the Curb

This interview has been a long while in the can, waiting to be published. This in depth discussion with filmmaker, creative, and fearless storyteller Lucy Coleman was recorded early in 2025 and due to reasons you'll hear in the long intro (recorded in the foyer of Luna Cinemas Leederville, a home away from home), it's now finally being released into the world.
Lucy Coleman is the creative vision behind films like Hot Mess and Lean In, both featured in the best films list of their respective years, with Hot Mess getting a mention in the Best Aussie Films of the 2010s list. These are biting, searing comedies that tear apart what we think Australian comedy can or should be.
Then, there's Lucy's Stan. series Exposure, a change of pace, a drama which she wrote. This powerful series follows Alice Englert's Jacs Gould as a photographer returning home to find out why her best friend took her life. It's powerful, but also flips the script of the routine and tired 'cop returns to his country town home to solve a murder that he discovers is linked to him'. It's always a man solving these crimes. Always small town. Exposure changes that: it's not a murder, but a suicide. It's not a woman trying to figure out what's happening, but a friend, a very close one at that. It's a devastating series that left me hollowed out by its end.
Exposure, like Hot Mess and Lean In, is an experience which lingers in my mind, changing how I see the next film or TV show that I watch.
This interview, like those works, hasn't left me. And now, I'm releasing it into the world. Enjoy.
Thank you Lucy for your patience with me getting this into the world.
Sign up for the latest interviews, reviews, and more via https://www.thecurb.com.au/subscribe/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of the standout films from the 2026 batch of Flickerfest shorts has been Damien Power's docu-drama Return of the Champ. With this excellent hybrid experience, the stand up comedian turned director spins the cameras on his relationship with his brother, Will Power, a world champion and Indy 500 winner, who spins a story about a crash that he once witnessed. It's a story that Damien hadn't heard before, and within Return of the Champ he utilises that story to explore sibling rivalry, masculinity, and what it means to be vulnerable or open with one another.
If I'm painting the film to be a deep experience, the rest assured, it definitely is. What Damien has crafted here is something that will stick with me for quite a while, with the resulting film creating a fascinating and memorable nexus points of the quiet space of ocker comedy, reserved masculinity, loud cars, laughter at stand up comedy gigs, and frustration about fathers. There's a lot going on under the hood of this flick, with the film simmering along at a neat 18-minutes and creating a lasting impact.
Amplifying the vibe of the film is cinematography by Julian Panetta which is both immersive and observational in tone, pulling viewers into the Power's brothers world. Equally amplifying the tone is the score by Adrian Diery which adds a rather chill and contemplative backdrop to the whole experience.
Return of the Champ is the first film by Damien Power, and if this is the style of film we might get from him, then I'm looking forward to seeing where his filmography takes us.
This interview was recorded ahead of the films world premiere at Flickerfest 2026. Keep an eye out for it as it rolls out through the festival circuit. You'll not want to miss this one.
Sign up for the latest interviews, reviews, and more via https://www.thecurb.com.au/subscribe/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Addition is the latest film from director Marcelle Lunam and actor Teresa Palmer. It's a screen adaptation of the novel by Toni Jordan, telling the story of Grace, a woman who counts everything because numbers hold her world together. Yet, when she meets Seamus (Joe Dempsie), her world is thrown upside and her ordered life becomes disordered.
In the following interviews, recorded ahead of Addition's release in Australian cinemas, Nadine Whitney talks to both director Marcelle Lunam and Teresa Palmer about making the film and respectfully presenting neurodivergence on screen.
the Curb is a completely independent and ad free website that lives on the support of listeners and readers just like you. Visit thecurb.com.au/subscribe, where you can support our work from $2 a month. Paid subscribers get access to our monthly competitions, exclusive interviews and articles, and more.
Sign up for the latest interviews, reviews, and more via https://www.thecurb.com.au/subscribe/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lianne Mackessy is a multi-hyphenate creative whose work spans from acting in front of the camera in films like 2025's Smoke, to writing and directing her own work, like her 2026 drama short film Tuesday Tuesday.

Making its world premiere at FlickerFest 2026, Tuesday Tuesday follows a young support worker, played by Jillian Nguyen, who spends a final day with her long-time client, played by Peter Phelps, who lives with younger-onset dementia and will be shifting into a care facility the following day.

Co-written with Emily Sheehan, Tuesday Tuesday is a tender and considered film about what it means to be a support worker, helping someone live a life where they may not even recognise you the very next day.

In the following interview, Lianne talks about her own experience as a support worker, the process of building the characters with Peter Phelps and Jillian Nguyen, while she also talks about her work at Bus Stop Films.

Sign up for the latest interviews, reviews, and more via https://www.thecurb.com.au/subscribe/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stellan Skarsgård as Gustav Borg in Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value is a man who is searching for connection with the two daughters, Nora (Renate Reinsve) and Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) he effectively abandoned when he split from their just deceased mother.
The once storied director turns up at the funeral for his ex-wife and one of the first things he does is to reclaim a set of speakers from the home (a longstanding character in itself) that has housed members of his family for generations. Gustav is opinionated, arrogant, funny, and awkward. He’s written a screenplay for Nora, who is now a respected theatre actress, to star in but she doesn’t want anything to do with it or him.
The quiet truth is that Nora and Gustav are two similar souls who both struggle with connection and loneliness. Art is their form of expression but it can also be a burden they don’t know how to negotiate.
Nadine Whitney speaks with Stellan about how Gustav sees Nora and longs for her to return the recognition.
the Curb is a completely independent and ad free website that lives on the support of listeners and readers just like you. Visit thecurb.com.au/subscribe, where you can support our work from $2 a month. Paid subscribers get access to our monthly competitions, exclusive interviews and articles, and more.
Sign up for the latest interviews, reviews, and more via https://www.thecurb.com.au/subscribe/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.