the Curb

Eya’s (Safa Gharbaoui) world as a 12-year-old Belgian Tunisian is filled with warmth and humour. She’s considered the welcome extension of her older brother Younès (Mehdi Bouziane) whose friends treat her like a part of their family. She loves viral dance moves, French rap, football, and riding on the back of Younès’ motorcycle. She’s bright and happy, especially when she’s included in Younès circle.

When Younès becomes “collateral damage” in a shooting incident, everything Eya thought was her life becomes turned upside down. Maja Ajmia Yde Zellama’s debut feature is a beautiful and powerful representation of the Tunisian community in Brussels as Eya’s family and extended family mourn and honour Younès and Eya finds strength in the gentle young men around her: and the spirit of Younès and what he meant to his community opening up a profound understanding of the importance of one life.

Nadine Whitney spoke to Maja Ajmia Yde Zellama about creating examples of healthy masculinity and how her own upbringing influenced Têtes Brulées.

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Debut Australian director Amy Wang’s twisted satire Slanted sees an aspiring prom queen undergo radical surgery to change her race. This is a film that's been called Mean Girls by way of The Substance. Nadine Whitney caught up with Amy Wang to talk about the process of getting her feature film debut off the ground, what it means to be an Australian filmmaker working right now, and the themes of the film, and more.

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Dreams, imagination and sobering realities meld in this absolutely magical debut, in which a young girl must decide whether to leave her volcanic island home.

The island of Fogo, Cape Verde is singular in its beauty. Drylands give way to black-sand beaches, while villagers gather in intimately cluttered homes. Director Denise Fernandes’ attention to lyrical detail highlights the profound love that young Nana (Dailma Mendes as a child, Sanaya Andrade as a teen) has for her home. But for all its visual poetry, many residents seek to escape the island’s hard living. When her mother returns after decades away, Nana is faced with an impossible decision. Seamlessly moving between realism and the surreal – including a journey to a reality-warping volcano – Fernandes entwines myth and hard truths to tell a unique coming-of-age tale about what it means to belong to a place.

Nadine Whitney interview director Denise Fernandes about her film Hanami. This interview was recorded ahead of the films screening at the Sydney Film Festival. Keep an eye out for future screening details.

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Abebe Butterfly Song is a documentary that starts as a narrative exploration of Melbourne musician David Bridie, best known for his work in bands like Not Drowning, Waving and My Friend the Chocolate Cake, but then folds in his life-changing experience of travelling to Papua New Guinea and meeting musician George Telek and the Moab Stringband.

The film then takes audiences through a journey of discovering Papua New Guinea culture and how Australia's past is intertwined with Papua New Guinea's future. This includes explorations of the engagements during WW2, the devastating volcano eruption in 1994, and the music the emerges from these histories. Abebe Butterfly Song arrives as Papua New Guinea prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary of independence.

Andrew interviewed director Rosie Jones about bringing this story to life. It screens at Perth's Revelation Film Festival on July 5 and 10. Visit RevelationFilmFestival.org for tickets.

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Co-directors Richard Moore and John Doggett Williams invite audiences into the space of pain, discomfort, and body exploration with their searing, curiously tender, and wonderfully life-enriching documentary Stelarc Suspending Disbelief. This occasionally profound experience follows performance artist Stelarc, a Cyprus-born Australian artist who was raised in the suburbs of Melbourne and found a path towards exploring mortality, death, and what it means to be alive through artwork that many might consider extreme or provocative, but for this pain-experiencing audience member, I found his artwork all embracing in its presentation of discomfort and finding peace within that space.

Those things, and many more, sit behind this conversation with Richard Moore, recorded ahead of the documentaries screenings at Perth's Revelation Film Festival on 9th and 11th of July, and the Castlemaine Documentary Festival on 4 July 2025. Links are in the show notes for both festivals.

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On this episode of physical media reviews, Nadine Whitney & Andrew F Peirce delve into some of the major releases from Umbrella Entertainment. They kick off the discussion looking at Jamie Blanks Ozploitation throw back gorno flick Storm Warning, before taking a darker dive into the mammoth New Extremity Collection which features High Tension, Anatomy of Hell, Frontier(s), and Martyrs. Finally, they dive into one of the must have physical releases of the year, Tarsem's The Fall.

Physical media copies were provided by Umbrella Entertainment for honest reviews.

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On this episode of the Curb review podcast, Nadine Whitney takes us deep into the realm of fighting flamethrowers with the oddly titled From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, before whisking us away into the land of dragon fantasy with the live-action spin on How to Train Your Dragon, before she takes Andrew to a remote shark expedition in Queensland with Dangerous Animals.

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Daniel Bibby's short film Half Past Midnight follows two strangers - Harper (Miah Madden) and Marcus (Mitchell Bourke) - who meet in a cinema and decide to head out for drinks after the screening. In the bar, their relationship is revealed to be something more, something where romance once flourished, a romance that is now withering, yet for both Harper and Marcus, it feels as if it's still in reach.

There's a tenderness to Half Past Midnight, one that underpins the films understanding of two adults growing to realise that the person they thought was 'the one' is not exactly that anymore. It's written by Daniel Bibby and Kelly Holden, and comes from Daniel's own experiences with a partner he had when he was living in the UK.

This episode features two conversations; the first is an extensive dive into Daniel's work, his influences, what it was like working with producer Luisa Martiri, and how he navigated the deeply personal narrative and worked his way alongside Kelly to bring it to life on screen. The second conversation is with Miah and Mitchell, two friends who have known each other for a long time, but work together for the first time on this film. 

Half Past Midnight is beautifully shot by Julian Panetta, with their camera lingering and observing with tracking shots and close ups that feel, at times, almost too personal. Their camerawork is complemented by Adrian Diery's score, a score that gives a grand sense to the relationship between Marcus and Harper.

Half Past Midnight will be screening at the Vision Splendid Film Festival, which kicks off in Winton, Queensland from 27 June to 5 July. Visit VisionSplendidFilmFest.com for more details.

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Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky @thecurbau. We are a completely independent and ad free website that lives on the support of listeners and readers just like you. Visit Patreon.com/thecurbau, where you can support our work from as little as $1 a month. If you are unable to financially support us, then please consider sharing this interview with your podcast loving friends.

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Harley Hefford and Luke Thomas are two thirtysomething Naarm-Melbourne based creatives who have a background in events, festivals, and bars. Their latest endeavour is an art community spread over ten floors in a new creative space in Collingwood located in the iconic Easey's building, best known for the train carriages that sit on its rooftop. 

In the following chat, Harley and Luke talk about the foundation of Trainscendence, which kicks off with a two day grand opening experience on Friday 20 June and Saturday 21 June 2025, featuring a Monopoly style event full of live art, music, food, and drinks spread out the venue. 

If you're keen to find out more about Trainscendence or are an artist who is keen to book in, then visit Trainscendence.com.au for more info, or reach out to the crew via [email protected] 

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky @thecurbau. We are a completely independent and ad free website that lives on the support of listeners and readers just like you. Visit Patreon.com/thecurbau, where you can support our work from as little as $1 a month. If you are unable to financially support us, then please consider sharing this interview with your podcast loving friends.

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