City Hub 5 January 2017

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F Y T D I L C O E N H A T NE J O Y B E A C H . . . I N E H T T AD Y A

Sydney doesn’t belong to you anymore

BY KIERAN ADAIR If 2016 was a farce for Sydney’s nightlife, 2017 looks set to get even worse.

December finally saw the Baird Government release their vision of a good night out in Sydney, and it’s horrifying.

The promotional video ‘Sydney City Entertainment’ released on Transport for NSW’s facebook page earlier last month shows YouTuber Jayden Roddrigues “check[ing] out some of the city’s coolest spots”.

According to the Government, that means a cinema, the theatre, an amusement arcade and a karaoke bar. Best of all, everyone’s presumably home by 12. What fun!

The reviews, as expected, were dire. Viewers called it “cringe worthy,” and so “abysmally lame” that it makes the “dystopian PG-13” version of Sydney look about as much fun as a “retirement village”.

While it’s easy to dismiss the video as a symptom of another Government that’s become disconnected with the needs of its young people, it raises a darker possibility: that it just doesn’t care anymore.

For the last decade, both sides of politics have pursued policies that have irreversibly changed the nature of the city: its nightlife, housing-mix, infrastructure and economy. The lockouts, although the most obvious sign of this, are hardly the first to raise the question of who the future of the city belongs to.

Spoiler: it’s not going to be us.

While income inequality has grown all over Australia in the last decade, in Sydney it’s skyrocketed. While some inequality - based off education and employment - is always going to be a feature of urban life, today’s inequality has

Transport for NSW’s image of a ‘magical’ Sydney nightlife is anything but. Photo: Resident Advisor

a different dimension: it’s also generational.

If you’re wealthy and living in Sydney, chances are it’s not because you worked hard, it’s because you bought a house early and sat on it. In the Inner West homeowners have pocketed an average $100,000 each year since 2006, based off the growth in value of their property. In Kings Cross, that figure’s closer to $400,000.

With that as their incentive, it’s no wonder earlier generations are choosing to stay longer in the city. According to a recent report from SCG Economics and Planning: “In the past a large number of retirees would have left Sydney and headed for coastal retreats but it seems many Boomers are staying put.”

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While that makes it difficult for new generations to secure a foothold in the city, locking up houses they otherwise would have purchased, it also changes the objectives of cities’ entertainment districts.

A new cocktail bar is bought in to replace the old nightclub. A gasto-pub’s brought in to replace the student dive. Affordable townhouses are knocked down and replaced by boutique apartments for the rich and newly retired.

Suddenly, it makes sense why the Government considers a night at the Capitol Theatre a fair trade for a decent night life.

Richard Cooke, of The Monthly, detailed this phenomena earlier this year in his essay

‘The Boomer Supremacy’. “The lockout laws are not the closure of a few pubs because of drunken violence,” wrote Cooke. “They are final confirmation of who the country is run by, and who it is run for.”

While it’s noteworthy that December saw Premier Mike Baird make some progress repealing that lockouts, allowing pubs and clubs to serve drinks for another half hour, any good will was swallowed up days later when police stormed and shut down another nightlife institution.

On the 18th of December, around 40 police barged through the doors of Candy’s Apartment, one of the few remaining music venues of Kings Cross, on allegations of a drug supply operation. When the dust had settled, all this resulted in the single arrest of a 21-year old man charged with possession of 60 MDMA tablets. Hardly enough to warrant the 72-hour close notice they served on the venue afterwards.

Warranted or not, the move seems to be welcomed by those who live in the suburb.

Earlier this year the Wentworth Courier published a poll of Kings Cross residents on the topic of lockouts. While one would expect those who chose to make a home in the centre of cities’ nightlife to be some of its staunchest defenders, more than 90% of the 8609 people surveyed indicated support for the lockouts.

Who can blame them, that extra $400,000 a year can buy a lot of cocktails, cold drip coffee, and yoga sessions from new businesses that are now thriving in the shells of evicted night clubs.

For everyone else in search of a good time, it seems, for now, we’ll have to make do this new dystopian PG-13 paradise.

Rising house prices call for an urge to preserve security for renters

BY ANITA BLANCO Despite predictions earlier last year that house prices would drop making the rental market more tenant friendly, renters continue to face uncertainty surrounding their leases.

Greens MP and Spokesperson for rental issues, Jenny Leong, wants to end ‘no grounds evictions.’ Under current laws, landlords can kick out renters without providing a reason.

Ms Leong is campaigning for critical reforms to ensure this is stopped.

According to Ms Leong, “almost 40% of New South Wales households are now renting,” leaving many families with little stability in the tumultuous market. Tenants can face immediate eviction despite meeting all obligations and paying rent on time.

“They can be asked to move out of the property with just 90 days notice at any time the landlord chooses, again without the landlord having to give any reason,” Ms Leong said.

Notwithstanding the growing number of two-income households, Sydney faces a housing affordability crisis, blocking prospective buyers from the market.

Home ownership rates continue to drop with a startling 87.9% surge in the price of Sydney houses since 2009. There’s little indication that Sydney’s market is slowing down, putting home ownership beyond the reach of many Sydneysiders. According to Ms Leong, “for many people, renting is the only option.

Greens MP Jenny Leong calls for an end to no grounds evictions. Photo: Jenny Leong

“At the last census 41.2 per cent of families with dependent children in NSW were renting.

“In NSW 20 per cent of people receiving the aged pension now rent.”

A major problem for NSW renters is this risk of eviction without any explanation from the landlord, posing a serious threat to the tenant’s long-term security.

According to Ms Leong, “these ‘no grounds’ evictions are not a common practice around the world.”

Legislation in Australia has been geared towards the interests of investors and landlords, meaning tenants here do not have the same protections their counterparts in North American and Europe.

Meantime, demand for accomodation in Sydney continues to outpace supply.

Skyrocketing housing prices and increasing rents encourage small investors to buy up what little housing exists.

In the absence of rental control, tenants face a 25% chance of being evicted within 12 months.

People who do not currently own their home face a double edged sword. On the one hand, as house prices go skyward, prospective buyers are priced out of the market. On the other hand, as rents go up, tenants live in constant fear of eviction.

In the midst of these market conditions, there are increasing calls for NSW rental laws to be reviewed. According to Ms Leong, “the Tenants Union has been calling for an end to no grounds terminations for years. The Greens have been campaigning for renters’ rights and we will continue to do so,” she said.

As widespread renting continues to be be the norm across Sydney, Ms Leong urges MP’s to modify laws to protect tenants.

“Allowing landlords to throw out tenants with no good reason—with no grounds— comes at a great cost to our community.

“Our communities are compromised because renters are not able to fully establish themselves in their local neighbourhoods.

