Albie Thoms (dissimilis aliqua alia)
Unlike any other, without a doubt. For everyone that knew Albie, had worked with him, had shared a laugh or had watched his films and
Days of Future Past: Albie Thoms’ Polemics
I met Albie Thoms only once, in 2009, when the Australian Centre for the Moving Image revived his 1969 feature Marinetti – an avant-garde extravaganza
Albie Thoms as an Historian
In the 1970s I was a regular reader of Albie Thoms’ articles on Australian cinema – with their emphasis on alternative filmmaking – in Filmnews,
Memoir of Albie
“Another sacred fire has gone out…” That’s the opening line of the poem I recited at the wake for Shelton Lea in 2005. Now I want
Notre musique: Godard’s Shot/Reverse Shot Ruminations on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
An admitted anti-Zionist with a history of ardent support for Palestinian opposition to Israel, Jean-Luc Godard frequently uses his films as a forum in which
Sirk, Hollywood and Genre
The Douglas Sirk discovered by criticism has gone through numerous phases. For me, the most telling is the one which has excavated from his work
Vertigo: The Best Film of All Time?
Way back in 1982, Vertigo debuted on the BFI’s Sight & Sound Poll of Best Films at number 7. Since then it has slowly ascended,
Property is No Longer a Theft
In his later years Elio Petri’s sardonic sense of humour appears to have allowed him to savour the irony of having been perhaps the only
Carmen Comes Home
Hideko Takamine lined up with her uncle at the Shochiku studio for an audition for the Hotei Nomura film Haha (Mother, 1929). Already adorable at
Comrades
Bill Douglas was 57 when he died, leaving the world with a handful of student films, three unproduced screenplays, his highly acclaimed Trilogy [My Childhood