Posted by kluster on September 30, 2011
In October 2000 Bosnian-based peacekeeper, Kathryn Bolkovac risked her job, reputation and life to expose UN and international peacekeepers involvement in the country’s post-war human trafficking and sex trade.
The debut feature by Canadian born director, Larysa Kondracki, is based on the true story of American police officer, Kathryn Bolkovac’s (Rachel Weisz) time spent working as a part of the post-war peace effort in Bosnia. It certainly packs an emotional punch.
The Nebraskan police officer secures a high-paying job in Bosnia, working as a peacekeeper for a private firm, contracted by the USA State Department to work closely with the UN to restore order to war-ravaged Bosnia during the late ‘90s. After helping to facilitate a historic conviction and a promotion to head of the UN’s Gender Office, Bolkovac begins to gradually uncover a violent human trafficking and sex-trade industry populated by underage women – some as young as 12 - and frequented by peacekeepers, UN workers and international police.
Kondracki tackles this mammoth story with the sophistication of a seasoned director and deserves plenty of kudos for her efforts as writer/director. It’s a pretty impressive first-time offering.More...
the whistleblower, rachel weisz, film, movie, larysa kondracki
Posted by kluster on June 27, 2011
A beautful little film by Adam Murfet & Jessie Oldfield for Melbourne-based label above. Jump one, jump two...
adam murfet, jessie oldfield, above, melbourne
Posted by kluster on June 27, 2011
I feel kind of ripped off that Who’s The Best at the Sydney Theatre Company was my first Post experience. I’m mean, seriously, this trio have been (allegedly) creating some of the funniest performance pieces to come out of this city for almost a decade now and Monday’s opening night show was the first time I’d ever laid eyes on them? It’s like discovering beer on a hot Saturday afternoon, at the age of 25, and then being told you could have been drinking it for seven years.
Who’s The Best is a hilarious tale of competition via deconstruction, consisting of the enacting of a measuring of all parts of the sum. Or, an equation written to decipher which of the trio that form Post - Mish Grigor, Zoe Coombs Marr, Natalie Rose (all played by themselves, except Natalie who is played by Eden Falk (Sleeping Beauty) - is, as the name implies, the best. In short, the members want to figure out which one of them is superior in almost all ways and have invited us along for the ride. More...
sydney theatre company, post, who's the best, mish grigor, zoe coombs marr, natalie rose, eden falk
Posted by kluster on June 19, 2011
Imagine the lineup of a lifetime, your ultimate festival, the music gathering of your dreams. Ok, so it might not be the stuff bill-postering the walls of heaven, and it’s far from perfect, but it’s one of the closest things we may get to it in our time on earth.
The Harvest festival lineup, announced by the folks who brought us Soundwave earlier this week, includes:
The Flaming Lips
Portishead
Bright Eyes
The National
Holy Fuck
Mercury Rev
Death In Vegas
The Walkmen More...
harvest festival, 2011, the flaming lips, portishead, bright eyes, the national, holy fuck
Posted by kluster on June 7, 2011
The Chris Cunningham shows at Vivid Live last Sunday seem to have courted more controversy than the Ash King video, Scene & Not Heard – Ep 1 SURRY HILLS, NSW. Then again, it makes sense. After all, Cunningham’s videos have ranged in shock value from the robotically romantic All Is Full of Love (low) to the wholly unnerving Rubber Johnny (really, really high). And, there have been many. So it’s understandable that not all viewers would be across his back catalogue enough to expect images of drug-snorting paraplegics with expanded craniums complimenting small girls with bloody, exploding chest cavities.
The hour-long performance – not to be confused with the three hours advertised on the event website – was quite the assault. Drum & bass beats, lasers and a solid layering of past clips meshed together to create an event that, while strangely void of Cunningham himself – he was there, on stage, but more as the grand controller than a performer – was still whole and complete.
Cunningham is a consummate filmmaker and the opportunity to watch his works, as currated and controlled by him, at the Sydney Opera House was one we’ll not soon forget. Heck, we couldn’t if we tried; some of those images have burned themselves onto the back of our retinas and now populate the blackness that appears every time we close our eyes.
