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Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘I didn't want to': How John Clarke's daughter surprised herself with a doco about her dad
Not many people knew John Clarke as well as his daughter Lorin – 'we worked together in the same office for decades, on and off,' she says. But she's as surprised as anyone that she has made a movie about the much-loved writer, actor and comedian, who died suddenly while bushwalking at age 68 in 2017. 'It's the last thing I wanted to do,' she says. 'I didn't get up every morning going, 'I must tell his story.' But then when other people tried to, saying, 'We think this is the story. We don't want you to be involved, but we'd like all the rights and everything', suddenly I thought, 'Shit, I do want to protect his legacy.'' The result of that effort is Not Only Fred Dagg But Also John Clarke, a feature-length documentary that will screen in public for the first time at the Melbourne International Film Festival in August. It is one of 20 titles announced on Thursday in MIFF's First Glance. It wasn't the thought of someone dishing dirt on Dad that ultimately got Lorin Clarke over the line. It was the likelihood that they wouldn't even try. The thesis of the filmmaking team from New Zealand that in 2020 approached the Clarke family – Lorin, her sister Lucia, and their mother, Helen McDonald, an art historian and author in her own right – was that John was the foundation stone of the country's comedy. Without him, there would be no Flight of the Conchords, no Rhys Darby, no Taika Waititi. 'It was so wrong, it was hero worship,' she says. 'And my mum said to me, 'If something were to be made and it were a hagiography, that would be a real shame', because he wouldn't appreciate that. He'd be so allergic to the idea.' In crafting her version of his life, Lorin has had access not just to his vast treasure trove of archives ('the man did not throw out an envelope') but also a series of interviews she conducted with him for a podcast that never eventuated. The biggest gift, though, was a document her husband, Stewart, (who helped John with his IT needs) found on his computer four days after his death. 'The whole desktop was empty except for a single Word document, about 70 pages long, titled 'For Lauren and Lucia',' she says. 'He'd written everything down: 'this is how I felt in primary school' ... 'I remember looking out the window in the classroom and thinking this …' It blew my mind that he did this, that he didn't tell us, and that there was no instruction. I just went, 'Holy shit. Well, I guess I'm making a film.'' The portrait she has painted of her father is intimate, and it straddles the public and the private. Growing up in New Zealand, he was deeply scarred by his parents' disastrous marriage – 'they hated each other,' says Lorin, 'as their life project. Really, that was their whole thing' – was expelled from high school, dropped out of university, and at age 22 became a national sensation when his parody of a sheep farmer appeared for the first time on the country's only television station. Fred Dagg was at first scorned by critics but was quickly embraced by audiences. When Clarke decided to relocate to Australia in 1977, at the age of 29, it was in part to escape the long shadow cast by his comedic creation. Lorin's film, of course, traces the career milestones, but it does much more. 'If you went to see a film about John Clarke, and you came away with all the things you could Google about John Clarke, what's the point,' she says of the task she set herself. She didn't expect to unearth tales about a shady hidden life, and nor did she. There was no secret second family, no dreadful kinks. The girls had a childhood that was, Lorin says, 'offensively idyllic … it was just creativity, it was like Heide without the drugs and the partner sharing. It was in Greensborough, but it felt like a Tuscan mountainside, a glorious, funny, playful place to be.' Finding people to say a bad word about John wasn't easy. But one of Lorin's favourite moments in the film comes when his nominal boss at the ABC, Kate Torney – who as news director had oversight of the interview Clarke and his writing partner Brian Dawe did each week from 2000 until his death – observes that 'he didn't love management'. Given his clear loathing of bureaucracy, that might be the understatement of the century. The other features John Ruane, director of Death in Brunswick (1990), in which Clarke played Dave, the gravedigger mate of Sam Neill's bumbling Carl. When Lorin asks Ruane to recall his first impressions of John, he stares down the barrel of the camera and says: 'When I met your father, I thought he was an arrogant, cantankerous …' She could not have been more delighted. Nor, it transpired, could John's widow. 'I called Mum later, and told her what [Ruane] had said,' Clarke recalls. 'And she said [of the director], 'I always liked him.''
