Mike Leigh Retrospective

Paul Anthony Nelson, Sally Christie and Caitlin Koller co-host Primal Screen's seventh Halloween takeover with a special on depictions of Satan on screen. The trio begin with F. W. Murnau's silent classic Faust (1926), before moving on to Juan López Moctezuma's Alucarda (1977), and round out the hour with Arkasha Stevenson's The First Omen (2024).

This week, Will Cox chats with Cornish filmmaker Mark Jenkin on his new feature Rose of Nevada. Later on, Flick Ford and Telford Mills review two new releases: NAZA, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor's look into the IDF's use of AI weaponry in their ongoing genoice in Gaza; and writer/director Helen Walsh's On the Sea, a drama about a mussel farmer whose life is upended by the arrival of a new deckhand.

Flick Ford sits down with Arlo Dean Cook, whose documentary Jebediah: Are We OK? traces the 30 year history of one of Australia's most iconic bands. Coalescening over a period of 11 years, Cook's documentary was created in close collaboration with the band and contains a wealth of home and archival footage. Flick and Arlo speak about the film's path to the screen and Cook's shifting approach to its production. Later in the show, Flick's joined by Sarah Ward, Bec Matthews and Cerise Howard who are each appearing on the Queering the Music Video panel as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival. They speak about the evolution of their project The Legend of Queen Kong – a queer, d/Deaf accessible visual album – three videos from which will premiere as part of the panel.

This week, Flick Ford is joined by Will Cox and Kate Fitzpatrick to reflect on the enormously influential Up series. Beginning with 1964's Seven Up, the documentary series has returned to the same group of participants with a new instalment every seven years. Flick revisits her interview with Asif Kapadia (Senna, Amy), who has directed what will be the series' final installment 70 Up, taking over from Michael Apted after his passing in 2021. 70 Up, along with all nine of the previous films in the series, will be streaming on SBS on Demand in October.

On this week's episode, Flick Ford chats with Hugo Weaving – a true icon of the Australian screen – about his new series The Airport Chaplain which is now streaming on SBS. Later on, Flick's joined by Emma Westwood and the pair discuss Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo which just screened on the closing day of this year's Melbourne International Film Festival on a 70mm print.

Host Flick Ford is joined by Cerise Howard who had the chance to sit down with the writer/director/star of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, John Cameron Mitchell, ahead of his in-person commentary for the film at MIFF. Flick, Cerise and Thomas Caldwell also review Jane Schoenbrun's meta-slasher Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma.

Host Flick Ford is joined by Cerise Howard and Anthony Carew who each share their top picks from the 74th edition of the Melbourne International Film Festival.

Flick Ford is joined by Telford Mills, Sarah Richardson and Tyler Bain to discuss the storied and varied career of the British writer-director Mike Leigh. They discuss the empathetic and honest look Leigh takes at the lives of everyday people in his cinema. Together, they review three of Leigh's films: 2008's Happy-Go-Lucky, 2011's Another Year & his most recent outing, Hard Truths from 2024.

This week Flick Ford and Thomas Caldwell chat to James Robert Woods, the writer-director behind The Birthday Trip, and one of its stars David Quirk about bringing this iconoclastic, irreverent new Australian film to the screen. Later on, Flick and Thomas discuss all things The Odyssey, debriefing on Christopher Nolan’s new adaptation and revisiting Uberto Pasolini’s 2024 adaptation The Return.

Flick Ford and Thomas Caldwell pay tribute to the late great Sir Sam Neill, discussing some of their favourite performances of his long and storied career. Flick and Thomas also review Jan Komasa’s dark comedy The Good Boy, Olivia Wilde’s dinner party comedy The Invite and The People Upstairs, the Spanish comedy on which Wilde’s film is based.