Oh, the horror!
chris cunningham, sydney opera house, vivid live, all is full of live, rubber johnny
Posted by kluster on June 1, 2011
Last night, after popping by the Free Market for some comped goodies, we headed down to the The Paper Mill for the opening of the Paper Convention Collective's A4 Festival for some paper art and confabulation.
Last time we spoke to the folks at Paper Convention, we were surrounded by their paper towers at Finders Keepers SS10 Markets. This time, in Sydney’s rain-soaked CBD, we were equally impressed by the ways they make your average A4 piece into and range of unique, intricate creations.More...
paper convention collective, free market, paddington, finders keepers market, the paper mill
Posted by kluster on May 16, 2011
I have a long, rich history with Bertolt Brecht. It began in Year 11 drama class and continues to this day. In summary: anyone who dedicates their life work to the exploration of anything epic, let alone epic theatre, is alright by me.
So, it goes without saying (although, I’ll say it regardless – for dramatic effect) that I approached the Sydney Theatre Company’s Baal with a large degree of anticipation - and a small amount of trepidation.
This newest reworking of Baal - a Malthouse Theatre co-production - is somewhat brief at 70 minutes from opening line to conclusion. That, coupled with the young median age of the cast, extremely high amount of on-stage nudity and the explored themes of sex, drugs and rock’n’roll more than subtly suggest that this offering is aimed at the younger end of the STC audience demographic.
If their aim is, as we suspect, to engage a younger audience, Malthouse Theatre and Sydney Theatre Company have created the kind of production that will undoubtedly do just that. Powerful and original, Baal is true to Brecht’s original intention without presenting as staid. The aforementioned young cast work under what can only be described as trying conditions (revealing any more would be tantamount to an experience spoiler and it’s better seen than read anyway, so I’ll elaborate no further) and more than rise to the occasion.
If a strong script delivered by a powerful young cast, nudity and some darn impressive scene changes are your idea of good entertainment book thee a ticket to Baal. For those of you under 30, don't forget to take advantage of the Sydney Theatre Company's reduced ticket prices offers.
Baal is now playing at Wharf 1, Sydney Theatre Company.
For more from the stage see Kluster's Theatre.
sydney theatre company, baal, malthouse theatre
Posted by kluster on May 5, 2011
Half a decade ago bikes were an unusual site on Sydney’s inner city roads. Bikes not adorned by nylon-clad roadies, that is. These days they’re pretty much a fixie-ture (see what we did there?). Whether you’re of the opinion that rising numbers of riders are a result of increasingly bike friendly streets, or vice versa, matters not. The proof in the pudding is the bikes on the streets and the time is ripe for celebration. Enter Woop! The bike-lane worshiping event arm of I Heart Sydney Bike Lanes and Cycleways. They’re about to host a street-long, in-your-face-Alan-Jones bike festival to celebrate the completion of the Bourke Street bike lane. Read all about it.
Covered: IHSBL vs Alan Jones, Surry Hills street festival, 4400 on Facebook.
Kluster: Rolling festival, interesting concept. Tell us about its history, and how the idea came about.
Jackie Lau: We were so thrilled when the final bit of tarmac was laid on the Bourke St cycleway that we wanted to get out there and celebrate it en-masse. Although Bourke St is only a small piece in a much larger network, it's such a vital and symbolic one that we felt this should be acknowledged. At the time we had planned a much more casual ride with our Facebook fans but what started out as a loosely organised Sunday ride has turned into something much bigger and exciting.
And the association to the petition-beating I Heart Sydney Bike Lanes and Cycleways? What’s the connection there?
The I Heart Sydney Bike Lanes and Cycleways Facebook group was started by Jamie and myself one Sunday afternoon out of sheer frustration. We had endured a week of cycle-lane bashing led by Alan Jones who described the cycleways as one of the most disgraceful projects he has ever witnessed in all his time in public broadcasting. He then said he had a petition of more than 3000 signatures opposing the development and would be supporting legal action against the council.
