Local News

Flickerfest festival director Bronwyn Kidd.

Crowd Favourite Flickerfest Celebrates 30 Years of Short Film

Words Nicola Smith Photo Rachel Cameron

Flickerfest will bring some welcome cheer to Bondi this January as the iconic short film festival celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2021. A festival garden will operate adjacent to its usual home in Bondi Pavilion from January 22-31.

Festival director Bronwyn Kidd said that the festival was well placed to go ahead despite the impact of the pandemic.

“It’s been a big year for everyone with COVID. Now that restrictions have eased, making real life arts festivals like Flickerfest possible, we are thrilled to celebrate our 30th year in January,” Ms Kidd told The Beast, “the same way that our loyal audiences have enjoyed Flickerfest over the years.”

“We’re really committed to keeping the film on the big screen, not online. We’re excited to put on a COVID safe, audience-friendly event where people can come and know that every aspect is taken care of.

Flickerfest began in Balmain High School in 1991 and has since grown into an international festival with Academy and BAFTA recognition.

Due to renovations to Bondi Pavilion, the festival will be housed in a fun bespoke festival garden this year, supported by Waverley Council, which will include The Famous Spiegeltent for indoor screenings, an outdoor deckchair cinema under the stars and a festival garden bar area. This new, larger venue will allow the same size audience as previous years to attend while still observing social distancing regulations.

Waverley Mayor Paula Masselos said that Council was pleased to host such an important cultural event.

“Flickerfest is considered in international circles as the leading Australian competitive short film festival and is one of the most popular cultural offerings on the Waverley events calendar,” Mayor Masselos said.

The focus of the films this year won’t be on the pandemic, but rather on looking forward to better, brighter days and showcasing an incredible array or world class shorts from at home and the world with something for everyone including hilarious comedies, delightful films for kids and families and an outstanding selection of creative and entertaining films screening across Flickerfest’s Academy Qualifying competitions.

“People have had enough challenges this year, so as the festival director I’m aiming for some joy and to give our audiences a laugh and escape the challenges of the past year through a celebration of outstanding cinema,” Ms Kidd told The Beast.

Selecting a diverse array of films with the audience in mind is at the core of Flickerfest’s ethos and is one reason why the festival is not only well regarded locally but also by audiences right across Australia.

“Flickerfest’s focus on worldclass programming reflects our commitment to our audiences. We want people to come along, love the films and enjoy themselves and the festival environment,” Ms Kidd said.

After 30 years and the challenges of 2020, the festival is still thriving. 2021 is set to be one of the best years so far, with over 2,700 entries that are curated into 200 short films to be screened across different categories.

“The key thing for Flickerfest is the programming, and that’s the basis of everything that we do. The quality of the films, the fun, the creativity and the freshness is the basis of Flickerfest and is what has kept it going all these years,” Ms Kidd told The Beast.

For more information, please visit www.flickerfest.com.au.

Fire up the taddies!

Getting the Low Down on Men’s Fertility

Words Nicola Smith Photo Kermit the Frog

A new men’s only webinar from IVFAustralia is providing an open, online forum for men to ask questions about male fertility. The Low Down, as it’s known, is run monthly by a team of fertility specialists who try to shed some light on an issue that is rarely discussed.

Dr Shadi Khashaba from IVFAustralia says that men often don’t realise that they could be playing a part in infertility issues.

“Women always think about it and follow up because they’re thinking about pregnancy, but men don’t think about it as much,” Dr Khashaba told The Beast.

However, a 2019 report from the Australian Royal College of General Practitioners reports that 15-20 per cent of couples will experience infertility, and 50 per cent of those cases will have a male factor present. That means that half of all infertility issues come from men.

The webinar began in September 2020 and provides a space for men to hear from fertility experts from the comfort of their own homes.

“It’s very unstructured, with three fertility experts,” Dr Khashaba explained. “We run it as a chat and discuss a few issues, and the public can ask questions that we try to answer.”

Participants may be surprised to find that the webinar does not go straight to IVF as the solution to infertility issues.

Dr Khashaba told The Beast he believes that a journey with fertility is not just about trying IVF straight away but having a more holistic approach.

