Snowman and Little Sparrows

This is a shameless plug from a proud mother, for two of my children's creative ventures, my son Ross' band Snowman and my daughter Eva's film Little Sparrows.

 

Snowman
L-R, Olga Sigurthorsdottir, Ross Di Blasio, Aditya Citawarman and Joseph McKee

On the 22nd of this month my son (Ross) and daughter inlaw's (Olga) band Snowman release their third and final Album.  Snowman have been together for seven years and have just recently decided to call it quits so members can each pursue their own goals.  But before they went their separate ways they recorded a parting gift to fans with the very aptly titled final album, ∆bsence.  It has been several years in the making and if the ground swell/blog love for the single Hyena is anything to go on, fans already love it.

  Hyena by SNOWMAN

If you would like to know a little more about the group read what Joe Mckee has to say on their SoundCloud page or read an interview or two here and here.

Snowman have enjoyed a well deserved cult following for many years now and after the release of their last highly acclaimed album The Horse The Rat And The Swan  the band decided to move from Perth Australia, to London where ∆bsence was recorded with Aaron Cupples (The Drones, Dan Kelly, Civil Civic).

∆bsence will be released on the 22nd April and is available now for pre order here if you want to know more check out their FaceBook page.

I have mentioned Little Sparrows before once, twice or maybe even three times but the film is finally getting theatrical release in its hometown of Perth where it was filmed over 19 days.  The premiere is on the 5th May at Luna Cinemas, specifically at Cinema Paradiso, however this may be a limited season so if your interested best to book your tickets online here.

LITTLE SPARROWS Theatrical Trailer from Little Sparrows The Movie on Vimeo.

The film has received fantastic audience response around the world with a standing ovation in Rome  and rave reviews at many of the International film Festivals it has participated in.

Recently Bolderpictures for Little Sparrows won the Lotterywest Award for Outstanding Achievement in Drama at the 24th WA Screen Awards and towards the end of 2010 Camille Chen (Director) and Eva (Producer) were winners of the prestigious SPAARTAN Award for the DigiSPAA Feature Film Competition.

If you are not in Perth but happen to be in London you can still see Little Sparrows at the 17th London Australian Film Festival on the 10th May. For more information checkout their Facebook page.

Congratulations Little Sparrows!

This post is for my daughter Eva who is producer of the film Little Sparrows which has just won the prestigious Australian DigiSPAA award.  This film, which was produced on ever so much less than even a shoe string budget has been well received at Film Festivals around Australia such as Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and CinefestOZ Busselton plus received a standing ovation at the recent Rome International Film Festival.   See press articles here, here and here.

 Some of the cast and crew on the red carpet in Rome

The film has secured a European distributor Umedia and just recently been picked up by Film Movement for USA and Canadian release.   West Australians can see the film on Australia Day when it is screened at Movies at the Vineyard, Luna Palace's new outdoor cinema at Margaret River's Cape Mentelle winery.

LITTLE SPARROWS MOVIE TRAILER from Camille Chen on Vimeo.

The DigiSPAA win comes with over $50,000 worth of prizes and accolades from the judges, Antony I. Ginnane, president of SPAA and co-curator of DigiSPAA commented:
"'Little Sparrows' is an incredible achievement. It takes subject matter which could have resulted in a Lifetime disease of the week TV movie, and turns it into a searingly moving tale of love and loss and understanding. It's packed full of real emotion. Producer/Writer/Director Camille Chen and Producer Eva Di Blasio are talents to watch and worthy recipients of this year's SPAARTAN Award".

Yu-Hsiu Camille Chen has an intense filmmaking style that propels audiences into an emotional journey with the characters. Produced by Eva Di Blasio, 'Little Sparrows' is a must see", says Daniel Scharf, DigiSPAA Co-ordinator and judge.

Eva and Camille earlier in the year at Cannes

This film has defied the odds with a minuscule budget shot in only 19 days over Xmas 2009 and with post production completed by May 2010 it just keeps moving forward at a cracking pace.  Big congratulations to the Little Sparrows group as I know it was a team effort.

 

Little Sparrows Team

However a very special honor goes to Eva who I know at times was the glue that held the project together and made this movie happen.  Big hugs darling!

No Monday Ice today...just Little Sparrows and other stuff!

Cinefestoz in Busselton was the place for the Western Australian premiere of Little Sparrows. I dropped Eva off in Busso on the Wed and I stayed in Bunbury with friends Richard and Lynette. Lynette and I returned to Busso for the premiere on Thurs night.  The response from the public and the media is always very positive, people are genuinely touched by the emotion the film exposes plus the wondrous cinematography. It is a slow gentle paced film, one that I think in someway we all will relate to whether it be similar circumstance and the family relationships or the internal struggles that unfold.  It has been picked up by film festivals all around Australia, Sydney, Melbourne, and  Queensland, it is now time that an Australian distributor took the film on so wider audiences can get the chance to see it.  Little Sparrows is different to the norm in Australian film making, much more European in style.  I resent the fact that our choices in many things become so limited because difference is very rarely explored/supported and we are often dished up with what will bring in the bucks with the least effort, resulting in the same old smorgasbord. The audience/general public often just does not get the chance to experience excellence to be able to develop the discerning palate which in time would show results at the box office.

Little Sparrows cast and crew at the Sydney Film Festival

The Thurs night premiere of Little Sparrows was attended by a large crowd which was great to see, the silence in the theatre at the very emotional and intense moments of the film was palpable as the audience identified with the characters in someway, they were touched by the film and showed their appreciation via applause at the end.  Mark Naglazas from the West Australian conducted an informal Q&A session after the screening, inviting the cast and crew in attendance to come up on stage and answer a few questions from the audience and himself.

