the Curb

Shaun Tan is many things. He's an Academy Award winning animator, he's an artist who has taken the fantastical to suburbia and made both feel real and otherworldly, and he's someone who has poured years into shaping personal stories into profound imagery.  To me, he's more than just those things. He's someone who has translated what it means to live in Perth, what it means to grow up in a version of suburbia that spreads far beyond our horizon, and more importantly, what it means to grow up in a multicultural landscape like Perth, where the history of pearl divers in Broome can linger in the ochre brick homes of Wanneroo, or vacant lots become the home to giant oxen.  This conversation with Shaun sees the artist open up about his work, the relationship with the suburbs, and how these aspects played into facilitating the translation of his acclaimed book Tales from Outer Suburbia into the new ABC animated series, Shaun Tan's Tales from Outer Suburbia. It hits ABC iView on 1 January 2026 and it's quite simply one of the most beautiful, humane, and family oriented animated series I've seen in a while. This is not just a show for kids, it's for people of all ages.

In its current form, Old Habits is part of the ABC Compass series, but as you'll hear in this interview with Alfie Faber, he's working on expanding the short into a feature length documentary. And gosh, what a film it will be if he gets it to a feature length. Old Habits is a delight, utilising the charm and vibrancy of the Sisters to expand upon a hidden part of Australian queer history. Watching Old Habits reminded me of my conversation with Julie Peters about her documentary The Accidental Archivist. In that film, Julie talks about the self-documentation of queer history in Australia and discovering her place in the LGBTIQA+ community. Old Habits acts as an extension of the opening of queer history archives, ensuring that Australian queer history is accessible to future generations. To find out more about the Order of Perpetual Indulgence and its Sydney members, visit UniversalJoy.com.au. After discussing Old Habits, Alfie also talks about his podcast series Sound Perspective, an in depth series featuring interviews with creatives about the role of sound in films. I highly recommend listening to it. Make sure to also check out Final_Final_Locked from the Australian Screen Editors. Watch Old Habits on ABC iView here. Note: This series is only available to Australian residents.Follow Alfie Faber on Instagram here and The Sydney Order of Perpetual Indulgence here.

Andrew interviews filmmaker Kitale Wilson about his short film A Silent Rebellion.Visit thecurb.com.au/subscribe to support this podcast.

In this episode, Andrew interviews Lynette Wallworth about her collaborative documentary Edge of Life. This interview was recorded during the national release of Edge of Life, currently in a limited run in Australian cinemas. Check out your local cinema guide for details, or visit Kismet Movies for additional information on where and how to view the film.the Curb is a reader and listener supported independent publication. To help keep us independent, visit our Subscription page for membership options.

A brilliant circus family’s hidden legacy unfolds as descendants reunite across continents, revealing their Australian Aboriginal ancestry, global stardom, and the extraordinary secrets they kept in order to survive. The greatest entertainment on earth in the 1900s was the circus and its performers were the global superstars. The big top transported children and adults alike into a world where anything was possible.Con Colleano, ‘the wizard on the wire’ defied gravity, while he and his family defied all odds to become a global phenomenon. Through the Colleano family's remarkable home movies, never-before-seen footage, family interviews and archive, their extraordinary story is revealed. Rooted in humble beginnings from the Australian bush, the family outmanoeuvred punitive Australian laws and prejudice to travel the world, concealing their Indigenous heritage and reaching the highest echelons of circus stardom.Con Colleano dazzled fans while also mingling with icons including Charlie Chaplin, at the most exclusive social sets of America and Europe, beguiling even the likes of Hitler and Mussolini.As the filmmaker, Pauline Clague, reveals her connection to the story, she finds Australian Deb Hescott, who uncovers her own secret link to this family. Connecting with Molly, one of the oral history holders of the family, they go on a profound journey of discovery. The Colleano Heart unravels the hidden secrets of their family of circus royalty, revealing them as survivors of Australia’s Hidden Generation of Aboriginal people.The Colleano Heart presents a rich portrait of the family, and the global socio-cultural shifts shaping First Nations lives. The Colleano Heart recently screened at the Adelaide Film Festival, and Nadine Whitney spoke with director Pauline Clague ahead of the films screening about her film.

