Notes on One Year of the Fleapit

Words by Matthew Donlan

Friday 1 May marked one year since I sent out my first article under the banner of the Fleapit, and I've been doing lots of existential reflecting as of late.

Firstly, I want to say thank you to everyone that has supported me in this odd little endeavour. I self-administer the Tall Poppy Syndrome and never particularly like compliments, but your words of encouragement are always nice to hear. Thank you as well to everyone that has had to bear with me as I bounced various ideas, to those who have shared ideas with me, and especially to those who have contributed their words to the page. And if you're reading this, thank you too.

I don't want my extreme self-reflectiveness to scare you away but it's still weird to think that people who I've never met read these words, and even more people who I've never met know my face. The marvels of the internet sometimes break my brain if I think about it for too long. My brain also breaks when I think about the contradictions of my ideals. On one hand I want to tell as many people as possible about all the exciting things happening, and on the other hand, the thought of being perceived is terrifying.

Sometimes writing is hard. My process usually begins with 30-45 minutes of staring at a blank word document while I watch the caret blink. This is followed by about 10-15 minutes of me muttering to myself things like 'why do I do this?' and 'why is this so hard?' It's like getting blood from a stone and then, to mix my metaphors, the levee breaks and the letters all fall into place. Sometimes they'll fall into a place that is adequate enough, and more rarely they'll land exactly right, in a place that makes me proud and stirs the butterflies in my stomach.

So one year down, where to next? Well at the moment it will be mostly more of the same. There's been talks of longer pieces, a podcast, interviews, collabs, a film club, a zine, merch, a game show and a festival (these are all true btw). These are all excellent ideas which I'd love to do if it weren't for two small pesky details: time and money. That's not to say I'm not working on these ideas, just that it will take time. If you sit in a position of access, power or money that can make any of these ideas happen sooner, my inbox is always open.

But I don't want you going home empty handed so I'm starting a new thing both here and on the Instagram. It's called: Confessions of a Flea.

Think of Confessions as your agony aunt, or letters to the editor, or your penance or deuxmoi (just with less sex, rudeness, religiosity or controversy of each). This is your anonymous (or not) way to tell the Flea your hot takes, truth bombs or struggles with the film world. What's the gossip on the street? What film did we get wrong? What's your cardinal sin at the theatres? What do you need advice on? Do you think Letterboxd is over-rated? Or just have something nice to say? Confess it all to the Flea and (with a regularity yet to be determined), it'll appear in the newsletter with a wise word or two from yrstruly.

You can begin submitting now HERE.

The Fantastic Film Festival is currently on in Sydney so here are three rapid reviews for some films in the programme.

Cruel Hands by Al Kalyk
The debut feature film by Kalyk combines two very real horrors plaguing Australia. The first is the scourge of domestic and family violence, and the second is the uncontrollable threat of bushfires. In both, their unrelenting pursuit of destruction poses a threat to Maria and her son Dai, creating a hazy and disorienting atmosphere. With an effective sound design and sinister performance from stalker-husband Jason, this film will leave you looking over your shoulder.

Lenore by David Ward
Another debut Australian film, Lenore makes the digital world the scariest place to be. Isolated Max lives in a creepy basement and, with his wall of screens and computers, meticulously edits the videos of internet-celebrity Lenore, who has suddenly gone missing. With the essence of an Edgar Allan Poe, Lenore keeps the mystery moving and the mash up of formats makes for an interesting hook.

Dracula by Radu Jude
Jude's latest film requires you to simultaneously switch your brain off and reach a higher level of thinking. As I've said elsewhere, AI is a vampire, and Jude manifests this literally in Dracula. After losing production funding, the film (shot on an iPhone) explores the art-sucking nature of AI through the classic blood-sucking villain. While entertaining to begin, the film quickly tires across its near 3-hour runtime, and perhaps that is the point, but it doesn't negate the experience of watching it.

Thanks for reading and making it all the way to the bottom of the piece!

-Matthew
(founding flea)