FUSE Festival Autumn

■ FUSE Festival Autumn 2023, a contemporary, multi-arts festival presented by the City of Darebin, will be presented from March 11-26. Darebin’s streets, parks, venues, theatres, galleries and other public spaces will all be transformed into locally unexpected zones of art, culture and creativity.

In this year’s program, festivalgoers will experience everything from large community celebrations to intimate new experiences.

Launching the FUSE Autumn programming this year is Out of the Park Picnic on Sunday March 12, hosted by Queen Acknowledgements, aka Nartarsha Bamblett, a proud Yorta Yorta, Gunai Kurnai, Walpiri and Wiradjuri women.

This free afternoon event at Edwardes Lake Park features interactive activities with shared culture, local artists, food, site art, music, family activities and a strong community voice.

Artists performing include Emma Donovan, DJ Jumps, and Dorsal Fins. There will also be the All-inclusive Interactive Drum and Movement Activity , presented by African Star Dance , a group of performers and musicians who are committed to bringing the community together through African culture and tradition.

Everyone is invited to rehearse with the band prior to their performance or join in on the day. Sunday, March 12 at Edwardes Lake Park in Reservoir.

In celebration of International Women's Week, The Molly Hadfield Social Justice Oration has been held annually by Darebin City Council for over 10 years.

This year, guest speaker Namila Benson, radio broadcaster, podcaster and television presenter, will provide a thought-provoking dialogue on racism and anti-racism. The event is a tribute to Molly Hadfield, an inspiring local who worked tirelessly for social justice.

Wednesday, March 15 at Darebin Arts Centre.

FUSE presents its first Artist Keynote with Mat Watson Regional Echoes: From yabbies to freeform synthesis will be a compelling discussion on Mat’s journey from growing up in rural Victoria to discovering a life in music, modular synthesisers and experimental sound.

Thursday, March, 16 at Darebin Arts Centre ★

Meet the Makers celebrates Darebin’s local wine makers. Visitors will get to sample homemade wine, chat with the makers, listen to live music by Pirritu, browse artisan food and wine stalls, and view demonstrations. The day is MC'ed by Darebin local, Elise Pulbrook, from MasterChef 2021.

Sunday, March 19 at Preston City Hall.

As part of FUSE , the City of Darebin commissions works to be presented throughout the duration of the festival. This FUSE Fund initiative gives local artists an opportunity to explore new practices and engage with additional elements to improve, perfect and diversify their art form.

Exquisite Bias is a free two-week photography exhibition by Delia Poon showing collaborative, audio-visual portraits, exploring unconscious racial bias and cultural identity in contemporary Australia. The project invites Darebin locals to have their photograph taken and record their answer to the question, ‘Where do you come from?’

March 11-26 at Preston Library.

★

Thingamabobs is an interactive space full of surprising machines and quirky contraptions. It is a kinetic installation that bounces between the absurd, the deeply human, and the straight-up funny.

It’s an installation that collects the imagination of kids and seniors into an entertaining space inviting curious people to look and listen.

March 18-19 at Northern Community Church

★

Time Distance Music is led by local musician and instrument inventor Colin Offord. Audiences can enjoy the music of seven musicians from diverse musical and cultural backgrounds, exploring new possibilities for traditional and invented instruments. Enjoy the continuous uplifting, cross-cultural, musical performance—audiences can come and go as they please.

March 25-26 at The Chalice, Northcote Uniting Church

★

FUSE will also be launching two podcasts as part of the festival. Darker is a series of six fictional works written and performed by La Trobe University students.

The Future Leaders , created by artists Dr Claufia Esobar Vega and Jorge Leiv , reveals the future generation’s opinions on the leaders of today and their vision of the leaders of the future.

The Darebin Community Awards recognise individuals and groups who have made an outstanding contribution to the community. This year’s presentation ceremony will be held at the new Narrandjeri Stadium, John Cain Memorial Park in Thornbury.

March 23 at Narrandjeri Stadium, Thornbury

★

FUSE@Large open access program, where anyone presenting a creative event in Darebin can do so under the FUSE banner. Events and programs to be announced soon.

The FUSE closing party features The Last Dance by All The Queens Men. Inspired by the LGBTIQ+ Elders Dance Club, All The Queens Men present an all-out afternoon soiree featuring Motown and disco classics performed by vocalists including Wendy Stapleton, Sarah Ward, Nefertiti LaNegra and more.

This promises to be a huge event celebrating the whole LGBTIQ+ and allied community.

Saturday, March 25 at Northcote Theatre

For the full program of FUSE visit: www.fusedarebin.com.au

- Cheryl Threadgold

Cruel Intentions

■ Melbourne’s Athenaeum Theatre was the venue for Cruel Intentions the Musical.

