‘Bondiwood’ on the beach (The Naked City)

Some Australian arts or music festivals are very well funded, either by governments, private endowments or simply as successful commercial ventures. Others struggle to survive on miniscule budgets and eventually fall by the wayside. BONDIWOOD, now in its second year, is a four day festival of short and feature films from filmmakers in what might be called the greater Bondi region. Its director Haydn Keenan admits that it’s run on the smell of an oily rag.

What drove it to success in its initial year and is doing so again in 2024 is the sheer enthusiasm of all involved. As Haydn explains:

“The thing that makes it all work is the support we’ve had from people in the film industry who have agreed to show their films and come down and talk to the locals, young filmmakers and kids who want to get into the business. That generosity is invaluable and along with a dedicated group of volunteers working during the festival, these are the guys who make it all possible.”

You might ask why does Bondi, admittedly an iconic Sydney suburb, deserve its own film festival? In the 70s and 80s it was home to many young filmmakers and musicians, attracted by the low rents, a multi cultural population, a certain bohemian lifestyle and no doubt the beach itself. One such resident was Kimble Rendall who has since gone on to international success with a number of  successful features. BONDIWOOD will see a screening of his 2000 production Cut, featuring Kylie Minogue as the ‘little Aussie slasher’ – just one of the many highlights and bound to produce a most interesting Q&A with the filmmaker afterwards.

A long time Bondi resident, Kimble can remember renting an apartment, many years ago, for as little as $28. He sees BONDIWOOD as “a great forum to watch and discuss film made by people who live in or have lived in Bondi. It brings the filmmaking community together.”

The festival kicks off with a gala night screening of the adventures of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert with a surprise onstage appearance from one of Sydney’s rising young drag stars. It’s the 30th anniversary of the film’s release and director Stephan Elliott will be appearing after the screening via zoom from Portugal. Haydn notes:

“The sense of fun and warmth in Priscilla really sums up what this festival is all about. BONDIWOOD is organic, it comes up from the street. It involves locals and there’s even lucky meat trays to be won. It’s very Bondi.”

Haydn himself will be represented with a full restoration of his Australian classic Going Down as well as the award winning 27A starring Bill Hunter.

The Q&A’s with directors are an integral part of the fest and the inimitable Jay Katz will be along to moderate as well as presenting an evening of movie trivia where ‘cinema maniacs battle it out’. A central element of BONDIWOOD is bringing the creatives behind their films into contact with their audiences. That means you’ll get to fire questions at the likes of George Miller from the Mad Max franchise, Ian Barry and David Elfick from Chain Reaction and Al Clark from Chopper – to name just a few.

As well as the features there is also a great program of short films which include subjects as diverse as do it yourself dentistry and the disappearing face of Bondi. And what would a film festival at Bondi be without some great surfing footage.

With arguably the best location for any film fest in Australia, how does Haydn see the future of BONDIWOOD? It’s a slightly cautious but nevertheless positive response when he enthuses:

“At the moment we’re taking it year by year, but BONDIWOOD seems to have a ground swell of public support. It’s one of those very Sydney events which has come from the basement into the fresh air and seems to be developing a life of a its own. We have barely scratched the surface of the film output from Bondi and there’s certainly more than enough programming for years to come. I say, stuff Hollywood – Bondi is the entertainment capital of the universe!”

BONDIWOOD runs from September 26-29 at the Bondi Pavilion on Bondi Beach. You don’t have to live in Bondi to attend and naturally the festival welcomes punters from all over Sydney. Bring a towel if you want to take a dip beforehand and check out all details and ticketing at bondiwood.au.