Miro Bilbrough

‘The opening scene of Bilbrough’s Being Venice is one of Australian cinema’s most intimate immersions'  - Luke Carman, Southerly Journal.

Synopsis
Venice is having trouble with the men in her life. On the night her ex-hippy dad Arthur arrives in Sydney to stay on the sofa of her tiny apartment for a week, she is dumped by her lover and begins an ill-advised affair with her charismatic best friend Lenny. Arthur carefully ignores the turmoil swirling around his daughter’s life until she confronts him about the childhood that still haunts her.

Available to stream: Itunes, Bigpond Movies, Xbox, Quickflix.
DVD: JBHifi online.

Credits
Written and Directed by Miro Bilbrough
Producer Karen Radzyner, Michael Wrenn
DOP Bonnie Elliot
Production Design Alex Holmes
Editor Adrian Rostirolla
Original Music Andrew Lancaster, David McCormack
Sound Design William Ward
Casting Nikki Barrett
Stills Photograher Matt Nettheim, Simon Cardwell

Cast
Venice Alice McConnell
Arthur Garry McDonald
Lenny Simon Stone
Irene Katie Wall
Marcus Henry Nixon

Produced by Dragonet Films with the participation of ZDF/ARTÉ and with the support of Screen Australia, Screen NSW, NSW Film Commission, and Curious Films, Binger Filmlab and Cinemart. With the further support of Varuna, The Writers’ House, and Bundanon.

Awards Nominated The Age Critics Award 2013

Festivals
2012
Market Premiere, Cannes
European Premiere, In Competition Mannheim Heidelberg International Film Festival
Australian Premiere, Official Selection Sydney IFF
Official Selection Melbourne IFF
10TH Chennai IFF
Dubbo Inland FF
2013
Official Selection Rhode Island IFF
Pune FF
Women on Women FF
Blue Mountains FF
Festival des Antipodes, St Tropez
2014
In Competition Rencontres Internationales du Cinéma de Patrimoine & Prix Henri Langlois

Cinema Release  Wellington, Auckland, Napier, Motueka, Kiev 2013

Broadcast ZDF/Arté 2015

Director’s Statement
‘There came a point in my life when the gap between the ideals and vanities I held dear about myself (a good, moral person), and the messier business of desire and impulsive behaviour (a selfish, yearning person) seemed to be staring me in the face. I felt the urge to write about a group of characters troubled by such tendencies, by the yawning gulfs between their conscious and unconscious selves. Foremost of these is a woman named Venice. A woman on the threshold of crossing into that place where we expect to be older, safer, wiser but—sometimes amusingly—aren’t. A woman who should know better but, deliriously, doesn’t. A subject I have yards of experience in!’

Reviews

‘Venice is played with considerable intensity and adult sexuality by McConnell, and veteran Australian comic actor Gary McDonald gives a fully rounded portrait of cautious, disapproving Arthur—constantly jet-lagged, teeth in a glass overnight and writing protest letters to Vladimir Putin and various dictators. Most striking is Bilbrough’s artistic design...Greatly assisted by cinematographer Bonnie Elliot and production designer Alex Holmes, she goes for painterly compositions and carefully selected locations, with an onscreen bow to the works of American artist Edward Hopper.’
- Frank Hatherly, Screen Daily, 20 June 2012

‘This is a gentle, thoughtful film, with more questions than it has answers, happy to revel in its doubts. Being Venice is also stunningly well performed, deceptively well written, and shot through with a heat-hazed love for its setting that borders on the rhapsodical.’
- Graeme Tuckett, 19 October 2013**** (4 stars).

‘Beautifully shot in locations carefully chosen as an homage to the painter Edward Hopper, the charming aesthetic of Bilbrough’s feature film debut makes for memorable viewing…Being Venice presents a compelling portrait of romance, family tensions and bohemian living, beautifully packaged by director Miro Bilbrough, designer Alexander Holmes and cinematographer Bonnie Elliott.’ 
- Luke Illot, FilmDoo

Review,  Nicholas Didier , Télérama.Fr, 14 February 2015

Feature article by Tom Cardy, The Dominion Post, 17 October 2013

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