 

 The packed foyer before the start of the show.

 Eva with friends who made the trip to Busselton to see Little Sparrows.

 Eva with Shaunagh (they have been friends since schooldays)

 Camille Chen (the director) introducing the film at the start of the screening.

Apparently the Sat morning screening went even better with a packed crowd who were a very enthusiastic and responsive audience providing wonderful feedback to cast and crew on just how much they enjoyed the film.  Eva said the whole festival was fantastic and with such great responses from the general public and her peers she is more determined to see that Little Sparrows gets a theatrical release.

Eva, Nicola Bartlett and Camille Chen at The Directors Lunch at Clairault Winery in Margaret River

Pics from Screenwest FaceBook page

My days are spent catching up with friends (it's a hard life I know), last weekend I spent a lovely Sunday afternoon with Vanessa and Kevin...I have known Vanessa since I was 16 (forgot to take pics...sorry).  After Busselton on the Saturday I caught up with Kerry and Annette who I met once my children started school and once schooldays were over we catch up regularly about 3 times a year, always for at least a 4hr lunch as we are never short for words.

 Kerry and Annette

Yesterday (Sunday) Kerry, Stephen and I visited Donna and Isabella and took them for an afternoon of caching at Lake Leschenaultia....Isabella absolutely loved it took over my GPS and was racing from cache to cache and quite the veteran by the time the afternoon was over.

 Isabella with her first find for the afternoon!

 Checking out the goodies to see if there is anything worth to swap.

 Kerry signing a log book and Isabella looking very pleased with herself.

 Isabella beating Donna to the cache every time!

The last cache we did with Donna and Isabella was fun, the road into the cache was lined with stuffed animals...it was a good giggle and Isabella just loved it.

Happy Birthday Eva Beaver!

Today my first born and only daughter Eva, turns 29, or as she says not yet 30! It is hard to fathom that this many years have passed and that at 22 years old I became a mother for the first time.

She was a tiny little baby a couple of weeks early and just over 5 pounds

You can see how tiny she is compared to her friend Jennifer who was only a month older!

Daddy's girl!

Of course as the first born she has been traumatised a tad by the inexperience of a very young mother who didn't always have it all worked out (the boys had a better run). And as a youngin she was not happy that all I gave her to play with were brothers (she so wanted a little sister).  When the last baby was born and once again a boy she promptly told me at the age of six to take him back to wherever I got him from!

and she often took the opportunity to remind me where I went wrong

According to Eva my favourite two children!

However over time and once she realised they were never going to turn into sisters,  her brothers have become very much central characters in her life and she absolutely adores them all!

 Jesse, Ross, Eva and Dom in Iceland on Ross's wedding night

Eva, Jesse, Dom and Ross

 Ross, Eva and Dom at Nonna's

 Eva behind the camera taking the photo of her boys.

First day of school.

From a very young age Eva always was the star of the show and loved taking centre stage whether it be in the kitchen, lounge or the actual real thing!

 The actual real thing and absolutely lovin it!

Throughout her school years Eva pursued her love of drama, dressing up and being in front of the cameras.

 As a plum pudding in a pre school production

 Taking the major female role in a Christmas nativity play...grade one.

 Grade 7 primary school Eva is second from the right!

However she now realises that she would rather pursue her love for drama and film behind the scenes as a producer or director.

 Eva and her documentary team in China for the making of 'Footprints in Shanghai'

The teenage years were a difficult time for Eva and she is the one that my marriage breakup probably affected the most.  Relationships between mothers and daughters can be difficult...I know my relationship with my mother was always a bit tense...but they also can mature into one of the closest and best friendships a woman can ever have.

Eva spent sometime trying to work out who she was and went from the cutest little girl to a complete feral teenager wearing op shop clothes...nanna petticoats on the outside, several piercings and shaving her beautiful long locks to less than an inch of its life.

The teenage years.

Eva was always a negotiator  ready to make a deal or pact to get what she wants or needs.  Over the years there were many of these contracts offered to us and this I think was the foundation for her future career as she now regularly negotiates contracts in her role of producer.

As I look back I see that these experiences have helped shape her into the sort of woman that can adapt quite easily to many different situations.  Eva can quite happily swing between the red carpet at Cannes to camping in the middle of nowhere, to providing silver service at the oldest restaurant in London, or backpacking around Europe on a mini no budget. Whilst at Uni she had the chance to work on a documentary that followed students along the Canning stock route....the organisers were a little worried that Eva...who seemed pretty much the glamour queen would not be able to cope as they were camping and without toilet and shower facilities for most of the 2 weeks away...but she reassured them that deep within, a feral lurked and she could rough it with the best of them and did! 

 Glamorous Eva at the Cannes Film Festival

At Rules the oldest restaurant in London (Eva in the centre, so resembles her grandmother in this pic)

Backpacking!

Eva has traveled extensively, London, Morocco, Italy, China, Mauritius and France to just name a few of the stamps in her passport, she revels in new experiences, loves meeting people and being on the go 24/7.  I will admit that whilst she was a teenager our relationship was always a little strained but I am so grateful that she came home to live again whilst studying, as we have now grown very close and it will be sooo hard to part.

 Graduation day.

 With a very proud mum!

 During this time I have watched her blossom into the most confident, caring, sensitive and very capable young woman. She is hardworking, enthusiastic, passionate and strives to excel in everything she does.  In a couple of days she is off to Melbourne for MIFF where her first feature as producer of Little Sparrows is screening.

Happy birthday darling not sure how I will cope in Iceland without you...I know I will miss you terribly.