It is based on Les Liaisons Dangereuses from the novel written by Pierre Choderios de Laclos in 1782.

The story of the musical is where we enter the manipulative world of Manhattan’s most dangerous liaisons: Sebastian Valmont and Katherine Merteuil.

Fuelled by revenge and passion , the diabolically charming step-siblings place a bet on whether or not Sebastian can deflower their incoming headmaster’s daughter.

The production is magnificent theatre. The show was sparkling, Music very good, lighting a good standard and overall a very interesting evening of theatre.

The performers were outstanding with Kirby Burgess as Kathy Merteuil giving an outrageous and stirling performance.

Her stepbrother, Sebastian Valmont, played by Drew Weston, dominated the stage in his scenes, catching the fine nuances of such a character. The other players lived up to the standard set by these two giving an interesting evening of theatre.

The show had a standing ovation, well deserved by such a production, but one would not recommend it to the over 50s as it is definitely a show for the younger generation and Sir Arthur Rylah would not approve.

Review by Peter Kemp

Something In The Dirt

■ (M). 116 minutes. Now available on DVD.

Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead continue their winning ways, once again combining sci-fi and drama (on a micro budget) to intriguing effect.

Moorhead and Benson star (as they did in The Endless) as John and Levi, both tenants in a low-rent, run-down apartment building in L.A.

John has been living there for 10 years, while Levi has just moved in upstairs, and the pair seem to hit it off immediately.

While helping Levi move in, John notices weird mathematical equations written on the frame around the closet door, but when a heavy quartz ashtray starts to levitate and throw particular patterns of light against the walls, John and Levi believe the apartment holds far bigger secrets.

As the two start to document and research what is going on, the possibilities of what may be causing this event spirals in every direction, and will not only affect their opinions and feelings for each other, but of reality itself.

Benson and Moorhead (who along with directing and starring, also write, produce, and edit) have been building a superior body of work since they appeared on the scene in 2012 with their no budget wonder, Resolution, following that up with Spring (2014), The Endless (2017) and Synchronic (2019), and the pair have superbly connected most of these within the one universe.

With Something In The Dirt, the talented film-makers very cleverly use a sci-fi framework to explore the current epidemic of conspiracy theories and misinformation, and how easily people can fall down the rabbit hole, and in some ways is reminiscent of David Robert Mitchell’s unfairly dismissed (but very David Lynch inspired) surreal 2018 thriller Under The Silver Lake.

Benson and Moorhead, like in The Endless, offer solid performances, making their characters’ journey feel convincing, and deliver the humorous elements with conviction.

The effects are well-executed and perfectly timed. Something In The Dirt will definitely frustrate some viewers, as it remains lowkey and deliberately paced, relying on cerebral verbal exchanges rather than big, fx-laden set-pieces.

If you enjoy this, I highly recommend searching out Moorhead and Benson’s earlier efforts.

Like Project Wolf Hunting (also available on DVD), this is another cult winner from Umbrella Enter- tainment.

RATING - **** On The Line

■ (M). 100 minutes. Now available on DVD.

After a recent string (in the tradition of other former big screen heavyweights like Bruce Willis and Nicolas Cage) of low grade DTV movies, where he usually played a supporting role, Mel Gibson returns yet again in a low budget affair, but this one at least gets off to a promising start before stumbling considerably in the later stretches.

Gibson plays Elvis Cooney, an L.A. shock jock who works the midnight shift at KLAT radio.

Known for his unpredictable nature and outrageous comments, he keeps his boss Sam (Nadia Fares) and assistant Mary (Alia SerorO’Neill) on their toes, and has a bitter relationship with fellow radio host Justin (Kevin Dillon).

There is also a new addition to the team, console operator Dylan (William Moseley).

The show begins like any other, until a particular listener, named Gary, calls in claiming he has kidnapped Elvis’ wife and child, and will kill them unless he apologises for a major discretion committed against him.

Not knowing what Gary is talking about, Elvis keeps Gary on the line, trying to figure out not only who this psycho is, but also attempting to keep his family safe.

The first half is reasonably entertaining, containing an infectious, well-paced energy, and the cast play off each other rather well (especially Gibson).

However, the path that writer/director Romuald Boulanger decides to take in the second half causes nearly all of the early fun to drain away, and if, like me, you can see where the story is going early on, it makes this turn feel particularly annoying.

All of a sudden, the film is struggling to maintain audience interest. The less you know going in the better, but the ending has proven highly divisive.

It is a real pity On The Line didn’t have the conviction of remaining a verbal stand-off (like the brilliant 2018 Danish film, The Guilty), as this is when the film is at its strongest and most entertaining. Combined with a tighter running time (say 80-85 minutes), this could have been a surprising little sleeper, but ultimately this misses the target.

RATING - **½

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