“Our laws need to reflect the reality of renters in our community and provide stability and security,” she said. city hub 5 JANUARY 2017

3

Remembering Faysal

BY LANI OATAWAY Around 200 people gathered in Hyde Park on Friday 30 December for a vigil grieving the loss of a refugee held on Manus Island.

27-year-old Faysal Ishak Ahmed was medically evacuated from the detention centre to Brisbane Hospital on Christmas Eve, where he died not long after.

For six months Mr Ahmed visited the International Health and Medical Services (IHMS) clinic daily, reporting constant headaches and heart problems. But the day before Mr Ahmed was evacuated, the IHMS doctor said to him, “You are not sick… do not come to us again.”

Action group Grandmothers Against Detention of Refugee Children attended the vigil wearing purple t-shirts, holding banners and placards in purple lettering reading, ‘Close the camps!’ and ‘Bring them here.’

Many in the crowd brandished flags and boards with messages such as ‘Dutton Blood on Your Hands,’ ‘Justice for Faysal’ and ‘Seeking asylum is not a crime: close the camps now!’

The Refugee Action Coalition (RAC) organised six speakers for the vigil, including community leaders, politicians and action group leaders.

After reading out Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s response to Mr Ahmed’s death, RAC MC for the event, Cath Bartley, led the crowd in a chant of “Dutton Turnbull shame on you! Close Manus Island, Close Nauru.”

Sydney Sudanese community leader, Abdalla Khalil Mohammad, spoke of the conditions in Sudan that cause people to flee the country in search of safety. Mr

A 200-strong crowd gathers to remember Faysal Ishak Ahmed. Photo: Jane Salmon

Ahmed fled Sudan seeking protection, only to be detained on Manus Island for over three years.

Pastor of Gosford Anglican Church, Father Rod Bower, criticised the Turnbull Government’s border policy and the Opposition for their lack of action.

“Australian people are being told a lie, we are being told that everything necessary is being done. Faysal was told that, and now he is dead. And with Faysal’s death, something within us has died aswell,” he said.

“Faysel died slowly over 6 months.

He died from lies, neglect and the abuse of power. But that’s not what his death certificate will say.”

Doctors for Refugees member, Dr Barri Phatarfod, condemned the medical attention Mr Ahmed was given,

identifying it as well below Australian hospital standards.

A refugee on Manus Island, Behrouz Boochani, echoes this disgust at the IHMS treatment process. A friend of Mr Ahmed, Mr Boochani said in a statement, “Many times Faysal collapsed and all of us here knew that he was seriously sick for more than 6 months.

“More than 60 people wrote a letter to IHMS and explained to them how Faysal is sick and has constant headache and heart problem but they did not care.

“IHMS is obviously a criminal medical system, as criminal as the Australian immigration. This system has forgotten all its values and dignity that a health provider has to be obliged to,” he said.

Another speaker at the vigil, Board member of the National Justice Project, George Newhouse, called for the Government to be held accountable for their actions. He demanded a Royal Commission into Mr Ahmed’s death, and a critical review of the health systems in Australia’s detention centres.

However, it took two years for an inquest into the death of Manus Island refugee Hamid Khazaei in 2014 to be held, leaving small hope for the Government to take action quickly.

The Solidarity Choir handed out cut up print outs of the national anthem, rewritten to complement the occasion. They sang, “If in a boat, you’ve crossed the seas, we’ve got no plains to share. Just Manus Island or Nauru, and bitter black despair.”

The RAC have organised several vigils across the country, including in Brisbane, Newcastle and Melbourne in the past week.

Cartoonist: Peter Berner @peter_berner

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WestConnex protestors cop the full force of the law

By Wendy Bacon NSW riot police formed a human barrier around a section of Sydney Park early on Wednesday morning and violently pushed residents off the edge of the park which was then fenced off by Westconnex contractors.

The land fenced off includes both NSW Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) 1950s road reservation, land that has always been part of the park and other land owned by the City of Sydney until December 21, when it was forcibly taken over by the NSW Government just before Christmas.

Residents who have maintained a 24 hour protest camp in Sydney Park since September feared the worst when Minister Gay announced on December 24 through the pages of the Daily Telegraph that he expected a fresh wave of protests at Sydney Park. He attacked anti Westconnex protesters, who he has previously described as “nasty little anarchists”, as “professional” demonstrators.

Gay also announced that the Airport link between Westconnex and Kingsford Smith Airport, for which no formal planning process has even begun, might be finished by 2023, which is earlier than expected. He provided no plan for the link but stated that it would cost no more than the $16.8 billion already budgeted for existing works.

The arrival of the police followed a successful Westconnex Action Group “Breakfast before Bulldozers’ on Tuesday. Greens MP Jenny Leong and MLC Mehreen Faruqi joined Labor Councillor Linda Scott all of whom spoke at the breakfast, giving strong support to residents.

Labor Councillor Linda Scott told the group that she had been informed that the extra land Westconnex wanted to takeover was still being disputed by Council. This included the land on which the toilet block, which services the entire south half of Sydney Park stands.

Shortly afterwards, RMS Community Engagement officer Dan Silburn arrived with Westconnex land surveyors. The group asked him to provide authorisation that the work had been approved. Greens MP Jenny Leong accused Premier Mike Baird of hiding behind a junior public servant rather than coming to the park to face the residents.

Riot Police descended on Sydney Park in defence of WestConnex widening works. Photo: Keren Lavelle

Silburn left and did not return. Surveyors then began work on Euston Road but left after being asked by residents for authorisation.

At about 5.30 the next morning, police arrived at the park, followed by scores of contractors. The leading contractor declared the land to be ‘private land’ although it is in fact publicly owned, while senior police asserted that it was now enclosed land which it clearly was not. The police then physically forced residents off the land while contractors quickly fenced off the site. Three residents received minor injuries to their arms as a result of police severely pinching them and bending their wrists. There were no arrests.

Only after these actions were complete did Westconnex supply the Westconnex Action Group with a copy of a Gay’s letter to the City of Sydney overriding its appeal against the land transfer.

In his public statements, Gay has continued to insist that only 1500 square metres is being removed from the park. He compares this to the size of a ‘bowling green.’ In fact the size of the land and impact on the site, which is the only large park in this part of Sydney, is far greater than he Gay has suggested.

Part of the extra land that has been acquired includes the site on which the toilet block for the southern half of the parks stands. This block also houses a pump for the wetlands. The health of the water in the wetlands is crucial. The toilets service the barbecues and picnic areas used by hundreds of residents especially in the summer. The canopy provided by hundreds of trees cools the side of the park and provides a habitat for smaller plants and animals.

Further up the park the exercise equipment will need to be moved as it would otherwise be adjacent to a construction site and 7 lane highway.

The toilets were initially left open but were then also locked and fenced off following an order from senior ranks at Westconnex. City of Sydney has told protesters that it will supply portaloos for the park. The toilets were subsequently reopened until portaloos arrive.

