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This aptly named profile of Sydney musician and collector of psychotronic films, Jamie Leonarder, explores the intriguing and little known world of 'outsider' culture. A diversional therapist, who formed a band with the patients, Leonarder likens the institutional world of nursing to a painting by Hieronymous Bosch. He has fused compassion for the marginalised with his fascination for music and art from the fringe, and these now permeate every aspect of his life.
Oblivious to the conventional preoccupations that beset most 40-somethings, Leonarder and partner, Aspasia, run an underground cinema in which they screen films from their archive of unwanted or neglected titles - from schlock horror to American 50s sex education genres - while also playing hosts to the outsider community. The 'Sounds of Seduction', another shared venture, added an offbeat alternative to the Sydney club scene. The highlight here, however, is Leonarder's band, Mu Mesons, whose untamed stage antics bring new meaning to the word 'wild'. This is clever, visual filmmaking, where style craftily echoes subject.
Brendan Young majored in cinematography and film direction from AFTRS in 1989. Since directing several short films, including Three Chords and a Wardrobe (MIFF 1998), he has worked as a director of television commercials, music videos and documentaries.