[press release by Tsuki]
In celebration of the DVD release of Maya Newell’s debut feature documentary Richard, Sydney Film School & Siren Visual will proudly present a special one-off screening to be held at the Chauvel Cinema in Paddington on Tuesday 16th September at 6:45pm.
Maya Newell will be introducing her ground breaking film that she made as part of her studies at Sydney Film School, and that pays tribute to a true Sydney ‘identity’. To mark this wonderful occasion, complimentary drinks will be served after the screening in the foyer, a wonderful opportunity to meet one of the new faces of Australian filmmaking and to get involved in one of Australia’s fasted growing film communities.
Maya Newell’s first full length documentary Richard (50min), is a stark, bittersweet and at times humorous portrait of Richard Blackie – consummate eccentric, toy collector and former Michael Jackson impersonator – whose public obsessions and private torments are laid bare in this devastating portrayal of the last few months of his life.
This local Sydney identity made headlines when he took his own life in July 2006. What few people knew at the time was that a 17 year-old student filmmaker had developed a curious friendship with Blackie. She had gained access to this most private of private characters and his extraordinary and utterly bizarre toyshop, and was filming his life and the obsessions that drove him, when he took his own life.
Siren Visual will be releasing the DVD of Richard nationally on 18 September, a first for Sydney Film School, as the school pursues highly successful pathways for their students’ career.
Maya Newell’s vision and dedication to her craft have achieved big things in her short career to date. Through the support of Sydney Film School who actively promote their students quest for creative storytelling, Newell has proved herself to be an up and coming filmmaker to watch.