He explained how many patients don’t realise that their fertility is linked to their physical health, mental health, sexual health and even stress levels.

“I always tell the couple that healthy parents have healthier children. The healthier you are, the more likely you are to conceive,” he said.

“In a lot of circumstances, a holistic response helps dramatically. It’s not just IVF, its cycle tracking, assessing bad habits like binge drinking over the weekend, and thinking about supplements like essential vitamins and minerals.”

Many men might also not realise how their day-to-day habits are affecting their fertility health, another area that The Low Down webinars hope to address. When there is little cultural discussion over these issues, it can be difficult to access knowledge. However, Dr Khashaba believes that the new webinars show that the cultural landscape is changing.

“Within the culture itself, it’s changing in Australia. Men are more willing to talk about their fertility and their mental health,” Dr Khashaba said.

“We need it more in the media, and then when you hear about it a lot, they start to think about it, and then they can discuss it.”

The webinar has proved incredibly popular in its first months, with registrations doubling after the first one.

Fertility can be a sensitive topic for some couples, but Dr Khashaba emphasized that any men or couples worried about their fertility can get in touch with their GP or a fertility specialist to discuss their options.

The next Low Down webinar will be held on Thursday, February 11 at 7pm. To find out more, please visit www.ivf.com. au/mens-only-webinar-thelow-down-series.

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Mimi and Arch.

Grassroots Charity Raises MuchNeeded Funds for Heart Patients

Words Nicola Smith Photos Nicola Cameron

Fifteen-year-old Maroubra local Mimi Perkin has founded a new charity, Hearts4Arch, in memory of her brother Archie, who passed away from a sudden cardiac arrest on January 3, 2020.

The charity’s goal is to provide every cardiac patient of Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network with a mobile electrocardiogram (ECG) unit when they leave the hospital.

Miss Perkin told The Beast that it was an easy decision to do something special in her brother’s memory.

“As soon as Arch passed away, I knew I wanted to raise money. Growing up we had other disabled people in our family, so we always had that connection and I really wanted to help other kids,” Miss Perkin explained.

The fundraising efforts began with a surf competition in October 2020 with Maroubra’s South End Boardriders. That was followed by a fundraising concert with local bands Gully Days, Ben Darby and Mordor at the Paddington RSL in November.

The concert raised well over $8,000 and Miss Perkin said it was the sort of evening Archie would have loved.

“It was amazing, the vibes were so good! I didn’t know the bands before, but Arch had been to a Mordor concert and came home absolutely sweating,” she told The Beast.

“He’d had such a good time, so I knew it would be good.”

The charity is also selling merchandise to raise funds. The Hearts4Arch T-shirts, hoodies and caps are made in collaboration with Fair Share, which includes a small price premium (between 20 cents and a dollar) that is passed on directly to garment workers in India. This means that purchasing Hears4Arch merchandise does good twice, raising funds here in Australia and providing extra income to workers overseas.

All of the funds raised go towards purchasing Kardia mobile ECG units. The units are small enough to be stuck on the back of a phone and can measure heart rate through the fingers. Data is collected by a phone app and can be sent directly to a doctor to measure any irregularities in the user’s heart rate.

While the inspiration for the charity, and a huge amount of work, came from Miss Perkin, she also acknowledges that she couldn’t have done it without the support of friends and family.

“At first I didn’t want their help, but it was becoming really overwhelming, so mum sat me down and said, ‘Look I think it’s bigger than you thought it would be, and I want to help’. Our family friend Imby Langenbach was an awesome help too,” Miss Perkin said.

Some of the most enthusiastic supporters of the cause are also the youngest.

“Archie’s friends love it, they’re really involved. There are so many Hearts4Arch stickers up around Maroubra because of them, Archie would’ve loved it,” she added.

The young founder started the charity amid COVID lockdowns and tackling year ten at school. While she knows she will spend the next two years focusing on her HSC, Miss Perkin knows that she wants Hearts4Arch to keep going long-term and do as much good as possible.

“We definitely would like the surf comp and gig to be a yearly thing, even if I’m a bit more in the background the next two years, and after school I’d like to keep going with it and do even more,” she told The Beast.