The removal of the park and hundreds of trees is going ahead despite the fact that residents in St Peters have been told by RMS and Westconnex that the design of the road is not yet complete and it could be moved further south away from the park.

The approved Environmental Impact Statement for the New M5 showed that the project would deliver a massive 73,000 extra cars into the area leaving roads beyond the project at over 100% capacity. The removal of the Camperdown Interchange, which was going to be part of the third stage of Westconnex, will add even more cars to roads in the inner southwest of Sydney.

Further RMS plans are being developed already to widen roads through to Moore Park in the Inner East. These plans will cost many more millions, but will not be counted as part of the cost of Westconnex.

NSW Labor, Green and Independent politicians, major environmental organisations and nearly 3700 residents have signed an open letter to Premier Mike Baird, the Minister for Planning Rob Stokes and the Minister for Roads Duncan Gay asking them to halt the massive St Peters Interchange and review the planning process. None have replied.

The stop Westconnex community groups are planning more protests in coming days.

Wendy Bacon is a supporter of the Westconnex Action Group and ex Professor of Journalism at UTS

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Why Australia needs more Drug Consumption Rooms

BY ALEX WODAK Dr Alex Wodak is the President of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation.

Drug Consumption Rooms (DCR) are special centres where people can inject or inhale street drugs with a much lower risk of health problems than if they consumed these drugs in alley ways, parks or supermarkets; all without breaking the law.

They are looked after by trained staff in a supportive and non-judgmental environment.

DCRs reduce death and injury caused by drug overdose, and they reduce the number of ambulance call-outs and the spread of of HIV and hepatitis C. They also reduce the prevalence of public injecting and the problem of discarded needles in the neighbourhood, while increasing referrals to health and social services (including detoxification and drug treatment).

These days DCRs accommodate people who want to inject their drugs, as well as those who want to inhale drugs (such as ice, crack and heroin). DCRs do as much for residents and businesses in the area around them as they do for the people using drugs.

DCRs usually attract very isolated people with serious physical and mental health problems, severe social and economic disadvantage and virtually no contact with health or social services; many have long lost contact with their families.

The first official supervised injecting centre was opened in Berne, Switzerland in 1986. Since then there are now almost 100 such centres in a dozen countries around the world; most located

Australia needs to follow the world’s lead and open more drug consumption rooms.

Photo: International Drug Policy Consortium

in Europe. In the last few years, many countries and cities have announced plans to establish new DCRs while many more centres are being considered. Germany has nearly 30 DCRs, most with inhalation as well as injection rooms.

Although some commentators claim that DCRs send the wrong message, there is no evidence this. If anything, DCRs suggest that drug use is so dangerous, it should only happen inside special centres where highly trained health workers can save a life and facilitate treatment and social assistance.

DCRs help people improve their lives by using these facilities. In some DCRs people are free to take a shower, wash their hair, wash and dry their clothes, buy some cheap and nutritious food, talk to a counsellor, see a health care worker, attend a doctor’s appointment, and get supervised

training for entry level jobs. DCRs engage with people using drugs and build their trust. When people using the centre feel that they can trust the staff, they are more likely to accept a referral for drug treatment or primary health care, making engagement critical.

In European cities such as Berlin and Frankfurt, the local police and the DCRs have been working very closely for years. The Kings Cross police were, and still are, very strong advocates for the Kings Cross Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC).

The MSIC, Australia’s only DCR, was opened in Kings Cross in 2001. It has been evaluated about a dozen times. Each evaluation has been very positive, and none of these found any serious negative impacts. Yet a decade and a half later, the Kings Cross MSIC is still the only DCR in the country.

The overwhelming majority of local residents and businesses in Kings Cross strongly support the MSIC, as this centre has reduced public injecting and improved neighbourhood amenity.

DCRs should only be opened in areas where there is a large drug market and the local community is strongly in favour.

Australia has tried being tough on drugs, waging numerous drug crackdowns for more than half a century. Governments have focused on law enforcement, generously funded customs, police, courts and prisons, demonised people who use drugs and frugally funded health and social services for them. The result has been a bad problem becoming much worse, and at a great

cost. In the last half–century, the drug market has grown and become much more dangerous while deaths, disease, crime, corruption and violence are all much greater than they used to be.

DCRs around the world have staff specially trained to deal with difficult situations including violence - but violence is uncommon in DCRs because staff make the clients feel safe and secure.

This is the same for treatment centres where people are regularly coming off substances like ice. DCRs are designed to make the communities they are situated in safer. They also reduce the burden on police and Emergency Departments.

As inhaling ice has increased in Australia, we should start opening DCRs in our major cities and design them to be able to accommodate people who inhale as well as inject drugs.

Inhalation of drugs in a DCR requires installing powerful ventilation systems to meet occupational and health standards for the staff. Although many of the people attending the MSIC in Kings Cross inject ice, violence is uncommon.

There are many reasons for opening more DCRs in Australia. We should remember that DCRs help get drug users into treatment and care and reduce the spread of HIV and hepatitis.

They also help residents and businesses in neighbourhoods struggling with large drug markets. The most important question we should ask ourselves is not whether we need another DCR in Australia, but why only one such centre has been established in the country despite their very positive national and international record.

Opinion

KX Injecting centre needs to put patients first

BY ANDREW WOODHOUSE DRUGS are the twentieth century’s ‘gift’ to society.

They’re in clubs where peddling profiteers give clubbers a high, or low if they die from overdoses.

They’re at large outdoor concerts where police spend millions on sniffer dogs to stick their wet nostrils into people’s underwear. They’re at airports and customs where they’re imported by the boat load.

And they’re in our face on the streets of Kings Cross where they’re purchased like that 1960s icon, a Street’s Cornetto ice-cream.

The government’s so-called ‘war on drugs’ has failed: police say they can’t arrest their way out of this problem.

So why are we protecting the dealers by encouraging drug use with taxpayers’ money on the Kings Cross Medically Assisted Injecting Centre, which does nothing to prevent or solve the problem in the first place?

The centre’s meaningless mantra states it ‘saves lives.’ Drinking water saves lives. Lockout laws save lives. Taking drugs does not. Behind its frosted glass window patients are assisted to inject drugs purchased on the street.

Its current location was a last resort decision.

After the brother of former NSW Premier Bob Carr died of an overdose in a back lane, Mr Carr acted. Nuns in Roslyn Street volunteered to take it on but were prevented by the Pope himself.

The Wayside Chapel Minister provided an illegal shelter for users. He was charged. The charges were then dropped. Nurses in hospitals didn’t want it as patients were too violent. So Mr Carr purchased today’s site from the Methodist Church and passed a special, site-specific, Act of Parliament to exempt patients from criminal charges.

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city hub 5 JANUARY 2017

Photo: Nathan Forget

Patients attempt to evade police, unsuccessfully, by fleeing into it for sanctuary. Almost 70% have been arrested at least once in the previous three months.

