Delivered by Red Room Poetry and developed by Gunai poet Kirli Saunders, the Poetry in First Languages (PIFL) project celebrates, shares and preserves knowledge of First Nations languages and culture through poetry, music, dance and art.
PIFL supports First Nations students in creating poetry in first languages by connecting them to First Nations poets, Elders and Language Custodians on Country. Our aim is to strengthen connections of First Nations students to country, language and community to empower pride in their cultural identities resulting in enhanced wellbeing.
Video by Tad Souden
redroomcompany.org/projects/poetry-first-languages/
Kraken Kreative's mural on Win Stadium.
Filmed & Edited by Tad Souden. Drone Footage by Chris Duczynski.
http://www.krakenkreative.com.au/
'Catharsis' can be seen in ir's entirety at: https://vimeo.com/391156808
Huge thanks to all the talent involved: Sophie Monteiro, Arkie Cupitt, Angus Black, Kurt Lovegrove and Samantha Dewhurst.
Massive thanks also to Rone, Saul Williams and Rachel Graham from InFiné Music for the soundtrack.
Written, directed, filmed and edited by Tad Souden.
Yours & Owls Sundays at the North Wollongong Hotel.
Film & edit by Tad Souden, soundtrack by Candy!
http://yoursandowls.com.au/
https://candy-band.bandcamp.com/
https://www.northgong.com.au/
This film is about dealing with the negative self talk many creatives deal with, in creating their craft. Much of the inspiration for this film comes from my own experiences going through and coming out of a depressed and anxious period of my life. For me a major part of this was consistently dealing with, and pushing through this negative self talk in myself. Amongst others, the things that helped me greatly were my community and different relationships I’m so blessed to have, as well as spending time in nature (disconnecting from social media) and enjoying simplicity amongst the chaos of life.
This film switches between authentic truth, to negative self talk. Wonderfully exemplified by Saul Williams in the soundtrack; 'but you keep on practicing it because it feels good, makes you feel like you belong to something, something bigger than yourself, and you do, you belong to something bigger than yourself' - i.e. total connection to oneself and the universe, followed shortly after by 'you destroy everything.'
The visual themes also comment on mortality and vulnerability shared amongst all people. If your heart desires something there is a finite amount of time to go after, and experience this.
Another major aspect of this film is about the hard work that goes into a particular passion or creative interest in the background, often without anyone elses knowledge. This playing in the shadows can often coincide with a darker chapter in that person's life at the time. When I was nearing the final stages of this film, I listened to a talk by Author Elizabeth Gilbert who discussed many of the aforementioned themes at length. Her concluding statement in regard to any and all creative pursuits is ‘I believe this and I feel like we must teach it. Olé to you nonetheless just for having the sheer human love and stubbornness to keep showing up. Thank you’.
Huge thanks to all the talent involved Sophie Monteiro, Arkie Cupitt, Angus Black, Kurt Lovegrove, Samantha Dewhurst and to Rone, Saul Williams and Rachel from InFiné Music for allowing me to use this soundtrack.
Written, directed, filmed and edited by Tad Souden.