The Age
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
‘I didn't want to': How John Clarke's daughter surprised herself with a doco about her dad
Not many people knew John Clarke as well as his daughter Lorin – 'we worked together in the same office for decades, on and off,' she says. But she's as surprised as anyone that she has made a movie about the much-loved writer, actor and comedian, who died suddenly while bushwalking at age 68 in 2017. 'It's the last thing I wanted to do,' she says. 'I didn't get up every morning going, 'I must tell his story.' But then when other people tried to, saying, 'We think this is the story. We don't want you to be involved, but we'd like all the rights and everything', suddenly I thought, 'Shit, I do want to protect his legacy.'' The result of that effort is Not Only Fred Dagg But Also John Clarke, a feature-length documentary that will screen in public for the first time at the Melbourne International Film Festival in August. It is one of 20 titles announced on Thursday in MIFF's First Glance. It wasn't the thought of someone dishing dirt on Dad that ultimately got Lorin Clarke over the line. It was the likelihood that they wouldn't even try. The thesis of the filmmaking team from New Zealand that in 2020 approached the Clarke family – Lorin, her sister Lucia, and their mother, Helen McDonald, an art historian and author in her own right – was that John was the foundation stone of the country's comedy. Without him, there would be no Flight of the Conchords, no Rhys Darby, no Taika Waititi. 'It was so wrong, it was hero worship,' she says. 'And my mum said to me, 'If something were to be made and it were a hagiography, that would be a real shame', because he wouldn't appreciate that. He'd be so allergic to the idea.' In crafting her version of his life, Lorin has had access not just to his vast treasure trove of archives ('the man did not throw out an envelope') but also a series of interviews she conducted with him for a podcast that never eventuated. The biggest gift, though, was a document her husband, Stewart, (who helped John with his IT needs) found on his computer four days after his death. 'The whole desktop was empty except for a single Word document, about 70 pages long, titled 'For Lauren and Lucia',' she says. 'He'd written everything down: 'this is how I felt in primary school' ... 'I remember looking out the window in the classroom and thinking this …' It blew my mind that he did this, that he didn't tell us, and that there was no instruction. I just went, 'Holy shit. Well, I guess I'm making a film.'' The portrait she has painted of her father is intimate, and it straddles the public and the private. Growing up in New Zealand, he was deeply scarred by his parents' disastrous marriage – 'they hated each other,' says Lorin, 'as their life project. Really, that was their whole thing' – was expelled from high school, dropped out of university, and at age 22 became a national sensation when his parody of a sheep farmer appeared for the first time on the country's only television station. Fred Dagg was at first scorned by critics but was quickly embraced by audiences. When Clarke decided to relocate to Australia in 1977, at the age of 29, it was in part to escape the long shadow cast by his comedic creation. Lorin's film, of course, traces the career milestones, but it does much more. 'If you went to see a film about John Clarke, and you came away with all the things you could Google about John Clarke, what's the point,' she says of the task she set herself. She didn't expect to unearth tales about a shady hidden life, and nor did she. There was no secret second family, no dreadful kinks. The girls had a childhood that was, Lorin says, 'offensively idyllic … it was just creativity, it was like Heide without the drugs and the partner sharing. It was in Greensborough, but it felt like a Tuscan mountainside, a glorious, funny, playful place to be.' Finding people to say a bad word about John wasn't easy. But one of Lorin's favourite moments in the film comes when his nominal boss at the ABC, Kate Torney – who as news director had oversight of the interview Clarke and his writing partner Brian Dawe did each week from 2000 until his death – observes that 'he didn't love management'. Given his clear loathing of bureaucracy, that might be the understatement of the century. The other features John Ruane, director of Death in Brunswick (1990), in which Clarke played Dave, the gravedigger mate of Sam Neill's bumbling Carl. When Lorin asks Ruane to recall his first impressions of John, he stares down the barrel of the camera and says: 'When I met your father, I thought he was an arrogant, cantankerous …' She could not have been more delighted. Nor, it transpired, could John's widow. 'I called Mum later, and told her what [Ruane] had said,' Clarke recalls. 'And she said [of the director], 'I always liked him.''
Observer
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Observer
Book on evolution of cinema in Oman unveiled
A book that documents the evolution of cinema in Oman in comparison to the global cinema scene was unveiled by Mohammed al Kindi, a renowned film-maker, actor and member of the Board of Oman Film Society (OFS) on Sunday. The 279-page book is the first of its kind to chronicle the journey of the film industry in the country over the past five decades. It also delves into the highs and lows that cinema experienced during the five decades since the 1970s, with a special focus on the transformative years under the late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos. It also provides a detailed account of how various film-makers, directors, writers, actors and other technicians shaped a distinct art form called cinema despite various challenges, including limited resources. Speaking to the Observer, Mohammed al Kindi expressed his expectation for the book to serve as a reference guide for future generations and emphasised the book's significance. 'This book is an ode to the pioneers who ignited the cinematic flame in Oman. Their stories are not just about making films, but about building a movement, often against all odds. The book doesn't only highlight film-makers, but also pays tribute to journalists, theatre personalities and business leaders who played vital roles in supporting the growth of the medium,' Al Kindi said. The book shines a light on great film personalities who strived for an authentic cinema culture in the country, including key figures of the Omani film industry such as cameramen Taghlib al Barwani and Mohammed al Zubair, OFS founding members Haitham al Tai and Dr Khalid al Zadjali, veteran journalist Shaikh Hamood al Siyabi, and the late actor-director Salim Bahwan. The book includes dedicated pages for various film festivals that have taken place in the country, such as the Muscat International Film Festival (MIFF) and Oman Film Festival, emphasising their roles in nurturing local talent and fostering international collaborations to develop better film-makers. The book also has a section dedicated to the history of OFS, from its early days as a meeting place for film enthusiasts to its current iconic headquarters located in Al Seeb. Al Kindi mentioned that the idea for the book was purely coincidental and first came to him while preparing a lecture for a book festival in France in 2019. 'While researching for my speech, I discovered fascinating stories of film-makers across Oman. That's when I knew this had to become a book,' he said. Over the next five years, Al Kindi travelled and met with different people from across the country, spoke to movie buffs, and collected stories and archives for the project. He also mentioned that he plans to release a second volume covering the period starting from 2020 onwards. The book was recently showcased at the WAVES Summit in Mumbai, where Mohammed al Kindi was invited as a guest by the Indian Embassy in Oman. The book can be obtained from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth and is also available at the OFS library.