The patients deserve better treatment, I say.

We’re only treating symptoms and not causes of their drug, homeless, psychiatric, legal and unemployment crises.

Surely patients are entitled to the same care as anyone else in the health system? They also pay for health care, deducted from their allowances.

They’ve got the diagnosis but no prognosis, at least here in NSW.

So does it reduce the level of drugs in society?

Or provide crisis accommodation? Does it eliminate drug dependency? Answers: No. How many patients are now drug-free since opening 15 years ago in 2001? Answer: Unknown.

It’s hardly wholistic, only opening Monday – Friday and weekends, 9.30am to 5.30pm. it’s a band-aid solution and a legalised shooting-up gallery. It’s not part of the solution but part of the problem and a money pit. In Europe such centres are in discrete small, non-retail streets.

The local Liquor Accord said to the Callinan Lockout Law Review: “One of the biggest hurdles

facing local businesses … is the public perception Kings Cross remains the “go-to place” to easily obtain drugs … the street is frequented by those who … congregate, sleep or sit in doorways close to the MSIC … there’s been a significant change to the MSIC’s original heroin dependent users … [they] are now more dependent on other forms of drug use, especially … “ice”.

So it’s past its use-by date.

Patients should go to Victoria. To get rid of them? No, because they are professionally treated and weaned off drugs in a controlled environment.

Selling on-street drugs for profit is eliminated in one hit. This doesn’t decriminalise drugs: it reduces addiction, a better solution.

Their Drug and Alcohol Recovery Centre, one of six statewide is run by CEO, Ms Karenza Louis-Smith who says, “The Centre is … a shortterm residential facility for up to 48 people at a time offering a three-month-long rehabilitation program and shorter, 4-6 week, “circuit breaker” stays. Residents undertake a Detox program to help them stop using drugs away from the centre.

At the end of their treatment, people continue to receive anti-drug back-up support in their wider community.”

She’s my hero.

This reduces patients’ addiction, helping them make a positive, productive contribution to society and escape the crime, drugs and poverty vortex they’re sucked into.

And it puts patients’ welfare first, the real role of the medical industry.

Andrew Woodhouse is President, Potts Point & Kings Cross Heritage & Residents’ Society

Malcolm’s shotgun wedding at Malabar

BY JORDAN FERMANIS In May last year, Liberal Democrat Senator David Leyonhjlem claimed victory after the NSW Rifle Association secured a fifty year lease on the long disputed Malabar Headland site.

Leyonhjlem celebrated on Facebook posting, “Malabar was a big fight, but I won in the end.”

However last week it was revealed through Finance Department documents that the NSW Rifle Association are paying a paltry sum for the prime real estate.

Last week the ABC reported that the association is paying less than $26,500 a year or around $510 a week to lease the 39 hectare site over fifty years.

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Rifle Association for the next 50 years has been met with anger, frustration and disbelief in our community,” Mr Thistlethwaite said.

This is not the first accusation of its kind. Last year it was reported that the federal government attempted to amend Australia’s gun laws relating to the importation of the Adler shotgun, in exchange for Leyonhjelm’s support for the ABCC bill that finally passed before Christmas. The final iteration of the bill only passed after Leyonhjelm was granted a concession to drop the reverse onus of proof required to criminally convict on construction sites.

When speaking to City Hub, the Chair of the Friends of Malabar Headland, David Pyett, said

The NSW Rifle Association is sitting on prime waterfront land for a steal.

Photo: National Shooters

The enormous site includes four shooting ranges, a clubhouse, caravan park and clubhouse which all come under the lowly figure.

The median rental price for a home in Malabar comes in at $42,460, around 10 per cent higher than what the rifle association negotiated with the federal government.

Under the Abbott government the projected sale price for the site was estimated at $3 billion but the government eventually backed away from plans to sell the 160 hectare headland site.

In a speech to parliament last October, Labor MP for Kingsford-Smith, Matt Thistlethwaite accused the federal government of insidious conduct in negotiating a backroom deal with Leyonhjelm right under the community’s nose.

“In May this year the Turnbull coalition government stitched up a secret, dirty backroom deal to lock the community that I represent out of 177 hectares of historically and environmentally significant green space at Malabar headland.” ”Made in the shadows with the crossbench senator and gun enthusiast David Leyonhjelm, the agreement to lease out the central portion of Malabar headland to the New South Wales

that the community is livid with the government in what he describes as “very funny goings on” in determining how Leyonhjelm was able to secure a deal with the government.

Mr Pyett said the community was shocked when it was revealed Leyonhjelm was at the centre of the deal and that the government has lost the community’s trust on the issue.

“When Senator Leyonhjelm brokered the deal it came as a nasty surprise to everyone, including the other shooters. Some of the other sporting shooters who used to be there are being kept out, which to our point of view is not fair.”

“This is trivial, it’s disgusting. It means the federal government is not getting any money to do anything. The other clubs were never given a chance to offer something. Mr Leyonhjelm has upset everyone except his mates at the RA, giving it to them for peanuts,” Mr Pyett said.

The federal government has since defended the cheap lease, with Finance Minister Mathias Cormann claiming that the price is a continuation of what was already in place, including under a Labor government.

Mr Pyett told City Hub that the community’s attention will now turn to the centre section of the headland which is yet to be subdivided.

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FEATURE

Flickerfest:

Short Films, Big Love Flickerfest returns for its 26th anniversary, kicking off the New Year with a celebration of creativity and unity Welcome To Country

Photo: Flickerfest supplied

Fish With Legs

Opening night audience at Flickerfest 2016. Photo: Flickerfest supplied

By Rita Bratovich It began in 1991 as a modest local festival in Balmain High School with shorts being screened on 35mm film. A few years later, Flickerfest moved to Bondi Pavilion and is now screened in 53 venues across the country.

In that time it has grown significantly in size and prestige, having earned accreditations from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, making certain category winners eligible for an Oscar or a BAFTA award.

Bronwyn Kidd has been Executive Director of Flickerfest for 20 years and has watched the festival develop and mature: “I think the films have changed in the sense that they are more diverse, we’ve got a lot more female directors coming through now… [and] a more multicultural mix of stories and indigenous filmmakers.”

Where short films might once have been considered a stepping-stone to feature film making, they have come to be seen more and more as an art form in themselves.

“Making a great short film requires a particular skill,” explained Kidd. With the accreditations and world recognition of the festival, Flickerfest commands very high calibre filmmaking and attracts notable industry people.

Festivals are still the best way for films to be accessed and for filmmakers to gain a valid

audience and network with their peers. The selective programming and ambient viewing is far superior to any online alternatives.

“We’re curating with the audience in mind as well as being a platform for discovering talent,” Kidd pointed out.

