A REIMAGINING of “Blithe Spirit”, Noël Coward’s riotous take on British spiritualism, opens the British Film Festival, with Dame Judi Dench playing Madame Arcati. A strong focus on female performers and directors will see, among others, Keira Knightley and Jessie Buckley star in the true-story farce “Misbehaviour”, about feminist protesters who disrupted the 1970 Miss World competition. The “Restored Classics” strand includes classic comedy “The Ladykillers” starring Sir Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers and “The Elephant Man”, both presented in 4K restoration. Palace Electric, November 10-29, book here.
CANBERRA author Elita Mackay, writing as Elizabeth Anne Thompson, is the winner in the Literary Fiction category of the New York City Big Book Award for her debut novel, “The Wind Queen”. A reflective story about a woman living in the Snowy Mountains, it joined entries from over 100 cities in six continents in the judging line-up. Mackay wove early childhood memories from growing up in Bombala into a work of fiction into the novel, which is available at Paperchain Bookstore in Manuka.
LOCAL natural history artist, Cheryl Hodges, is the only Australian artist among more than 40 established botanical artists to be shown in “Florilegium: A Gathering of Flowers”, at Inverleith House, Edinburgh, until December 13. The artists were asked to respond to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh’s extensive plant collection. Hodges, who has recently been seen at the Australian National Botanic Gardens and the Helen Stephens Gallery in Collector, entered her painting of a snowgum, “Eucalyptus Pauciflora”. ?
STEPHEN Leek from the Young Music Society has assembled an extraordinary line-up of musicians and teachers to work with in January 2021 in small, specialised programs. Jim Sharrock and Lisa Gill will direct primary-age programs, and the concert band camp program for secondary students will be headed by Warwick Tyrell. Sally Whitwell will lead a composition workshop and Marian Budos a classical guitar forum, while violinist Chris Stone and cellist Rachel Johnstone will run a program for young string players and Christina Hopgood and Alex Wanjura will lead young percussionists and drummers. Apply here.
AS part of delayed NAIDOC Week celebrations in Canberra, the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies is celebrating with an Indigenous Art Market featuring 15 art centres from across the country, showcasing artists and their works and with nightly projections onto the National Carillon. Begins on Aspen Island, Lake Burley Griffin, from 7.45pm on Sunday, November 8 and continues nightly until November 15.
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