Acmi Podcasts

In Cambodia's first Oscar-nominated film, director Rithy Panh uses clay animated figures, archival footage and voice-over narration to tell a deeply personal story. Starting with a photograph taken between 1975 and 1979 by the Khmer Rouge when they ruled over Cambodia, Panh uses the image as a source of contemplation, meditation and as a verbal and visual record of genocide. The only surviving records of the Cambodian genocide are the propaganda images and films that the Khmer Rouge created, compelling Panh to recreate the 'missing picture' between the state sanctioned lies. In the process creating a powerful document on the potency of the moving image and the brave act of bearing witness. Please join us for a a post-screening Q&A with the film’s director Rithy Panh and hosted by Philippa Hawker.

“We need to raise it up, we need to fight and to shout, but we also need to bring it down, to talk and to listen in order to make change” Donald Betts Junior Following the screening of I Am Not Your Negro, former Kansas State Senator Donald Betts Jr and American history professor Michael Ondaatje entered into a lively conversation about race politics and resistance from the civil rights era to present day America.

Having conquered the cutthroat world of satirical online cooking shows with The Katering Show (Australian TV's all-time most viewed digital series), the two Kates are ready to take their trademark sassy swipe at morning lifestyle television in Get Krack!n, a new series for Seeso and ABC. Each morning the Kates will shuffle through a roster of unsafe demonstrations, surly guests, unprepared experts and the over-lit decomposition of the duo’s already rocky relationship. Viewers will quickly discover that McLennan and McCartney will leave no cultural touchstone unturned, even though they are in no capacity qualified to speak on them, or on anything for that matter. As always, neither of the women has any sense of on-camera technique. While McCartney’s Daria-esque enthusiasm is a total miss-match to the bright and breezy format, McLennan’s hosting is imbued with a fetid air of desperation. The show should be McCartney and McLennan’s Big US Break. But, like any televisual format that the Kates put their rough, m

To celebrate the opening of the groundbreaking exhibition Code Breakers, join us for a discussion with some of the top female critics, developers, designers and artists. Hosted by actor, director and author, Stephanie ‘Hex’ Bendixsen, Breaking the Code featured makers Nicole Stark and Brooke Maggs and leading games expert Dr Helen Stuckey as they dived into their artistic and technical processes and insider advice for breaking into the games industry. Featuring live gameplay from works featured in the exhibition including The Gardens Between and Ninja Pizza Girl, the panel delved into the creative inspiration behind these boundary pushing games and characters, from a kick-ass ninja pizza delivery girl to time-travelling adventurers. Stephanie Bendixsen (known by her gamer tag ‘Hex’) is an Australian video game critic and television presenter, well known for her presenting role for ABCTV’s Good Game and its companion show for younger gamers, Good Game: Spawn Point. Nicole Stark entered the games industr

Join us for this animation industry masterclass with the founders of Aardman Studios Peter Lord and David Sproxton, and Academy Award-winning animator Adam Elliot (Mary & Max, Harvie Krumpet). Aardman Studios is renowned for their signature animation style and unique character creations, like the eccentric inventor and his loyal canine in Wallace & Gromit and the melancholy mountain lion of Creature Comforts. The masters will share trade secrets about the studio’s storyboarding, model making and animation techniques, as well as insider tips on producing for animation and how to forge a sustainable animation career. Peter and David will also discuss their predictions for the animation industry, including new platforms, markets and opportunities, as well as their latest foray into the brave new world of VR. 3:45 The beginnings of Aardman 10:00 The arrival of Morph 12:37 Aardman’s secret plasticine formula 14:50 Documentary animation. 20:53 “British people are so dull.” - Creature comforts 24:45 Where the id

Spend a grand night out with the award-winning founders of Aardman Animations, Peter Lord and David Sproxton! In this exclusive talk the creators of beloved animations like Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the Sheep discussed their extraordinary careers, including the animations that have inspired and influenced their work. Australian director Darcy Prendergast hosted the event. Evolving from origins in clay animation as lead sculptor on the 2009 film Mary & Max, Prendergast is an internationally renowned director. Darcy is known for his work directing clips for Gotye, Neil Young, Aloe Blacc, Greenday and many more, as well as creating the Nickelodeon cartoon series Supa Phresh. His work has played at SXSW, Annecy International Animation Festival, Sydney Film Festival and the Guggenheim Museum, and he's the founder-director of production company Oh Yeah Wow.

One aspect of Wallace and Gromit's world that audiences find so endearing are the fabulous inventions' and contraptions. Their eccentricities are so funny and clever. All these contraptions are so idiosyncratic of the Aardman world. Hear about the wacky inventiveness behind the cracking contraptions.

Some puppets have complex wire structures like the wererabbit and some are simple like Morph who is pure plasticine and uses it to his advantage. He can literally morph into anything. The props and sets on Aardman films are based on real life objects. The perfection in the smallest of details such as a carrot in a grocery stall make the sets believable. Moulding plasticine into a world of wonderful – hear from the master craftspeople.

From little ideas big things grow. Drawing and sketching is where ideas are hatched. Hear the stories behind the drawings of Shaun the Sheep and Were Rabbit and get an insight into how the drawings come to life.

Peter Lord and David Sproxton started making films together when they were 12 years old and have been making films ever since. This year Aardman Studios turns 40. Hear how the studio grew and the diversity of work they have created.

Much to the joy of Twin Peaks fans, master of surrealist nightmares David Lynch has re-visited Twin Peaks after 25 years. Season three sees the return of many of the characters that touched our hearts and haunted our dreams. Join Andy Hazel, host of 'Twin Peaks: The Return, A Podcast' and a panel of writers and critics for some damn fine coffee and doughnuts as we venture back to the realm of the Black Lodge.

