The Fabulous Picture Show

As well as seeing filmmakers face their public, Amanda Palmer and the FPS team also talk to actors, directors, cinematographers, composers, costume and set designers –  just about everyone involved in making interesting films.

 

Our features cover everything from world cinema, to experimenta, from the best of Hollywood to Nollywood, from shorts and music videos to documentary-style pieces that tell the stories of real people engaged in all levels of filmmaking.

 

Whether we’re covering the latest glitzy Hollywood premiere, or the most moving personal story, The Fabulous Picture Show aims to apply rigorous journalistic standards, a critical contextualising eye and, where appropriate, an irreverent sense of humour.

 

Amanda Palmer conceived The Fabulous Picture Show concept series, and leads a talented team in producing the bi-monthly programme for Al Jazeera English’s entertainment strand.

 

 

Gabriella Pescucci studio

We travel to Rome, the capital of the Italian film industry, to catch up with Oscar-winning Italian costume designer Gabriella Pescucci. Over her forty year career she has “dressed the cinema” for many acclaimed films including The Age of Innocence.

Gabriella invites Amanda to Cinema Va Di Moda, a catwalk tribute to celebrate sixty years of Italian cinema and costume. In her role as Artistic Director, we are led backstage as a cast of two hundred models are transformed into legendary characters from the world of Italian cinema.

Our private tour continues to the renowned Tirelli design studio, which has hosted some of the most famous fittings since 1964.Here we see first hand the processes of Gabriella’s work, from hand-drawn sketches to the final costumes. 

Jamie Gulpilil in Ten Canoes

As Aboriginal actor and Ten Canoes’ narrator David Gulpilil knowingly intones, this is ‘a story like you’ve never heard before’. Shot on location in the remote Arafura Swamp region of Australia’s Northern Territory, it’s the first major Australian feature to be filmed entirely in indigenous languages.

Ten Canoes is a cautionary tale of love, revenge and murder, and a rare window on a little-known culture. But this is no history lesson – the witty narration and often bawdy script poke fun at our preconceptions of indigenous culture. 22-year-old Jamie Gulpilil follows in his father’s footsteps to make an impressive debut as naïve, love-struck Dayindi.

The Fabulous Picture Show travels to the Outback to meet the director and cast, and talk to them about the experience of making a major film in a community of just 700 people.

 

 

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