Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Thursday 17 September
12:45 PM - 1:45 PM
‘Death is not the opposite of life, but a part of it.’ Those are the words of novelist Haruki Murakami, but Murakami is not the first, nor the last, artist to express this strangely reassuring sentiment. Filmmaker Paul Cox and musician and journalist Paulie Stewart are two men whose experiences of coming close to death have altered the course of their lives.
Cox, one of Australia’s most prolific and internationally celebrated filmmakers, has been making films since the 1970s, including Lonely Hearts, Man of Flowers and My First Wife. In 2009, he was diagnosed with liver cancer. After receiving a life-saving liver transplant at the end of 2009, Paul developed a screenplay inspired by some of his experiences in the cancer ward. The resulting film – Force of Destiny, starring David Wenham, Shahana Goswami and Jacqueline McKenzie – is an affecting and surprising story that tells, amongst other things, of finding love on the transplant waiting list at the Austin Hospital.
Paulie Stewart, frontman of the band Painters and Dockers, met Cox while also at hospital awaiting a liver transplant. Stewart appeared in one of several ‘Micro Stories' made by Force of Destiny producer Maggie Miles in collaboration with the Austin, that connect with Cox's feature film. The experience of liver cancer prompted Stewart to strengthen his commitment to a cause that is close to his heart for family reasons – helping the people of East Timor (having earlier founded the band Dili Allstars).
At this lunchtime Wheeler Centre event, we’ll screen both Stewart's and Cox’s Micro Stories. We’ll also hear insights from both men on the subjects of life, death, art and the extraordinary transplant experience.
Featuring
Paulie Stewart
Born and bred in the inner-Melbourne suburb of St Kilda, Paulie Stewart was the inaugural winner of the Essence of St Kilda essay prize – as well as an original member of infamous Melbourne punk band Painters and Dockers. Inducted into the Age Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010, the group released seven albums and performed more than 1500 live shows throughout Australia, New Zealand and North America.
Stewart is also a founding member of East Timorese/Australian band The Dili Allstars, awarded a 2009 ARIA award for Best Soundtrack (Balibo). The band has toured extensively in Australia, East Timor, Portugal and Brazil, releasing three albums, two EPs and an ABC Music 'Best of' retrospective, raising large sums of money for various East Timorese charities.
He is a founder of The PRICS (Performers Releasing Information about Clean Syringes/Careful Sex), a musical troupe who delivered safe health messages in juvenile detention centers, jails and women’s refuges – and who released two albums in conjunction with leading radio youth network Triple J. Stewart is also a member of The Transplants – a rock band in which all members have undergone organ transplants. The band regularly performs to promote organ donation. He now manages and mentors leading African hiphop act The Flybz.
Paul Cox
Paul Cox is a film producer, writer and director. Born in Holland and settled in Australia, Paul is an auteur of international acclaim and one of Australia’s most prolific filmmakers with 40 features, shorts and documentaries to his name.
Paul has been the recipient of numerous special tributes and retrospectives at film festivals across the world including a major retrospective at the Lincoln Centre in New York in 1992. His film, Man of Flowers, premiered in Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival in 1984, won Best Film at the 1984 Valladolid Film Festival and Best Foreign Film at the 1991 Warsaw Film Festival. Cactus premiered in Director’s Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival in 1986 and Paul’s docudrama, Vincent: The Life and Death of Vincent Van Gogh, won the Jury Prize at the 1988 Istanbul International Filmdays. His most recent film, Force of Destiny, is highly autobiographical, based on his experiences with cancer and a life-saving liver transplant. The film has the honour of playing at the Opening Night Gala of the Melbourne International Film Festival 2015.