“Emotional connection is almost always my goal - whether it is using humour, nostalgia, euphoria, heartbreak or fear.” Warren Fu This was a rare opportunity to discuss music videos, art design and illustration with internationally acclaimed director Warren Fu. Warren lives to conjure the impossible and bring audiences into the extraordinary worlds of his imagination. These days he's known for his work directing film clips for Daft Punk, The Weeknd, Snoop Dog, Pharrell Williams, The Strokes and The Killers, amongst others. Earlier in his career he worked as an art director at Lucasfilm, where he created prominent characters and designs for Star Wars. He has worked as a concept and visual effects artist for a number of films including Star Trek, Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Terminator Salvation and A.I. He's also been the brains behind iconic advertising campaigns for Samsung, Adidas and Reebok. Australian director Darcy Prendergast will host the event. Darcy is known for his work d

Simon Alty has been in the video game industry for over 25 years and is currently the Managing Director at Zenimax Australia (Bethesda). Starting with Ocean Software back in 1991, Simon has developed his career within several global gaming and software companies including Rising Star Games, Atari/Infogrames and The 3DO Company before running international marketing companies in both Sydney and the UK. A passionate advocate of the potential for video games in Australia, he’s played a pivotal role in bringing over hundreds of games to the market. From V Rally and Worms in the 90s, to The Elder Scrolls Online, Wolfenstein: The New Order, Fallout 4 and now DOOM in 2016

Japanese denim is now considered the Rolls Royce of denim in the world today. In light of our screenings of Devin Leisher's revelatory documentary Weaving Shibusa, some of Melbourne's great retailers in, and wearers of Japanese denim came together to discuss their love and admiration for these highly prized wardrobe pieces. Joining Film Programmer James Nolen on the panel were Chris Pickings (Pickings and Parry), Martin Kirby (Godspeed Store), denim wizard Ant Wicks (Anthill Workshop) and denim whisperer Nick Hughes (Denham).

Fire At Sea is a masterly work of documentary filmmaking about the Mediterranean island at the epicentre of the refugee crisis in Europe. Panel discussion by filmmaker and cinematographer Bentley Dean (Tanna) will moderate a discussion with lawyer, filmmaker and President of Liberty Victoria, Jessie Taylor; journalist and editor Michael Green (They Cannot Take the Sky, Behind the Wire); Behind the Wire contributor and former asylum seeker Aran Mylvaganam; and media professional and former Director of Multicultural Arts Victoria (MAV), Fotis Kapetopoulos.

No network – commercial or otherwise – has fully escaped being the centre of some kind of public outrage and disgust over the last few years. But is audience provocation in the factual space really such a bad thing? In the competitive world of television, a parade of “ground-breaking social experiments” are just some of the ways that networks can make their mark. Adrian Swift (Head of Content Production and Development, Nine Network) is no stranger to contentious factual programming. From Married at First Sight’s charges of sneaky producers and “unreality tv” to The Briefcase’s “poverty porn”, he has navigated public outcry and heated debate on more than one occasion. In exclusive one-on-one conversation, Adrian Swift shares with Denise Eriksen his unorthodox approach to creating controversial shows, considering what works, what doesn’t, and how far is too far when trying to capture an audience.

At a time when fake news is said to have helped swing an election result, finding varied and reliable sources of information has never been more important. But with traditional broadcast platforms under siege from a slew of digital competitors expanding at a rate of knots, how do we ensure the integrity of storytelling in our post truth world? With social media posts and audience comment providing a constant feedback loop for the creation of their short form content, organisations like Buzzfeed can quickly rack up global audience numbers that most broadcasters and long form filmmakers can only dream about – think the Standing Rock Protest in the US - and they can also get their material out there far faster than long form filmmakers ever could. The traditionalists might argue that the short form model doesn’t provide for the context and rigorous examination that their subjects require. But are they doing themselves a disservice by ignoring what’s going on in the digital space and missing an opportunity to add

Storytelling is at the core of all human art. Storytelling provides a way of sharing and interpreting experiences, bringing an understanding and meaning of human existence. Throughout history, storytelling has evolved through different media from verbal into written, from theatre into film, and now into Virtual Reality. VR is empowering storytellers with new tools and platforms to produce innovative content that immerse the viewer in ways like never before. In this podcast we discuss the exciting new ways of storytelling in VR (in games and cinematic VR).Exploring topics such as constructing narrative for VR, immersion: how to tell a stories now that the audience is more than just a passive observer, presence, perspective, direction and agency. Panellists include: Brendan Croxon, Brooke Maggs, Clea Frost, Piers Mussared and Chris Bailey.

Jason Scott is a Free Range Archivist and Software Curator at the Internet Archive, a non-profit tasked with saving the content of the world. His work includes everything from overseeing the mass ingestion of data, to running metadata/description programs against collections, or reaching out to third parties to discuss partnerships with the Internet Archive.

After the stunning success of Netflix’s Making a Murderer and HBO’s The Jinx, it seems that true crime is on the mind of every TV commissioning editor the world over. These two shows are just the tip of the iceberg of an amazing array of documentary, factual and unscripted programming that are drawing in big business and big bucks for producers and broadcasters alike. Internationally, unscripted series such as 60 Days In are capturing audiences in unprecedented numbers. Locally, the success of programs like Conviction (ABC) and Deep Water (SBS) reveal that local commissioners can explore Australia’s most unsettling crimes to great acclaim. The verdict is in: True Crime is hot, and we want more of it. So how can producers tap into this trend and make successful and engaging content? What are broadcasters looking for? And how can we keep the genre fresh and exciting while remaining respectful to the subjects and stories we seek to tell? True Crime All the Time will canvass all of these questions – and more.