia and Trumpedia.
The 2020 Dictionary continues his satirical analysis of Australian culture, this time through a set of wry definitions of and observations upon aspects of this extraordinary year.
The Australian Dance Awards were presented online on Tuesday 8 December, acknowledging achievements across 2018 and 2019 in 12 categories.
They celebrate the rich diversity and uniqueness of dance in Australia with national companies, performers and collaborating artists, dedicated studio, school and tertiary teachers, regional and remote artists, independents, youth and community dance groups.
Continue Reading“2020 Australian Dance Awards Winners”
The Kind Press, Australia, 2020
Pina Di Donato brings a lifetime of business and life learnings to her first book, a work that could loosely be described as a guide to living a satisfying, worthy and productive life.
Coming from an Italian background meant that Pina was framed by cultural traditions and expectations – ones that didn’t necessarily fit well with the person she was and is.
