Meet the Filmmaker

Join Ice-T as he discusses his directorial debut, the documentary film, Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap. This new documentary provides access to the creative process behind rap music and features exclusive interviews and performances from the biggest names in the business including Run-DMC, Kanye West and Dr. Dre.

Join Adam Shankman ("Rock of Ages," "So You Think You Can Dance"), as he discusses his latest production, "Step Up Revolution."

Join Channing Tatum (21 Jump Street, Step Up) and Matthew McConaughey (A Time to Kill, The Lincoln Lawyer) as they discuss their new film Magic Mike. In the latest film by director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Ocean’s Eleven), Magic Mike (Tatum) is the headliner in an all-male revue whose lifestyle starts to interfere with his personal life.

Fresh-faced 14-year-old recording artist Coco Jones stars with talented teenage actors Tyler James Williams and Trevor Jackson in the Disney Channel original movie "Let It Shine." Based on the play "Cyrano de Bergerac" by Edmond Rostand, it’s a compelling story of young love that boasts an uplifting message of self-confidence. In this podcast, hear members of the cast discuss the film.

Sundance Award–winning director Benh Zeitlin discusses his story about a tiny hero surviving a storm’s aftermath in a bayou community. Zeitlin received the Palme D’or at Cannes 2012 for this work.

Join director Mark Andrews (Ratatouille, The Incredibles) and producer Katherine Sarafian (The Incredibles, Monsters Inc.) as they discuss their new film ‘Brave’. Set in the mysterious Highlands of Scotland, Brave uncovers the tale of headstrong Merida, who defies age-old customs and inadvertently unleashes chaos, forcing her to discover the meaning of true bravery before it’s too late.

Join Academy Award©-winning director William Friedkin (The French Connection, The Exorcist) as he discusses his new film ‘Killer Joe’. A small-time drug dealer whose life-threatening debts force him to put a hit out on his mother in order to collect the insurance.

World-renowned Australian cinematographer Dion Beebe (Memoirs of a Geisha, Collateral,Chicago) discusses the transition from celluloid to digital filmmaking, as debated in SFF's International Documentaries selection Side by Side, in which he is interviewed. Beebe also shot The Zen of Bennett, directed by Unjoo Moon, which screened in SFF's Sounds on Screen.

Acclaimed Canadian director Philippe Falardeau (Congorama, It's Not Me, I Swear!) talks about his Oscar-nominated schoolroom drama Monsieur Lazhar, which screened as part of Sydney Film Festival's Official Competition.

Australian director Tony Krawitz (Jewboy, The Tall Man), Oscar-winning Australian producer Emile Sherman (The King's Speech) and Australian producer Liz Watts (Animal Kingdom) discussing their latest feature, Dead Europe, which screened in SFF's Official Competition.

AFI Award-winning Australian film and TV director Cate Shortland (Somersault, The Secret Life of Us) and actress Saskia Rosendahl discusses their latest film, the World War II drama Lore, which screened in SFF's Official Competition.

Join director David Cronenberg (A Dangerous Method, A History of Violence) and Robert Pattinson (Twilight, Bel Ami) as they discuss their new film, Cosmopolis. Eric Packer (Pattinson) is a billionaire chauffeured across New York in his extravagant limousine when wild activity erupts on the city’s streets.

Join Jon Hamm (Mad Men, Bridesmaids) and writer, director and producer Jennifer Westfeldt (24, Kissing Jessica Stein) as they discuss their new film Friends with Kids. A romantic comedy that centres around two best friends who decide to have a child together, whilst keeping their relationship platonic, Friends with Kids shows how having kids can change your life forever, in amusing and surprising ways.

Filmmaker Todd Solondz and actor Jordan Gelber discuss Dark Horse, a film about two thirty-somethings with arrested development who fall for each other.

Join actors Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Star Trek), Amara Karan (St. Trinian’s, The Darjeeling Limited) and directors Crispian Mills and Chris Hopewell as they discuss their new film, A Fantastic Fear of Everything. Jack (Simon Pegg) is a children’s author turned crime novelist whose research into serial killers has turned him into a paranoid wreck.  When a mysterious Hollywood executive takes a sudden and inexplicable interest in Jack’s script, his ‘big break’ rapidly turns into his ‘big breakdown.