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'Extraordinary … a film that blurs the boundary between documentary and video art. Bastardy is a fascinating and engaging film about a complex, flawed and extremely likeable man.' – Cinema Autopsy
Jack Charles is Bastardy: a 73-year-old homosexual Aboriginal elder, award-winning actor, professional cat burglar and junkie. A child of the stolen generation, Charles drifted into Melbourne's bohemian underground in the early 60s, where he found the theatre, a lover, heroin and a talent for thievery. Between long stints in jail he's also maintained a successful acting career.
Supported by the MIFF Premiere Fund, Amiel Courtin-Wilson's (The Silent Eye, MIFF 2017) impressionistic 2008 portrait captured Jack Charles warts and all, in his many contradictions: a man who evokes a rich sense of poetry and humour, and embodies a streetwise indomitability.
'Jack is one of the most important people in my life. He is f**king unstoppable and I love him deeply for it. This film is a gift to him.' – filmmaker Amiel Courtin-Wilson
Bastardy is re-screening at the festival in 2017 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the MIFF Premiere Fund – a decade of supporting new Australian theatrical films and feature-length documentaries.
Director Amiel Courtin-Wilson and subject Jack Charles will attend the session to introduce the film and take part in a post-screening Q&A.