One hundred films have been selected for competition from amongst 2500 entries. Asked how they choose, Kidd explained: “We’re looking for creativity, looking for unique stories, looking for a different vision of the world…”

That sentiment was echoed by filmmaker Dean Gibson as he described his festival entry, Welcome To Country: “It’s a story that’s really different and a story that comes from Aboriginal Australia, and I think there’s a thirst for those kind of stories.”

Gibson has been making films for a decade, focusing on indigenous stories and trying to inform and entertain audiences at the same time. He prefers to create stories around real people who are trying to change the world in their own small way.

“I’m inspired by the normality of life in many ways and…going to places and meeting people who are doing things in their own little world…”

Welcome To Country is a comic tale about a white bureaucrat who comes to a small Aboriginal community to impose some “anglo wisdom”, but instead is confronted by his own ignorance and an unexpected twist of events.

Gibson finds the short film format challenging

but rewarding. The short time frame means everything needs to be there for a reason, the lead character needs to have a transformation and the audience needs to find it credible and be entertained.

“It’s a challenge for my own learnings and my own craft to see what matters and what doesn’t…and also to have some fun around what you see on the screen and play with time.”

He feels indigenous film and artists are gaining more recognition, and he credits festivals such as Flickerfest and supportive bodies like Screen Queensland for helping this happen.

Equally indebted to Flickerfest is animator Dave Carter, whose short film, Fish With Legs is one of the stand-outs at this year’s festival.

“Actually it was Flickerfest where I was first introduced to Don Hertzfeldt who’s a very big independent animator… and it showed me that animation doesn’t have to be just produced by Disney, produced by Pixar, and so that’s why short film festivals are so important…”

Carter has had a very successful career in animation so far, working with Sony and MTV and having his work shown at most of the major film festivals around the world. Even more remarkably, he was born profoundly deaf, which explains his affinity with visual media.

While he predominantly creates in stop motion, Fish With Legs is a traditional 2D animation.

“At its heart this story is a fable and we wanted to evoke classic 2D animation of Disney’s ’30’s and

’40’s cartoons, so it was important that we didn’t go for stop motion because stop motion tends to be subversive and anarchic.”

And indeed, many of Carter’s cartoons are dark, humorously violent and a little sardonic. Fish With Legs, however, is a simple allegory: the story of the first group of fish to grow legs and how each of them interprets this phenomenon. It is subversive but not didactic.

“The story is an opportunity to have people question whether to place their faith in science or whether to place their faith in God,” Carter explained. The film is a co-production with long time friend and collaborator, Nikos Andronicos.

Carter is an ardent supporter of Flickerfest. In his own words: “Without festivals there would be no way of curating what is good and what is bad.”

Other festival highlights include:

Nocturne In Black – from Syria, this film looks at the banning of music in a town occupied by ISIS. Bon Voyage – a couple sailing in the Mediterranean come across a boat of refugees and are faced with the moral dilemma of what to do.

I’m Raymond – an ethical comedy about a young boy who takes on his family’s cheese factory for not being environmentally sustainable.

This year, ABC iview will also carry a Flickerfest channel showing some of the festival’s best ever films.

Jan 6–15, Bondi Pavilion, Queen Elizabeth Dr, Bondi Beach. Session Tickets $16-$18, Season Pass $155-$170, multi-passes available. Tickets & info: www.flickerfest.com.au 10

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Prize Fighter

Rosie Dennis, the show’s director, says that Home Country seeks to give the audience a “more complex picture of what it means to be here in Australia in 2016”. As Dennis notes, this is a particularly “important conversation to have” in the present political climate.

Home Country is unique, blending the intimate and the universal, as it explores different perspectives on the notion of home.

Against the backdrop of a sunset over the Blue Mountains, and a 360-degree view of Sydney, there is no better way to spend a night out this summer. (RP) Jan 11–22, 6.30-10pm (excluding Mon + Tue). Colo Lane Car Park, Blacktown. $49-$59.

Tickets & info: www.urbantheatre.com.au

Julius Caesar + Antony and Cleopatra

Photo: Marnya Rothe

Sport for Jove Theatre Company is back for an eighth Outdoor Summer Shakespeare Season.

This time they will be taking you on a Roman adventure exploring the epic tale of Julius Caesar as well as Antony and Cleopatra.

Directed by Michael Pigott and Damien Ryan, the lively plays tell the stories of three heroic leaders of their time.

When asked how the actors felt about this particular performance Damien Ryan, who is also the Artistic Director of Sport for Jove, replied: “The cast have been really engaged with

the ideas in the plays and actors crave plays like this, they are huge poetic dramas with powerful and eternally relevant concepts at work. The company has had a wonderful time putting these plays together. Hard work as it is done in a short time, and they are working incredibly hard, but the real thrill for us all [is] to play with these texts.”

With many new faces and some familiar ones, this play will be an engaging and wonderful treat to watch on a warm summer’s night. “It is wonderful to provide new opportunities for artists who haven’t worked with us before,” added Ryan.

After the season initially began with both plays performed on one evening (from 5pm onwards), the intense sunlight and heat of the late Australian afternoon hampered plans for experiencing the fullness of Shakespeare’s work in one evening. For the remainder of the season the two productions share alternating evenings. (KH) Until Jan 29, performance times vary.

Bella Vista Farm Park, Baulkham Hills and Everglades Garden, Leura. $30-$38 (Family Bundle $120).Tickets & info: www.sportforjove.com.au

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12 STAGE 13 SCENE 14 Sounds 15 SCREEN

After an explosive debut in Brisbane, this Sydney Festival presentation co-produced by La Boite Theatre Company and Brisbane Festival has been hotly anticipated. Get your ringside tickets early, as this show is bound to be highly popular among theatre goers. (RP) Jan 6–22, varied performance times. Belvoir St Theatre, 25 Belvoir St, Surry Hills. $40-$72.

Tickets & info: www.belvoir.com.au

Review: Spiegel’esque Take the spectacle of circus, the camp of cabaret, and the variety of vaudeville, squeeze them all onto a tight stage in a small circular tent, toss in an elfin MC with a bad German accent and you have Spiegel’esque. It’s a frenetic, wild, gorgeous, astounding feast for eyes, ears and other sensitive parts.

The original Dutch built Spiegel Zelt (97 years old and still sizzling) has set up camp in Leichhardt’s Italian Forum, providing an intimate and authentic setting for the vintage styled show. Flamboyant live wire Wayne Scott Kermond (“Vayne”) is the multi-talented host, spouting enough bad one-liners to fill the canopy like a hot-air balloon. He has a brilliant rapport with the audience and is a perfect foil for the mixed glamour and thrill of the acts.

There are definitely no weak spots, but there are some standouts. Angelique Brown and Chris Talbot perform on a pole, suspended ring and tissu (two suspended lengths of fabric) and are jaw-dropping. Sultry singer Kate Wilson enthrals and captivates in three languages. A fabulous tap routine by Alexander Kermond and Dylon Mahoney is reminiscent of the golden Hollywood musicals. Feathers, shimmying sequins and some striptease from Peta Anderson, Sammy Jo and Ebony Wright. And coyly tucked in a corner but playing along with all the gags is pianist Andrew Freeborn.