For more information about future fundraising events and how to contribute, please visit www.hearts4arch.com.au.

Making a real difference.

Fighting for a Plastic Free Bronte

Words Nicola Smith Photo Gergo Rugli

A group of passionate and committed Bronte locals have launched a new photography campaign to help in the fight against plastic polluting our oceans. The campaign includes a series of posters that feature plastic waste found along the Bronte to Bondi coastal walk.

The group behind the posters, Plastic Free Bronte, hopes that they will help to remind people to be more mindful, not just of their littering, but of their plastic consumption too.

The photos were taken by Plastic Free Bronte member Gergo Rugli, an amateur photographer, and none of the photos in the campaign were staged. The photos now stand as a record of plastic waste as it was found along the coastal walk.

Many surf lifesaving clubs along the coastal walk, as well as cafes in Bronte, have jumped on board the campaign and are displaying the posters.

Plastic Free Bronte founder Colette Reynolds told The Beast that this has come at a significant time for plastic use.

“Due to COVID, there’s been a big increase in single-use plastics, and people have reverted,” she told The Beast, “so we need to tweak their thinking again.”

What began as a solo project for Ms Reynolds to reduce her plastic use became a community initiative that hoped to see all the cafes at Bronte Beach stop using straws in their drinks.

“Bronte is an enclave - there are eight to nine cafes - and I thought, ‘If I can make a change there, that’s achievable’,” Ms Reynolds told The Beast.

Having grown even further, Plastic Free Bronte now runs regular community events to support plastic-free living. These include movie nights to raise awareness and money for the organisation’s work, conducting independent research into plastic-free alternatives for local businesses and running information stalls at Bronte Beach to educate the community on plastic-free lifestyles.

Waverley Mayor Paula Masselos said enthusiastic volunteer groups like Plastic Free Bronte were an important part of the Waverley community.

“I am truly appreciative of the indefatigable dedication of volunteer groups such as Plastic Free Bronte and the work they are doing in the local area, including along the Bondi to Bronte Coastal Walk. Their activities in education, cleanups and business initiatives are truly inspirational, and I thank them for their selfless dedication and commitment,” Mayor Masselos told The Beast.

Ms Reynolds feels that, while behavioural change is difficult to bring about, the group has developed a strong bond with the community and has brought about change for the better.

“It’s about keeping the conversation open and not blaming the businesses. We want to educate people, not shame them,” she said.

“It took years and years and years, but now I have a great relationship with the owners and they’re all on board.”

Waverley Council is on board with the vision of a more sustainable world too.

“Council will continue to work closely with our community and community groups to protect our area and to try and instil behavioural change so future generations can enjoy this amazing part of the world, as we do,” Mayor Masselos told The Beast.

Ms Reynolds said that seeing the community rally behind the cause has been the best thing about the initiative.

“What excites me about this journey is that a small group of passionate people can make a difference and really make waves,” she told The Beast.

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Mind over matter.

50 Marathons in 50 Days

Words Nicola Smith Photo Andrew Abela

21-year-old electrician Nedd Brockmann took up running in 2019 and has recently completed 50 marathons in 50 days. Mr Brockmann used the challenge to support homeless people in Sydney through the Red Cross.

“Connection is so important to me, and I’ve always had a soft spot for homelessness, so that’s what I wanted to support,” Mr Brockmann told The Beast.

His original goal was to raise $50,000 by running 50 marathons in 50 days, but the final figure topped $93,000.

While he said he has always been athletic, Mr Brockmann only ran his first marathon this year. He began the challenge on August 31 and finished the last of his 50 runs on October 19.

“I did a 100 kilometre run to Palm Beach, and then I heard about someone who had done these 50 marathons in 50 days, and I wanted to do that,” he said, “but I thought I’d one-up them by working 7am-3pm as a sparky every day at the same time.”

The challenge wasn’t an easy one, with Mr Brockmann saying he was in pain after the first day. But that wasn’t going to stop him from finishing all 50 marathons.

