PLAYING IN THE SHADOWS  | DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT  |  THE KIDS  | SASCHA ETTINGER EPSTEIN  |  MARCO IANNIELLO 

AWARDS

Nominated for a 2008 Inside Film Award for Best Documentary

 

SCREENINGS

 UPCOMING:

Australian Human Rights Arts & Film Festival

Melbourne: Sunday 23rd November, 12.30pm, Kino Cinemas

Perth: Friday 28th November, 6.00pm, Film and Television Institute 

Sydney: Saturday 6th December, 6.30pm, Chauvel Cinemas

 

WORLD PREMIERE:

The Sydney Film Festival

Saturday 14th June 4.15pm 

STATE THEATRE, Sydney

 

NATIONAL TELEVISION PREMIERE:

ABC1, 16th October 2008, 9.30pm

 

REVIEWS

CHILDREN LOST AMID BIG-CITY OPULENCE
Ian Cuthbertson, The Australian, October 11 2008

THE soul of Playing in the Shadows, a film about giving directionless and disadvantaged inner-city people something to live for, has a lot in common with The Choir of Hard Knocks. But this time the issue is basketball, not music. And the protagonists are children aged from nine to 18.

Parents of sons and daughters of privilege may be shocked by the real world experiences these young people relate and the language in which they express themselves. But this is reality for the inhabitants of the tiny pocket of public housing, established in Woolloomooloo, Sydney's oldest suburb, in 1973. Now surrounded by multimillion-dollar real estate, the disadvantage goes on against a background of opulence and in the shadows of nearby skyscrapers.

Before you turn this page, or dismiss the program unseen as some sort of sentimental televisual social work, you should know that, like filmmakers Sascha Ettinger Epstein and Marco Ianniello, there is every chance you will fall in love with these determined, upbeat young people.

Meet Celine, aged nine. She tells us, without a trace of self-pity, that on theday of her sixth birthday she found her mother dead of a cerebral haemorrhage. She's happy now though, she says, because at least she has one of her parents, a reference surely to the many forsaken waifs running around the neighbourhood.

Celine believes the massive house she shares with her father, eight brothers and "a bunch" of sisters is haunted, "because the man who lived here before us killed all his kids, then killed himself".

From lips as young as these, this sounds tragic, almost obscene. But this, and sharing mornings with wasted drug addicts and homeless old men covered like corpses from head to toe in filthy doonas, is just a fact of life for her.

Jaidyn, 11, has some harsh words for the local police. The "stupid f..ing c..ts" locked his brother up on a murder charge. Like the children who blame themselves for their parents' divorce, Jaidyn blames himself for his brother's predicament.

Ambitious Ainsley, 15, eventually wants to get out of the 'hood and make something of himself.

"There have only been four murders here this year," he says. "Last year there were seven."

The basketball competition -- the days are counted down to the match with a neighbouring team -- is a healthy diversion, but it's presented realistically. It's not a panacea for the ills of living rough.

Finally, there's Jerry, 18, who loves the place, and is teaching everyone in the neighbourhood to cook. He likes to wander down to the water, to get his mind in order, taking in the naval base and Russell Crowe's house.

"I just love Woolloomooloo," Jerry says. "I don't feel safe 'til I'm back here."

PLAYING IN THE SHADOWS
Renee Brack, Movie Extra - Movie Juice, 16 June 2008
 
If you see one low-budget documentary this year - make it Playing in the Shadows.

It's about some kids in Woolloomooloo housing commission and the After-Dark Basketball tournament that bonded an already tight-knit community.

I went along to the premiere at the Sydney Film Festival on Saturday June 14 and was mesmerised.  

After it screened, there was a strong emotional reaction in the audience with people offering all kinds of support including straight up offers of cash to re-instate the tournament that a lack of funding has sabotaged.

This is not a sob story by any means and in fact, one of its many wonderful qualities is how it mobilises viewers – we felt empowered to do something that would make a difference to the lives of these kids.

And just like one person can make a difference, so to can one work of art.  Playing in the Shadows is that work of art.

It provides understanding, provokes compassion and is just as extraordinary as the kids in it.

Check it out.

URBAN LIFE DOCUMENTARY PLAYING IN THE SHADOWS
Di Butler, Courier Mail, October 16 2008

IF I say Woolloomooloo what picture comes up in your head? Otto, that restaurant where everyone goes? Russell Crowe? The wharfies? (RIP)

Never heard of Woolloomooloo? Doesn't matter. It could be anywhere.

Old fringe-CBD area of a big city, partially renovated in the late 1990s, awash with new money on one side/skid row everywhere else. The Valley times 100.

Playing in the Shadows on ABC1 tonight is a bit of a hard sell. On the surface, it's a look at life in a public housing estate that's been in Woolloomooloo since 1973 when nobody cared about the area and it's still there millions of dollars later.

There's poverty that you wouldn't want anyone to endure, and a distinct lack of opportunity, and homeless people lying about, and the odd murder, but basically, underneath, they have the same worries as the rest of us, or heaps of us anyway – about money, health, making sure the kids don't go off the rails, that they're doing well in school ... I mean, sure, not everybody's mother was a drug dealer, but who are we to talk?

You're probably a furtive problem drinker. Besides, she's not a drug dealer anymore, she's got her life together and she seems very nice.

Her boy Jaidyn is one of the central characters in this. He's 11, a bit of a handful which I think is probably magnified by how much he swears, but he's also pretty entertaining. ("Friday night, f*** it's hectic," he says at one stage when they're out and about.)

I also liked Jerry. Jerry's 18 and has some kind of learning impairment, not sure exactly what it is but he refers to it as his disability ... he talks a bit slowly, and school seems to have been largely a waste of time – one teacher, sick of helping him, just told him to go to sleep in the corner, Jerry says.

Made me mad, because you only have to spend five minutes with him to see he's no dill.

Like a lot of city kids, they all play basketball. You were wondering about that name, Playing in the Shadows, and now you know.

They're gearing up for a big game against Redfern, a team they are dead keen to flog. It's always a major contest on their basketball calendar. "You usually have to call an ambulance," Jerry says.

The filmmakers behind this documentary, Sascha Ettinger Epstein and Marco Ianniello, can probably start lining up for their awards. And I'm glad they did the right thing by the people in it. I'd become fond of them.

 

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