No. 019 - 'From All Sides' by Bina Bhattacharya (2025)

An Australian film in the year of our lord 2025 opens with a bisexual orgy. From it's beginning, From All Sides is sure to tell you that this is not your usual movie experience (unless you're freaky like that I guess). What unfolds after that is an expansive, multi-racial, multi-sexual story of modern life in Sydney's west.

Bina Bhattacharya, one of eight writers behind the anthology, Here Out West, wrote and directed From All Sides. It centres on Anoushka (Monique Kalmar), one half of a multi-racial, bisexual and polyamorous couple living in Western Sydney while raising two teenagers and navigating office politics. Trying to keep their open-status a secret is getting harder for the pair and add to that an unruly teenage son, a nosy mother-in-law, a social-climbing parent from school and unsolicited dick pics, you see Anoushka truly receive it from all sides (pun fully intended).

Bhattacharya has crafted a densely-knotted film that explores class, race and sexuality not from an outside point of view, but from direct lived experience, often shifting between humour, tenderness and rage to tackle these issues. It's strength lies in these moments of authenticity, in the lines that could only have come from the real world due to their specificity. The cast which fill out the family - Max Brown as husband Pascal, Georgia Anderson as daughter Nina and Gavril Kumar as son Clyde - are all serviced by and deliver intriguing and earnest portrayals of their respective struggles.

Sure, the film suffers from some debut teething issues. While seeking to tackle many themes across its runtime, the film feels just a tad too long. It either could have been refined down to a tighter edit or expanded to a whole miniseries. It also contains several very on-the-nose moments where characters say exactly what they think and feel without letting the audience discover it for themselves. None of these, however, should stop you from doubting the ambition, originality and sheer grit contained in this film.

That a film like this (one with a genuinely diverse team, full of sexuality and tackling tough topics openly) was able to be made in this country is a miracle. A sentence like that is a shame to write because this country desperately needs more artists like Bhattacharya making more films like From All Sides. In the post-film discussion, Bhattacharya said that this film was made on a budget equal to one-twenty-fifth of what the major screen agencies provide. That's not even peanuts, its the leftover shells from someone else's bag of airplane peanuts. Everyone involved should be proud of what they have created here. The production, like the film itself, built a community that is severely under-represented and struggling to be seen on Australian screens.

Queer Screen and ACON will present a 10th anniversary screening of Holding the Man at the Sydney Opera House this Saturday, 6 September. Details are here.

Fleapit Pick of the Week

This Sunday I, and many others, will be at the Ritz to watch Singin' In The Rain, in tribute to David Stratton. I've written elsewhere on this platform about how important David was for Australia's film industry and for myself. Hopefully I'll see you at the movies.

Screenings: Thursday 04 September - Wednesday 10 September
Cinema Astragale
Litan (Jean-Pierre Mocky, 1982)
Thursday

Mechanics Cinema
Ararat (Atom Egoyan, 2002)
Friday

Saturday Film Club
Children of Men (Alfonso Cuaron, 2006)
Saturday

Waverley Library Bad Movie Club
Redacted for copyright
Friday

Africa Film Festival | 4-7 September | selected highlights
I Do Not Come To You By Chance (Ishaya Bako, 2023)
Opening Night
Thursday

The Fisherman (Zoey Martinson, 2024)
Closing Night
Sunday

Taiwan Film Festival | 24 July - 6 September
Flowers of Shanghai (Hou Hsiao-Hsien, 1998)
4K Restoration
Saturday

Italian Film Festival | Sept. - Oct.
Diamonds (Ferzan Özpetek, 2024)
Festival Preview
Wednesday

Hayden Orpheum | selected highlights
Proco Rosso (Hayao Miyazaki, 1992)
Thursday

Princess Mononoke (Hayao Miyazaki, 1997)
Friday, Saturday & Sunday

Hundreds of Beavers (Mike Cheslik, 2022)
Saturday

But Also John Clarke (Lorin Clarke, 2025)
Saturday & Sunday

Interstellar (Christopher Nolan, 2014)
Father's Day Screening
Sunday

Apocalypse Now Final Cut (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
Father's Day Screening
Sunday

Golden Age Cinema | selected highlights
Burden of Dreams (Les Blank & Maureen Gosling, 1982)
Friday & Wednesday

The Squid and the Whale (Noah Baumbach, 2005)
Sunday

Weapons (Zach Creggers, 2025)
Thursday & Sunday

Dog Day Afternoon (Sidney Lumet, 1975)
Tuesday

Ritz Cinemas, Randwick | selected highlights
But Also John Clarke (Lorin Clarke, 2025)
Daily

Kangaroo (Kate Woods, 2025)
Father's Day Preview
Sunday

Kangaroo Island (Timothy David Piper, 2025)
Daily

Robert Altman Retrospective (link)
Gosford Park (Robert Altman, 2001)
Thursday

Cult Classics (link)
The Before Trilogy (Richard Linklater, 1995, 2004, 2013)
Saturday & Monday

Celluloid Film (link)
Heat (Michael Mann, 1995)
Friday

Classic Matinees (link)
Blazing Saddles (Mel Brooks, 1974)
Saturday & Monday

Make It Musical (link)
Singin' In The Rain (Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly, 1952)
Sunday & Wednesday

Meet Cute (link)
Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 1993)
Tuesday

Dendy Newtown | selected highlights
Together (Michael Shanks, 2025)
Daily

The Director's Cut (link)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Steven Spielberg, 1977)
Friday

Cineversaries (link)
Barry Lyndon (Stanley Kubrick, 1975)
Thursday & Saturday

Night Shift (link)
Europa (Lars von Trier, 1991)
Thursday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday

Palace Cinemas | selected highlights
Kangaroo (Kate Woods, 2025)
Father's Day Preview
Sunday

Cult Vault (link)
Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010)
Monday

Matinee Memories (link)
Rock Around the Clock (Fred F. Sears, 1956)
Saturday

Art Gallery of NSW
Weekend (Jean-Luc Godard, 1967)
Sunday

Sydney Opera House | selected highlights
Wrong Side of the Road (Ned Lander, 1981)
Thursday

10 Things I Hate About You (Gil Junger, 1999)
Friday

Fallen Angels (Wong Kar-wai, 1995)
Sunday