Documentarian Yaaa Bou Melhem expands her approach to collaborative documentary storytelling with her latest feature Yurlu | Country. This essential film follows the final year of the life of Aboriginal elder Maitland Parker as he continues his decades long fight to heal his homeland after the scarification from the caustic asbestos mines in Wittenoom which left the area as the largest contaminated site in the Southern Hemisphere.Shot with a respectful admiration for the beauty of the land by Tom Bannigan whose camerawork is supported by the immersive and powerful score from Helena Czajka, Yurlu | Country arrives at a time where the history of mining in Western Australia and its relationship to Aboriginal folks from this land is under more scrutiny than ever before with the announcement of caustic mining operations intending to take place on the Burrup Peninsula, home of rock art that is up to 50,000 years old.For many Western Australians, myself included, we carry an anger and frustration with our governments, with each consecutive one failing people like Maitland by not allowing them to be able to be on Country and connect to their land. Within the film, Yaara and Maitland show us the fight being undertaken to allow remediation to take place so the traditional custodians of the land can return home. Legal action is on the horizon, and to go alongside that, an impact campaign will be launched. To find out more about that campaign, the film, and more, visit YurluCountry.com where you can find out how to host screenings of the film, share it with audiences, and to buy tickets to the many Q&A sessions across Australia. You can also find a link to CleanUpWittenoom.com where you can donate towards the Banjima Native Title Aboriginal Corporation to help with their campaign to clean up Wittenoom.Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky @thecurbau. We are a completely independent and ad free website that lives on the support of listeners and readers just like you. Visit Patreon.com/thecurbau, where you can support our work from as little as $1 a month. If you are unable to financially support us, then please consider sharing this interview with your podcast loving friends.We’d also love it if you could rate and review us on the podcast player of your choice. Every review helps amplify the interviews and stories to a wider audience.

Sophie Somerville is an Australian emerging filmmaker whose short films Linda 4 Eva and Peeps made waves at film festivals around the world. Now with her feature film debut Fwends, winner of the Berlinale Forum's Caligari Film Prize for Innovation, Sophie firmly makes her mark on Australian cinema as a talent to watch out for.As Cody Allen wrote in their review, Fwends is 'a tender portrait of friendship, loss and rediscovery' and it's out in Australian cinemas from 7 November 2025.Nadine Whitney interviews Sophie ahead of the films release.Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky @thecurbau. We are a completely independent and ad free website that lives on the support of listeners and readers just like you. Visit Patreon.com/thecurbau, where you can support our work from as little as $1 a month. If you are unable to financially support us, then please consider sharing this interview with your podcast loving friends.We’d also love it if you could rate and review us on the podcast player of your choice. Every review helps amplify the interviews and stories to a wider audience.

In this podcast, Nadine Whitney speaks with documentarians Maggie Miles & Trisha Morton-Thomas about the extraordinary documentary Journey Home, David Gulpilil.Journey Home, David Gulpilil is a sacred film which brings us into the funerary customs and that informed David's life. Maggie and Trisha follow David's remains from South Australia all the way to east Arnhem Land and along the way we see the impact that David had on not only the cinematic landscape of Australia but as a storyteller for Indigenous people in Australia.This is an extraordinary film that makes a wonderful companion piece to My Name is David Gulpilil.Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky @thecurbau. We are a completely independent and ad free website that lives on the support of listeners and readers just like you. Visit Patreon.com/thecurbau, where you can support our work from as little as $1 a month. If you are unable to financially support us, then please consider sharing this interview with your podcast loving friends.We’d also love it if you could rate and review us on the podcast player of your choice. Every review helps amplify the interviews and stories to a wider audience.Journey Home, David Gulpilil is in Australian cinemas from 30 October 2025. Visit Madman.com.au for further details.