The lighting and production are dazzling with some very effective use being made of a backdrop screen (in particular, for a running

Arts Editors: Jamie Apps - Alannah Maher For more A&E stories go to www.altmedia.net.au and don’t forget to join the conversation on Twitter at @AltMediaSydney

Photo: Paramount Studios

What is home? Presented in a multi-level car park in Blacktown, Home Country is an epic story from Urban Theatre Projects which seeks to share perspectives on place and identity in modern Australia.

Aboriginal Elder Uncle Cheeky guides the audience about the sites of the Colo Lane Car Park. Over a period of three and half hours (including a communal feast between the first and second halves of the show) the audience is introduced to Ali from Algeria and neighbour Zaphora, who clash over cultural values; sharpwitted Pita, caught between the old and the new Greek culture; and the Blacktown angel, restless in the afterlife. Each provides a perspective on home: that of a recently arrived immigrant to Australia, a post-war Greek migrant, and an Aboriginal man.

Isa, a Congolese boy, comes to Australia as refugee seeking escape from the brutal civil war and unspeakable horrors that plagued the land of his birth. He settles in Brisbane and soon finds a passion for the sport of boxing. Disciplined in his training and committed to the sport, he eventually finds himself fighting for the title.

However, when he steps into the ring, he is not only fighting his opponent; he is fighting his memories and demons, he is fighting for redemption.

Inspired by personal experiences, this play from Future D. Fidel seeks to go beyond the statistics (on child soldiers, and rape) that have come to characterise the story of the Congolese civil war. The show seeks to give the audience an insight into the reality of what is not being shown; the trauma, and family loss, that many Congolese experience, and, moreover, the search for new beginnings, on which they have embarked. It does so whilst drawing parallels with the sport of boxing.

Prize Fighter promises a unique theatrical combination: engrossing storytelling, coupled with the atmosphere and adrenaline of boxing.

Gideon Mzembe and Pacharo Mzembe.

Photo: Dylan Evans

Home Country

“plane” gag). This is a highly polished, thoroughly entertaining show in a unique, atmospheric venue.

Don’t be “meaning to go”. Go! (RB) Until Jan 22, varied performance times.

Spiegel Zelt, Italian Forum, 23 Norton St, Leichhardt. From $49.90.

Tickets & info: spiegelzelt.co

Contributors: Carmen Cita, Craig Coventry, Greg Webster, Alicia Sim, Peter Urquhart, James Harkness, Leann Richards, Lisa Seltzer, Mark Morellini, Mel Somerville, Rocio Belinda Mendez, Sarah Pritchard, Athina Mallis, Leigh Livingstone, Joseph Rana, Shon Ho, Jacqui Rothwell, Emily Shen, Andrew Hodgson, Irina Dunn, Caitlin Burns, Zeiya Speede, Rita Bratovich, Chantal Walsh, Raffaele Piccolo, Barbara Karpinski, Taylah Felice, Georgia Fullerton, Bobby Stephenson, Olga Azar, Kaiti Haviland, Daniel Jaramillo, Nina Beeston.

Ladies in Black

Trisha Noble

It is being heralded as the best new Australian musical since Priscilla Queen of the Desert dazzled the world, and now the Ladies in Black is ready to paint the town.

As the glorious liberation of the ‘60’s comes to sweep away the stuffy repression of the ‘50’s in Sydney, school leaver Lisa joins the ranks at the city’s most prestigious department store. After a summer of discovery, the fashions aren’t the only thing forever altered.

Award winning singer and actor Trisha Noble is delighted to be joining the cast for the Sydney debut: “I just think it’s a gorgeous Australian musical… there’s so much pathos in it and so much humour, and it captures perfectly the era in the ‘50’s where this is set… It’s totally Aussie and I just think it’s going to be an enormous success,” she told City Hub. Noble will be personifying the dual roles of Miss Jacobs and Mrs Crown, and according to her “they’re 180 degrees apart”. As the “downto-earth, no-nonsense” Mrs Crown, Noble will be performing a comedic song which, out of the score of 20 original numbers, is guaranteed to hit cult status: ‘The Bastard Song’. “It’s wonderful and fun and the audience just absolutely adores this song, there’s big belly laughs,” she added.

Noble believes that Ladies In Black will win fans for the way it slides seamlessly between song and dialogue, with the music from Tim Finn (Split Endz, Crowded House) advancing the story forward with direction from Simon Phillips.

(AM) Until Jan 22, performance times vary.

Sydney Lyric Theatre (at The Star), 80 Pyrmont St, Pyrmont. $68-$125.

Tickets & info: www.sydneyfestival.org.au

Cabaret

One of the world’s most beloved and tantalising musicals is set to capture audiences all over again as David Hawkins’ new Australian production of Cabaret launches the Hayes Theatre’s 2017 season.

The iconic Paul Capsis (Resident Alien) takes the reigns as the Emcee, in the role of a lifetime. He is joined by a star-studded cast including Kate Fitzpatrick (Fräulein Schneider), Debora Krizak (Fräulein Kost) and Chelsea Gibb as Sally Bowles.

Speaking after her castling, Gibb said: “If someone were to offer me a pick of any role, out of all the roles in musical theatre, Sally Bowles has always been my answer. It’s literally my biggest career dream coming true, that I’m getting to play her!”

Set in 1931 Berlin as the Nazis are beginning to rise to power, the Kander and Ebb musical takes place in the seedy nightlife of the Kit Kat Club. Young American writer Cliff Bradshaw’s (Jason Kos) relationship with English cabaret performer Sally Bowles takes centre stage.

In addition to its memorable songs and legendary characters, Cabaret carries an overwhelming message that if we do not learn from the darkest parts of history we

Paul Capsis as Emcee - Photo: John Mcrae

are doomed to repeat it. A timely message, considering that after the political and cultural blows of 2016, many hope the silver lining will be amazing art and music created in its wake.

What better time than the present to come to the cabaret? Don’t miss the musical everyone will be talking about. (AM) Jan 9–Mar 5, varied performance times.

Hayes Theatre Co, 19 Greenknowe Ave, Potts Point. From $55.Tickets & info: www.cometothecabaret.com.au

THE NAKED CITY

THE HANGOVER FROM THE COATHANGER! With Coffin Ed By the time you read this the last sulphurous fumes will have dissipated, the last terrified cat will have emerged from the sanctuary of an underground drain and the final astronomical bill will have been tallied for Sydney’s annual cracker night extravaganza.