The Star
10-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
APU talent lights up furniture fair
Celebrating excellence: Yeong (centre) receiving the 'Best Institution' award from Tan (right). – MIFF Like clothing for its wearer, furniture design helps bring out the character of a home and its owner. It's a quality that Ong Jing Rou constantly strives to innovate. A Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Industrial Design student at the Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU) School of Media, Arts and Design (SoMAD), Ong recently clinched second place at the Malaysian International Furniture Fair (MIFF) Furniture Design Competition 2025 with her cabinet design 'Loome'. It marked her third triumph in six months – she had bagged the 2024 Malaysian Interior Industry Partners Association (MIIP) Interior Industry Awards and the KL Selangor Furniture Association (KSFA) Golden Axe Awards 2024 earlier. The MIFF Furniture Design Competition, which began in the third quarter of 2024, concluded during the fair held from March 1 to 4 at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre. Ong's latest achievement earned her a cash prize of RM3,000, with the competition attracting a record-breaking 350 submissions from over 30 institutions across the region. APU students submitted four designs, two of which made it to the Top 20 finals. Adding sparkle to the awards ceremony was APU being crowned 'Best Institution' – a recognition of the university's commitment to innovation and excellence in industrial design, and its dedication to nurturing forward-thinking designers through SoMAD. Simply lit: Ong posing with a scaled-down model of her creation. The mentorship and guidance of faculty members Ivan Yeong Ming Hun, Liew Yong Kian and Eekang Ooi played a pivotal role in shaping the students' designs. Yeong represented APU on stage to receive the award from MIFF founder and chairman Datuk Dr Tan Chin Huat. Mentored by Ooi, a certified industrial designer, Ong created Loome as a cabinet series inspired by the fashion industry. The design challenges conventional furniture-making by replacing traditional hardwood or board with stretchable fabric. Aligned with the competition's 'Fashion-Inspired Furniture' theme, Loome allows users to switch out the outer fabric, customising their furniture based on seasons, moods or personal style. Beyond its functional versatility, Loome also doubles as an ambient lighting piece. The use of translucent, stretchable materials creates a soft, diffused glow, subtly revealing the cabinet's contents through a mist-like effect. This interplay of light and texture enhances the furniture's aesthetic appeal while redefining the boundaries of modern furniture design. SoMAD head Debbie Liew Pooi Kuan said the victory is a symbol of the passion, perseverance and creative spirit that defines the school's community. 'We are incredibly proud of our students and faculty members who showcased excellence at the MIFF 2025. This is just the beginning, and we look forward to seeing our students shape the future of design with their groundbreaking ideas,' she said in a press release.
Tatler Asia
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Tatler Asia
Filipino stars shine bright at the Manila International Film Festival (MIFF) in Hollywood
MIFF in Hollywood celebrated the best of Filipino cinema, honouring achievements and global impact In a night of glitz and glamour at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, Filipino stars shone brighter than ever during the highly anticipated Manila International Film Festival (MIFF) last March 7. Originally planned to take place from January 20 to February 2, the event—already in its second edition—was rescheduled due to the devastating wildfires in some parts of Los Angeles. Nevertheless, the night was a success as the Philippine film industry was celebrated in Hollywood. The MIFF's mission is to elevate Philippine cinema on the global stage, and the event was a testament to the growing impact and enduring beauty of Filipino storytelling. As the actors gathered to honour their recent films, several awards were given to cement their great talents—Audience Favorite Awards, Lifetime Achievement, Visionary, Trailblazer and Special Awards. Filipino-American first responders in the Southern California wildfires were also saluted for their sacrifices and service to others. Sixteen films were screened for the MIFF, including entries from the 50th Metro Manila Film Festival, world premieres and select additional films. More from Tatler: 10 fashionable '90s TV shows to inspire your wardrobe Photo 1 of 5 First Lady Louise 'Liza' Araneta-Marcos at the MIFF Photo 2 of 5 Janet and Ruben Nepales at the MIFF Photo 3 of 5 Sofronio Vasquez III at the MIFF Photo 4 of 5 Paul Martineau, Mikaela Lagman, Alex Pineda, Charmaine Lagman, and Puey Quiñones at the MIFF Photo 5 of 5 Mark Dacascos at the MIFF
