MIFF- Suzy And The Simple Man and Born In Flames

For tonight's MIFF session I started at the Kino Cinema to see the Australian documentary Suzy And The Simple Man. Filmed over eight years it profiled couple Suzy and John Muir and their life on a farm in rural Victoria, where they grow most of their own food and also raise chickens and sheep. While they dealt with the elements over the years they also encountered personal struggles as Suzy was diagnosed with cancer. It was a touching film about this adventurous couple and how they live a sustainable life driven by their own moral beliefs. After the screening Suzy, John and their co-director Ian Darling did a Q&A with the audience. John, a well renowned adventurer, was wearing a kilt and was quite hilarious and insightful with his answers. It was also good to see Suzy and learn that her cancer is not currently active.

Next I headed out into the rain and down to ACMI for Born In Flames, Lizzie Borden's groundbreaking feminist film from 1983. Set in New York City 10 years after the Social Democratic War of Liberation, women still have to deal with sexism and oppression in the now socialist democracy. Different groups of women, lead by the Women's Army and pirate radio DJs from Radio Ragazza and Phoenix Radio eventually come together and utilise guerrilla tactics to get their message out to the public and force change. It was an interesting film that still holds up all these years later.