The Lord Mayor Clover Mayor has called the Sydney Fireworks the most important event in Australia, watched “by over a billion people worldwide”.Whilst the figure is no doubt wildly exaggerated, this is perhaps one way of justifying the arguably obscene amount that is spent each year on the Lord Mayor’s NYE party at the Opera House, a publicly funded, private pissup that has cost an average of $750,000 in recent years. Just who is invited to this very ‘private’ event is never officially revealed, although we are assured there is a cross section of business leaders and community leaders, government officials and even journalists. Needless to say I was not invited this year!

The actual breakdown of costs for the party is also hard to determine, and you would have to dig deep into the Council’s accounts to see just where all the money goes.The total bill for the 2016 event came in at $763,508 with catering at $177,463 and ‘other expenses’ (supposedly audio and lighting, staging, temporary toilets and structures, furniture,

access equipment and generators, fencing, artist fees and, decorations) listed at $444,504.Whoa, does that include sticky string and party hats?

Those who object to the cost of Sydney’s NYE Fireworks and the Lord Mayor’s party are quickly labelled killjoys – mean spirited bastards who would stand in the way of millions of Sydneysiders enjoying

themselves. I would have no problem with a more modest pyrotechnic display, but perhaps the most interesting factor is the psychology of the whole event.There’s no doubt Sydney Harbour provides a spectacular backdrop for an extremely well promoted and orchestrated event.

Sydney’s NYE fireworks are there to make us feel good about the city, showing it off to the numerous visitors and the world at large. For 10 or 15 minutes of alcohol-charged eye candy we are persuaded to forget all that is wrong with the joint and join in a kind of jingoistic, communal euphoria – a bit like a mass stadium rally in North Korea (minus the coloured flip cards).

The cold hearted reality of the next morning is that nothing has really changed.The light rail has turned the heart of the CBD into a bleak construction zone, Oxford Street in Darlinghurst is fast becoming a boulevard of boarded up shops as is Darlinghurst Road in the Cross, late night life is in the doldrums and hundreds are still sleeping rough.

Yes, it’s still the same old Sydney with its sky rocketing rents, shortage of affordable accommodation and officious Council compliance.

Apart from their visual appeal, the fireworks, and the hype that surrounds them, are essentially an enormous distraction (the more cynical might even say a ‘con’), but hopefully one that is quickly put aside in the broad daylight.Welcome to 2017!

Egyptian Mummies: Exploring Ancient Lives The British Museum has discovered a way to unwrap the mysteries of mummies without unwrapping the mummies themselves – and they’ve shared that secret with the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (MAAS) through the cooperative exhibition Egyptian Mummies: Exploring Ancient Lives, now on at the Powerhouse Museum.

“The British Museum is home to the largest collection of Egyptian antiquities outside of Egypt, including one of the largest collections of Egyptian Mummies anywhere in the world,” said Dolla Merrillees, Director MAAS, at the opening of the exhibition. Clearly excited, she shared details on what will make this a unique experience: “Contemporary imaging technologies have allowed researchers to investigate aspects of ancient life that other sources of evidence rarely provide, such as the individual mummy’s sex, possible age at death, state of health, their diet, as well as the mummification process itself.”

Temple Singer with scan. Photo: Trustees of the British Museum

CT scanning and 3D digital imaging has allowed replication of the bodies and other objects that lay beneath the bandages without disturbing them or even physically touching them.

Melanie Pitkin, co-curator and Egyptologist from MAAS believes “every mummy has a story to tell”.

Over 200 related artefacts help tell that story.There

are six mummies: 3 adult females, 1 adult male, 1 teen male, 1 male child – and they lived in Egypt between 1800 and 3000 years ago.

It’s taken two years to organise the world premiere exhibition.

“We’re very excited that our audiences here in Sydney will be the very first to see it… many of the

displays have never been seen before,” said Jonathan Williams, British Museum Deputy Director (Collections and Research).

Daniel Antoine, co-curator from the British Museum explained: “The underlying concept was to try and provide an insight into what it was like to live along the River Nile thousands of years ago.”

Fellow curator, Marie Vandernbeusch, described a jewellery display as a highlight: “I’m particularly delighted that we managed to display them because thats something we are not able to do at the British Museum at the moment.”

Walking through the exhibit is an extraordinary, almost unworldly experience. It’s a meeting of the very new with the very old – and it’s astonishing.

(RB) Until Apr 25. Powerhouse Museum, 500 Harris Street, Ultimo. $16-$27.

Tickets & info: www.maas.museum city hub 5 JANUARY 2017

13

Bowie’s work features esteemed vocalists Kylie Auldist, Dave Graney, Ron S. Peno, Kim Salmon and Max Sharam.

Sat, Jan 7, Enmore Theatre The Sharon Shannon Band: The button accordion player from County Clare, Ireland, has recorded and toured with a who’s who of the Irish and Global Music Industry, including Bono,Adam Clayton, Sinead O’Connor, Jackson Browne, John Prine ,Steve Earle,The RTE Concert Orchestra,The Chieftains,The Waterboys,Willie Nelson, Nigel Kennedy, Alison Krauss and Shane MacGowan.

Sharon’s work demonstrates a groundbreaking mix of traditional Irish with reggae, country, Native American, bluegrass, cajun, rap, dance,African, and French Canadian.

Sat, Jan 7,The Basement FOMO: A boutique, all-inclusive festival experience bringing together a carefully curated line-up of international and local artists. This year’s “all killer no filler” lineup features Flosstradamus, Empire Of The Sun, Peking Duk, Slumberjack and Desiigner.

Sun, Jan 8,The Crescent, Parramatta Park Halestorm: Last here in 2015, the Grammy Award winning rock outfit from Red Lion, Pennsylvania, return this week off the back of their 2014 album release Into The Wild Life. Last time around they wowed audiences with their epic live show, so this is a no-brainer for fans of rock.

Wed, Jan 11, Factory Theatre

Maricelle – Lucky Ones

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White Lies press a button that starts physical and emotional processes through their listener’s responsive bodies. It takes up space that previously didn’t exist and refills it with more of the listener. (SP)

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‘Lucky Ones’ is poppy yet atmospheric. It is romantic yet sad. It is beautifully, intentionally discordant.

Maricelle’s recent single from the forthcoming Pursuit EP is a blend of styles, smashing together the hopeful romance and the catchy nature of pop with hard breaks dotted throughout the music. The resulting electricity is not just surrounded, but poked and prodded by its own ambiance.

Her eclectic influences don’t take turns in shining through, instead fighting each other for their share in each millisecond. Over the top, her own voice takes centre, rising out and running down the side of the piece with freedom and ethereal presence.

This single is another small taste of the singer’s talents built up through study and careful writing. (SP)

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with a show here in Sydney this week.

“I’ve heard a lot of beautiful things about the specialised environment in Australia, so I’m really excited to get out there and see the landscape, the forests, the food and what the people are like,” said Bird excitedly.

Luckily she has a number of friends already living here in Australia, which makes the long journey a little less daunting. However that will not discourage her from getting out to connect with fans after the shows.

