RONA 32, David Willing

Words by Lucas Radbourne

Credit Andy Railton

Locally written, directed and produced ghost-horror film Surrogate recently hit Melbourne screens and sold out its run at the Sun Theatre Yarraville – selling more tickets than The Batman and Morbius combined - thanks to a strong grassroots campaign that’s made Willing’s film one of the more interesting success stories to come out of the local film industry in recent times.

Like most local directors, Willing’s feature debut was a long-time coming. He fell in love with films at five-years-old when he saw 1939’s seminal adventure flick Beau Geste starring the famously taciturn Gary Cooper. Willing needed his own stoicism in over 15 years teaching screenwriters and filmmakers while many of his shorts, including My Little Life – a comedy mockumentary set in the world of competitive miniature dollhouse making – and Collier Brothers Syndrome – depicting two brothers suffering mental illness – were garnering rave reviews. Producing fantastic work is only half the challenge.

“The toughest part at the moment is getting your film into theatres, it’s not like the 90s when independent films were regularly screened,” he explains. “We were very lucky for the support from Sun Theatre in Yarraville. “Marketing manager Kristina Jannson really liked Surrogate and was very enthusiastic about making the film work for their audience and it was very successful there. Subsequently, Thornbury Picture House picked up Surrogate, which performed really well in their market too. However,” he quickly adds, “this is rare, very few independent films have any sort of theatrical run aside from festivals. It would be great to find ways to make this happen a bit more.” In the home-theatre streaming era, there’s a short supply of independent cinemas financially capable of taking a punt on an extended run for a local flick. Yet this is contrasted by the plethora of film festivals in Melbourne catering for every cinematic appetite.

As this goes to print, Melbourne is preparing for the global prestige of Melbourne International Film Festival (one of the oldest and largest in the world) and the Scandinavian Film Festival. We’ve only just finished the St Kilda Film Festival, and can still keenly remember the obscure novelty of the Fantastic Film Festival, the emotionally-charged Human Rights Arts & Film Festival, the adventure-packed Banff Mountain Film Festival, and the linguistically selective French and German film festivals that have all illuminated our silver screens over the past few weeks alone. “I’m not sure there is anything uniquely challenging about Melbourne compared to any other western city to make films in,” Willing says.

“Like all films, no matter where you are based, you are always fighting against the clock and budget irrespective of what amount of time and money you have. “On Surrogate we were lucky that everyone involved in the film was supportive. Of course problems pop up completely out of your control, but a big part of filmmaking is problem solving on the run.

“I’ve found on every film I’ve made, people providing locations are always extremely helpful in making the project happen,” Willing continues. “We secured some incredible locations for Surrogate and every one of them were accommodating, generous and enthusiastic about having us. I’m extremely grateful, as it made production easier and resulted in Surrogate having an incredible and unique look.” So how does the community-driven nature of Melbourne’s film festivals and local features fit within Melbourne’s burgeoning industry for producing foreign films, with global projects like NBC’s Metropolis reboot and Robbie Williams’ biopic Better Man attracted by the now world-leading technology at Docklands Studios? More broadly, how do local directors feel that the heavy investment in Melbourne’s global film capability arrives at the same time that Screen Australia is battling for marginal local content quotas on streaming services?

“The local film industry is broken down broadly into three sectors,” Willing explains. “Government-funded productions, international films (predominantly from the US, China and India), and independent productions. Surrogate fits firmly into the independent sector [and] Melbourne has always had a great history and enthusiasm for these types of privately financed and made films. “Australia can never compete with the marketing budgets of Hollywood, so our films need some extra support to get exposure.

“Quotas are a good start, but it would also be great to see the industry focusing on different audiences in Australia and offering them films that entertain them.

“The great thing about international productions is they provide well-paying jobs for production crews. The downside is the cost of production can get pushed up, especially wages or hiring equipment, which charge premium-price for Hollywood. You can always find a good price for an independent film and many places will accommodate your budget, it just takes a bit more time to secure such deals.” Ultimately for Willing, it comes down to the support of the people involved. In a city with a proud history of making dynamic, confronting and exhilarating films (think Animal Kingdom, Romper Stomper, Dogs In Space), there’s rarely a shortage of people willing to sacrifice time and effort to help create something they believe in. His advice for emerging directors is simple.