“I told myself, ‘You’ve set [the challenge], so you’ve got to do it. You’ve got to just bite the bullet and do it’,” he told The Beast.

This attitude served Mr Brockmann well when he tore his hamstring tendon on the twelfth day.

“I kept running - I still had 38 marathons left to run! But it’s amazing, once I was running on a torn tendon, I realised I could keep going. The mind gives up long before the body does, so it’s about keeping that mindset,” Mr Brockmann said.

Most of the marathons were run in Centennial Park, with others run at La Perouse, Narrabeen and on a treadmill. By the end of the challenge, Mr Brockmann had run 310 laps around Centennial Park.

Mr Brockmann received a groundswell of support from the community, meaning he not only passed his fundraising target but also didn’t do a single run alone.

“I started the challenge believing I’d do every run on my own, but people showed up on every run.” In the last ten days there were about 20 people there each time, on the second last day there were 60, and on his last marathon, 250 people came out to run with him.

On his final run, Mr Brockmann also managed to run a sub-3 marathon, running the distance in 2 hours 53 minutes, a major goal for marathon runners.

All in all, Mr Brockmann ran 2,100 kilometres in this challenge, the equivalent of running from Canberra to Townsville, but he’s hoping to go further next year and run from Perth to Sydney.

The new challenge will involve running 96 kilometres a day for 42 days, almost double what he has run this time.

If he completes this challenge, Mr Brockmann will set a world record, an incredible feat for someone relatively new to long-distance running. For him though, it’s about the mindset more than the experience.

“I’ve really tapped into the ‘never give up’ mindset, and I love taking the body and mind to its extremes and seeing how you deal with it. A lot of people never get to experience that.”

To keep up to date with where Nedd is running next, you can follow his Instagram account at @neddbrockmann.

Bits and Pieces From Around the Beaches

Words Nicola Smith Photo Max Ravier Instagram @vertprod

Maroubra Hit and Run

Concerned family members are calling for witnesses to a recent hit and run in Maroubra, where a 67-year-old male pedestrian was severely injured by a white car at around 4.45pm on November 18. The incident took place in a council car park on Anzac Parade, Maroubra Junction, opposite Maroubra Medical & Dental Centre. Anyone who witnessed the incident or helped the man is urged to call or text 0435 123 936, or send an email to appt7124@gmail.com.

Local Nurse Wins Graduate of the Year

Corey Sclater, the young nurse who was profiled in the December edition of The Beast, has added to his accolades by being awarded Graduate Nurse of the Year NSW. Mr Sclater won the award for the same patient handover system in the Prince of Wales Hospital’s aged care ward that won him the Young Changemakers Award earlier this year.

Love the Coast Photo Comp

Waverley Council’s Love the Coast photography competition is back this summer and all amateur photographers are invited to take part. The competition calls for photographs that celebrate the Eastern Suburbs’ amazing coastline, with entries closing on January 4. For more information and to enter, please visit waverley.nsw.gov.au.

Waterford Donates Resources

Waterford Preschool has organised to donate its school resources to several Indigenous preschools at the end of the year. The preschool, which has been part of the Waverley Community for fifty years, will close at the end of 2020, as reported in the December edition of The Beast. The acting director of the preschool, Tilly Tana, has coordinated the effort with Gunawirra (a not-for-profit organisation supporting Indigenous families and communities), Poets Corner Community Preschool, based in Redfern, and the South Coast’s Orient Point District Community Preschool. They will divide up the centre’s toys, books, equipment, learning aids and more to ensure the resources are helping kids thrive long after Waterford closes its doors.

Stan-Mac Returns to Bondi

The Stan & Basil McDonald relay (affectionately known as the Stan-Mac) returned to Bondi on November 22. Both participating clubs, Bondi SBLSC and North Bondi SLSC, had fears that COVID cases in Bondi earlier in the year would prevent it from being run in its 78th year. The relay is no stranger to a challenge, having first been run when barbed wire lined Bondi Beach in World War II. The race is typically run in March and was delayed this year due to COVID-19 restrictions. The event was attended by almost 400 people and was also livestreamed from start to finish. Bondi SBLSC won the relay for the first time since 2012.