Hell Is For Hyphenates – February 2019

David Caesar joins us to talk the films of Bruno Dumont!

Australian film and television director David Caesar joins Rochelle and Lee for a chat about some of the key new releases from this month, including Steven Soderbergh’s backroom NBA drama High Flying Bird (01:34), Mimi Leder’s Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic On the Basis of Sex (09:50), Dan Gilroy’s high-art horror-drama Velvet Buzzsaw (17:07), and Barry Jenkins’s dramatic James Baldwin adaptation If Beale Street Could Talk (22:36).

Off the back of Steven Soderbergh’s comments on why making movies on your phone and releasing them onto Netflix may be the future of cinema for certain filmmakers, could this model be the very thing needed to inject life into the Australian film industry? (29:48)

Then, David takes us through the works of his filmmaker of the month, Bruno Dumont. Dumont is a divisive figure, whose films are loved and hated by audiences and critics alike. So how does a filmmaker go from making vérité films dripping with realism to high-concept farces, supernatural comedies, and medieval musicals with head-banging metal solos? We take a deep dive into this fascinating filmography to find out. (40:23)