“The two most important things to do are watch a lot of films, and do a lot of the discipline you want to work in; whether that be directing, cinematography, writing, editing. It’s important to watch a wide variety of films. Growing up I was obsessed with horror films but also fell in love with Italian cinema from the 1950s-70s. When I was at film school I watched films from all decades, genres and different countries – exposure to different types of storytelling techniques is the best film school possible.

“Influences in Surrogate as broad as Japanese, Spanish and Italian cinema from the 70s to 90s. On a practical level, practice, practice, practice at your chosen skill is paramount to hone your talent.

“More importantly, it shows people what you are capable of doing, they don’t want to hear you’re a director, they need to see that you have directed something.”

Surrogate is screening regionally now.

Future rap, Machona and music’s brave new world

Words by Ben Lamb

Credit Nicole Goodes

The Aussie rap scene is becoming broader and more innovative every day, with new artists hitting the city with unique styles and original beats and - very occasionally - carving a niche or taking the world by storm. One of the freshest acts in Melbourne’s evolving hip-hop culture is Teether [Luigi Chisenga], an artist who brings influences from metal to hip-hop to his genre-bending tracks. He’s worked in groups like Too Birds - a trio that have quickly gained a lot of attention - with artists like Billy Woods, Hextape, and black metallers Dispossessed, and has pulled influences from these vastly different areas and beyond for his release, Machona. “For this album, I was really into a lot of 70s stuff and prog from the 90s,” Teether notes. “I was listening to a lot of old explorations, where they’ve gone in on this one feeling for like an hour, even though the sounds and songs are changing, you get this one feeling all the way through.” His new album Machona dropped on May 27, which in itself is an exciting time, but Teether is a creative powerhouse who’s already looking down the line at more music.

“It’s exciting,” Luigi says. “A long time in the works, it’s exciting to have it here. I always just want to keep putting stuff out, I’ve got a lot of stuff in the works.”

In the last few years, we’ve received a lot of albums and collaborations from the burgeoning artist, each conveying a different story to people’s ears. Machona follows suit and like a conceptual record, it really needs to be heard in full. He comes from a background combining metal and hip-hop, two genres that traditionally stuck to full albums, a premise that’s becoming increasingly rare in music nowadays. “When I was trying to pick singles to drop before the album, I was having a whole meltdown,” he laughs. “I was like ‘these songs don’t really make sense on their own’. “I think there are certain types of music that do really need to flesh out a full album to be able to communicate exactly what you’re trying to communicate.

“I think metal is still a genre that’s keeping that idea alive a lot, they’ll only drop an album every like, three, four years, so it’s good to be a statement.

“Then bigger artists like Kendrick [Lamar], who just dropped an album, I’m sure everyone’s listening to that all the way through. I think it’s not that common, but there’s still a time and a place for the album format. I don’t think it’s gonna die out anytime.”

Working in groups like Too Birds and with a bunch of other performers in the scene, Teether has gained a number of contacts across the industry, with a number popping up on this record. He notes that the features only happen if they don’t feel forced.

“I think it’s really important to capture the people around me,” he explains, “so I really liked the idea of working with people that I’m close with on this record, I think it’s trying to capture natural moments and natural collaborations.” One of the most prominent features on the release comes from Chef Chung, who received the track from Teether and added his own special flair to it, an idea that Teether carries through with all his numerous features.

“I met Chef Chung years ago and we’ve become close recently, I basically just sent him the track, and told him to do whatever feels right,” he says. In the constantly colliding worlds of rap and metal, the transformation of recorded work onto the live stage is often vastly different than other genres. The power and energy that goes into a performance often appears to operate in another realm. When you catch Teether live on stage, it’s a moment in time that he’s prepared for you. The songs aren’t textbook across the tour, rather they’re based on how he’s feeling that night.

“When it’s time to play live, I think, ‘what songs do we have?’, then we’ll go through it and kind of figure out, ‘can I do this live?’. It’s on a whim [but] I’ll just sit down, pick a bunch of songs that I feel at that time. “Sometimes it’s funny, I’ve had people walking into a venue and say ‘can you play this song tonight?,” he laughs. “I’ll have to be like, I don’t have the files on me, and I can’t even do it as a surprise.”

Machona: Afar, You Are an Animal is out now via X Amount Records.