“After a show, myself and the guys go out and talk to people... We simply get to know people and hopefully we’ll get to come back again through these people. It’s all about connecting with people on a human level – it’s not about networking, it’s about connecting.”

Jan 12, 7.30pm. Newtown Social Club, 387 King St, Newtown. $22.99.

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that always made me feel like I wanted to do it more. I really wanted to show people that they were wrong and that it wouldn’t be a disability for me.”

Thanks to this mindset, Bird has been slowly moving from each stepping-stone to the next, ticking off milestones and accolades along the way. The next biggest milestone on that list is heading down to Australia for the first time,

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The Outside Track: The five members of this band are all united by a mutual love of traditional music whilst still trying to create new music off of this foundation. Using fiddle, accordion, harp, guitar, flute, step-dance and vocals, these five virtuosos blend boundless energy with unmistakable gusto.

Thu, Jan 5, Camelot Lounge Catfish & The Bottlemen: As part of their Falls Festival Australian tour, the most exciting new guitar band to break through in the UK will hit up Sydney for a special sideshow performance.

Fri, Jan 6, Metro Theatre The Soul Kinda Feelin’ Revue: During the summer of 1984 the Dynamic Hepnotics’ Soul Kinda Feeling was a song you could not ignore. It was everywhere – on radio, on Walkmans, on TV and in clubs and pubs across the country. Written by charismatic Hepnotics front man and singer Continental Robert Susz, the song has become an Australian rock’n’soul classic, now by popular demand, back together for another history breaking night at Camelot, Continental Robert unites with the original saxophone player, Bruce Allen, and a riffing horn section.

Fri, Jan 6, Camelot Lounge Bowie In Berlin: Marking the 70th Anniversary of the birth of David Bowie and celebration of his album release Low, which was also released in January one week after Bowie’s 30th Birthday.

Featuring musical director Mick Harvey at the helm, this tribute to this most esoteric and revered era of David

By Jamie Apps Before music became a major part of her life, Irish artist Wallis Bird had to overcome some incredibly terrifying moments and disadvantages. Now on the other side of these challenges, Bird is using her music as a means of connecting on a deeper level with people all around the world during her travels.

At just 18 months old, Bird lost all of the fingers on her left hand after an incident with a lawnmower; which would significantly impact her throughout her life. Whilst this sounds like a terrifying story that many of us would like to forget, Bird both laughs it off and uses it as motivation moving forward.

“That’s something that happened to me and thankfully surgery brought all my fingers back together so now it’s fine,” she reflected. “I remember people would say to me ‘you’ll never be perfect or a professional on guitar’ or ‘you wont be able to play piano now’ but

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Night Owls Kids Film Festival

By Mark Morrellini How many film festivals are there yearly which screen contemporary and classic films and are also free to attend? The answer is easy. Just one – the Night Owls Kids Film Festival, which returns for its sixth year to delight audiences for 17 nights, screening 26 feature films and 17 shorts in the Darling Green under the stars.

Specifically aimed at kids, this family event kicks off each evening at 6pm with live entertainment for the children and is followed by a short film from Little Big Shots, the best in local and international shorts, several of which have been produced by child filmmakers.

The feature film follows from a program of past box office hits which are pleasurable to watch over and over again. Kung Fu Panda 3, The Good Dinosaur and Shaun The Sheep are just a few of the popular titles.

On selected nights there will also be afterhours screenings for big kids with smash hits including The Wolverine, Thor 2: The Dark World and Captain America.

Bring a blanket and pack a picnic, else try (fish and chips) Stacks Taverna and Bar (steaks) something nice to eat at one of the many and Gelatissimo (gelato). eateries in the area including Vesta (pizza), Taste This year attendees also have the chance to win

Assassin’s Creed

Assassin’s Creed is a video game franchise which fans of the series have been clamouring to see transferred into the realm of film – unfortunately however the first outing is a dull and soulless offering.

Very quickly the film sets out to establish all of the main players from the Assassin’s Creed universe: the Assassins, The Knights Templar and our protagonist Callum Lynch (Michael Fassbender). Rather than attempting to adapt an already established character from one of the game entries, we’re instead introduced to Lynch, who is tasked by the Abstergo foundation to relive the genetic memories of his 500 year old ancestor Aguilar de Nerha via their Animus technology.

It is through these memories that the most enthralling material of Assassin’s Creed occurs. The action sequences set during the

Spanish Inquisition are incredibly shot and capture the feel of the games outstandingly.

Unfortunately however the film insists on constantly reminding the viewer that they are witnessing Lynch live out these memories in modern times by overlaying the Inquisition scenes onto shots of Lynch attached to the robotic arm of the Animus.

Whilst the film remains incredibly faithful to the lore of the game, much like the early games in the franchise too much emphasis is placed on the modern day drama, which is often convoluted and plodding. The ending of Assassin’s Creed sets the universe up for the inevitable sequel, so we must only hope that the film can make the monumental leap of faith to focus on the past, something that the games have done in each subsequent outing. (JA) WW

TOP PICKS THE JUNGLE BOOK: Follows the adventures of Mowgli, an orphaned boy raised by animals in the jungle.

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON: From Marvel Comics, Earth’s mightiest heroes must save the world from the villainous Ultron.

THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN: In this 2014 reboot, Spiderman saves New York City from the villainous Oscorp.

DADDY’S HOME: Enormous at the worldwide box office, a funny comedy starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg.

SNOOPY & CHARLIE BROWN: THE PEANUTS MOVIE: Snoopy embarks on a great mission while Charlie Brown attempts to win over the love of his life. an outdoor home cinema pack by My Outdoor Theatre, which is added incentive to come along and enjoy the night watching a favourite film under the stars.

Jan 6–19 + 23–25, from 6pm.

Village Green (North) Darling Quarter, 1-25 Harbour St, Sydney. Free event.

Info: www.darlingquarter.com/nightowls

Red Dog: True Blue

Red Dog: True Blue is the prequel to the original Red Dog film from 2011. Directed again by Kriv Stenders, this uniquely Australian film shows the beauty of the outback and also reveals a glimpse of life back in the 60’s, bringing up social issues of the time such as Aboriginal land rights and the Vietnam War. It’s the story of how a puppy rescued from a vat of paint and given the name Blue became the legendary Red Dog. The film tells the coming of age story of the character Michael

Carter (played by Jason Isaacs as an adult and Levi Miller as a teenager) who tells his son about his days as a youth going to live with his grandfather (played by Bryan Brown) in the Pilbara region of W.A, and discovering a very different world to his city upbringing.

This film will make you laugh, smile and cry and is a great Aussie flick for children and adults alike. It’s nice to see a film with heart and soul that doesn’t rely on special effects and blockbuster action to be enjoyable. (DJ) WWWWW city hub 5 JANUARY 2017

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