Yesterday morning I sat down with Matt Ravier, the program manager and curator of The Hub. Sitting at Sydney’s Town Hall and premiering at the 2012 Sydney Film Festival, The Hub has become the heart of the Sydney Film Festival, with daily events and most importantly: drinks with other film fans and the film community. We talk to Matt about the 2013 program, the challenges of the venue and more!
Last year was the first year The Hub featured as part of the Sydney Film Festival. What were the challenges of getting the new venue off the ground?
It was easy to get the space from council, because I think they’re really interested in bringing the CBD to life at night, whether it’s the relaxing of the the liquor laws for small bars, or cutting the red tape… they’re being more proactive in terms of policy in terms of improving the night life in Sydney, so they were very happy to lend us their rumpus room.
The challenge more last year was that it was a new venue, and people weren’t familiar with their space. So we had to put it on their radar, and show them how to find the entrance. But once they were in, people had a ball. I know that for a long time the festival has had a bar, but not really an inclusive meeting place where you could hang out with the filmmakers, and also that had its own program. What I always wanted to to was to celebrate our collective love of film. People come to the festival because at some point in their lives cinema has changed them or spoken to them in a way they didn’t think was possible. So I’m trying to bottle that and let it free in the hub. So everything that’s happening here is celebrating cinema and cinephilia.
Whether it’s stand up comics performing routines inspired by film, or burlesque performers or pole dancers who have put together shows inspired by their favourite cult films, or an improv theatre group… everything is inspired and curated around film.
Can you talk a little bit about the “Cinema Club”, a new addition to the venue that will take place between 5pm and 6pm every day…
The film club is a new thing. It’s about two things: obviously a lot of the films in the festival are challenging, disturbing and offputting, and so you want to create an environment where people can chat about it with likeminded individuals, ans so the club is a really inclusive way of making that happen. It’s informal but each night is hosted by a different facilitator, kind of like a book club. So if you just stepped out of a film and are a little confused and youw ant to hash out what you thought about it, with film critics and lovers, then you’ve got a space for that.
The whole space is about having a drink, meeting up with friends, and celebrating film in every way. And when talking about the program, it can be a bit overwhelming, there are so many films that you haven’t heard anything about, so many different categories… The Hub is meant to serve as an entry point, so people can engage with the festival in a more social and accessible way. There’s a discount box office that’s a part of that where you can buy $10 tickets to selected films. And we have these program gurus who know the programs by heart. They’ll quiz you on your movie going profile and make suggestions based on that. So it’s a great place to take a chance on a particular film and discover the festival in that way.
And it really is enhancing the festival at the same time… turning into a true “event”.
The Hub is putting the festive back in the Sydney Film Festival. More than collection of excellently curated screenings, a festival should be fun and a celebration and a party. So obviously there are opening and closing nights, but the hub makes the festival a continuous party, which is something that I’m really interested in.
What are your recommendations for must see events thus year at the Hub?
I think the VHS party is going to rock. Josh Wheatley who’s doing his PhD on Trash Cinema is going to host a night with his film critic puppet Harvey Feltzein. The idea is that we’re going to celebrate a format that is quickly vanishing, and with it a lot of amazing films are going to disappear as well. Because they’re considered B movies or Trash or whatever, they’ve never made the transition to DVD or other formats of distribution, but nonetheless they are incredible films that sometimes get rehabilitated or get rediscovered as mini-masterpieces of B-cinema. Josh has curated some amazing VHS’ to show, and we’re also inviting the audience to come with their VHS tapes cued up to share their favourite scene. And there’ll be free pizza. A VHS party has to have pizza! So that’s one that’s going to be particularly fun.
And another one I’m looking forward to is the history of film soundtracks. We’ve got a series of DJs who are going to tackle different eras of the Sydney Film Festival history, so sixty years of film soundtracks, from 1954 to today. Playing the best of them, and by best I mean the most obscure, the rarest, the tackiest, the craziest, with maybe a bit of a focus on danceability because it has to be a party and we’ll be projecting some footage from some of the films referenced on the walls. Then the Steel collective are going to be doing live painting inspired by the films while this is going on and so that could be a really fun night too.
The Hub opens tonight. Head HERE for more details.
Credit provided for original artwork: http://sajextryus.deviantart.com/art/VHS-Distortion-289326194