We couldn't understand what was so disgraceful about the City of Sydney finally taken action, where successive NSW governments had failed, to make this city a more accessible, enjoyable and safe place to live or visit! More...
woop! i heart sydneybike lanes and cycleways, jackie lau, bourke street, alan jones, surry hills, bikes
Posted by kluster on April 5, 2011
Kluster was first exposed to the inspired works of Brisbane’s Courtney Meyer, Creative Director, Miss Unkon, at last year’s Rosemount Australian Fashion Week. Needless to say we were suitably impressed. We’d missed her debut RAFW show, as part of the New Gen crop the previous year, but had heard the (loud) noise made about it in the days that followed, and we were glad the young designer lived up to our rather high expectations.
There is something incredibly raw about Meyer’s stylings. An innocence, complete with a sophisticated style, made unique by the apparent attention to detail featured in each collection’s strong lines: a meshing of structure and freeform, if you will.
Things appear to have been coming along nicely for the fledgling label and it’ director during the months since we last laid eyes on them so we figured it was about time we touched base. The email conversation that resulted is below.
Now, if only we’d been privy to a little more of the abandonment poured into her collections in the answers featured below... Regardless, the future looks bright.
Covered: international expansion, concept pop-up stores, collections like canvas and the beauty of imagination.
Kluster: We first laid eyes on your free-flowing designs at the 2010 Rosemount Australian Fashion Week (RAFW) show for your impressive SS10 collection, Love Is Like A Dreamland – A Journey of Young Love. Tell us a little about what’s been happening for Miss Unkon in the months since.
Courtney Meyer: So much has happened over the last year, which has been very exciting for Miss Unkon. We have expanded nationally and internationally with amazing new stores throughout the country.
We opened a Miss Unkon pop up concept space in Sydney’s Westfield City as well as launching the first Miss Unkon book which was published by Blurb and featured creative concepts, bloggers and illustrators.
K: And for the Kluster readers not currently aware of your designs, tell us a little bit about the birth and subsequent life of Miss Unkon. More...
miss unkon, rafw, fashion, brisbane, designer
Posted by kluster on April 4, 2011
How much slack should you cut a band for the behaviour of its audience?
Its hard to know if Brooklyn’s Crystal Stilts lack of stage presence can be blamed on the beer - thrown by a rowdy French lass - that lead singer Brad Hargett was forced to wear, or not. He swayed and droned on track after track with an expression that read nonchalant at best or, “I‘d rather be anywhere but here” at worst.
The set was a tight mix of Joy Division meets The Doors, with a healthy dose of The Jesus and Mary Chain. Shoe gazey synths and distorted garage rock seemed to be just what the crowd had poured in for and a few bounced happily along here and there. The highlight was an impromptu on-stage dance performance by an inebriated friend of the aforementioned French girl. Keyboardist Kyle Forester did his best to have her removed after she spilt her beer in his equipment.
There’s no question Crystal Stilts make fun post punk pop music you want to dance along to, it was just a shame they didn’t look they were enjoying it at all.
Check out the rest of the photos from the night (+ more) on the Kluster gallery.
Want to share your opinion? We like comments, they make the cyber-world go round and sharing is caring so type away.
crystal stilts, cargo, london, beer, brad hargett
Posted by kluster on March 22, 2011
Q. What do Welcome Stranger, Siberia Records and Lo-fi Collective have in common?
A. They’ll all be coming together this Friday (at Lo-Fi Gallery, of course) to present WS010.
Q. And what exactly is WS010?
A. Well according to our mates at Lo-Fi it’s, “An exhibition of recent works accompanied by a live performance installation from Siberia Records.”
See? It says so right there, on the flyer. Too easy.
Lo-Fi Collective are currently taking up space at: Floor 3, 383 Bourke St in Surry Hills 2010.
lo-Fi collective, welcome stranger, siberian records, ws010
Posted by kluster on January 18, 2011
There is something so delightfully relaxing about finishing up a crappy day spent pounding away on a keyboard and settling down at a table in front of the Spiegeltent with a glass of wine to await the start of a Mountain Man show. Something almost synergetic about the pairing of these later things, the way they ganged up on the former and forced it into submission and then, before too long, the status of better-forgotten memory.
The trio from Vermont (although, they tell us firmly, they are based there no more) have been on high rotation on our stereo since we first caught wind of the band, following the release of their debut album, Made the Harbor, mid last year. Their almost-acapella creations so are pure, so idyllic, so delicate we wondered if they would translate live.
They did. Oh boy, did they ever. More...
mountain man, sydney festival