“Just WHAT is going ON with comics in Australia right now???” - ‘Graphic Novels! Melbourne!’: the quintessential documentary of the Melbourne comics explosion!

Australia is a newcomer in contributing books to the world culture of graphic novels. But this documentary reveals that the sudden explosion of Australian graphic novel publishing over the last few years has its roots in decades of obsessive practice and underground comix activity. It investigates the life and work of four local graphic novelists in particular: Pat Grant, Nicki Greenberg, Mandy Ord and Bruce Mutard. There are also interviews with four international comic book luminaries: Scott McCloud, Shaun Tan, Dylan Horrocks and Paul Gravett, all of whom lend their perspective to the development of comics culture in Melbourne. In ‘Graphic Novels! Melbourne!’ you will meet the new voice in graphic novels, and it has an Australian accent.

DANIEL HAYWARD Daniel graduated from Sydney Film School in 2005 where he produced and directed the award winning short documentary ‘Troy’, which has screened all over the world. Over the past 7 years, Daniel has worked in the Australian film and television industry. He has worked on commercials, television series, music videos and feature films in various capacities. In 2012 Daniel completed his first feature length documentary as producer/director titled ‘This Is Roller Derby’ which received a national cinema release in Australia.

BERNARD CALEO is a comic book maker, comic book editor, performer, and presenter. He was the editor of ‘Tango’, an Australian romance comics anthology series, 8 issues of which were published irregularly from 1997 to 2009 by Cardigan Comics, Bernard’s imprint. In 2012, as well as collaborating with Dan Hayward on making ‘Graphic Novels! Melbourne!’, Bernard is writing and drawing a monthly comic book called MONGREL.

Details: DANIEL HAYWARD (Director/Producer/DOP ) BERNARD CALEO (Director/Producer/Presenter) , Documentary, Australia, English (German subs), 2012, 72’

JOIN US FOR A FEW ROUNDS OF “Draw. Draw FASTER!” at Hudson’s Cakes (Boppstraße 1) right after the screening!

PLEASE also check out the "Graphic Novels!Melbourne" Microfestival and exiting new comic art expo curated by Anke Feuchtenberger and Stefano Ricci in Hamburg: http://www.strips-stories.de/index.php/category/veranstaltungen/