The Girls on Film Festival is THIS WEEKEND!!

Ahoy there!

Hasn't it been a long time between posts?! I'm ok with it if you are because I have been well and truly swamped with work and personal things. 

One of the really awesome things I have been involved in is the inaugural Girls on Film Festival! It's so awesome that it has prompted me to get back on here and share it with you because I REALLY want you to come!! 

Like, really, truly, very much, a lot!

So I thought about what YOU might ask me about the festival and I'm going to answer those questions. Nice huh?!

You: So what is GOFF?

Me: The inaugural Girls On Film Festival (GOFF) will be held at Northcote Town Hall, 189 High Street in Northcote, from Friday September 12 to Sunday September 14, 2014. GOFF is your chance to watch movies chosen by feminists, made by feminists, with a bunch of other feminists, and feel the excitement that comes from seeing the stories of women and girls taken seriously, made with love and demonstrating their humour, solidarity and power. Showcasing ten films from different years, including everything from beloved feminist classics, underrated gems and cult favourites, GOFF wants your heart and mind to beat faster, without wiping you out. Every film will have a special introduction and many will include a panel afterwards to get our feminist analysis on. We’ll feature films about women and girls from diverse backgrounds and subcultures – true stories and high fantasy, documentary, drama, comedy and farce. The program this year has a strong focus on music, and will include a children’s and an all-ages session, as well as live performances, panel discussion and most important of all, parties.

You: Oh, yeah! That sounds pretty flipping awesome! What movies are showing?

Me: That's an excellent question! Thanks for asking! At the festival you'll be able to choose from ten fabulous "girls to the front" films: 


The Runaways, Ponyo, The Punk Singer, Whale Rider, Nine to Five, Heathers, T is for Teacher, Exposed, Radiance and Heavenly Creatures. Pretty good huh!?


You: Actually, that's more than good. I am feeling something I haven't felt for a while. 

Me: Yes... I feel it too.
You: I need to take a few calming breaths... shall I pop over to the website to find out more about the films and buy tickets?




Me: What a fabulous idea. Head over to www.girlsonfilmfestival.com to buy tickets. While you're there, have a look at the amazing A-Team on the about page. Such an ace group of talented peeps. 

You: Oh my goodness... I love them all. I want to meet them!

Me: Well you're in luck, because they will all be there on the weekend so you can totally corner every one of them and take a selfie. But only on the condition that you tag #goff14.

You: Anything else I need to know?

Me: YES! It's really important that you come a bit early to pick up your ticket. The Northcote Town Hall is a beautiful place to hold the event but there may be a bit of a bottle neck if everyone gets there at the same time to collect their ticket.

You: Oh, thanks for telling me! I'll do that! I don't want to put a dampener on my awesome feminist party of radness by having to wait in line.

Me: That's exactly right kid.

You: Well, I'm going to go get my tickets now... see ya!

Me: Bye you femininja of wonderfulness.

So there you go! I hope I have answered all your imaginary questions!

Please get in touch if you would like more information.


Oh Oh!! I almost forgot about a special offer available for you, my lovely readers!

On Saturday we will be running a special session for the young and young at heart called Girl Germs! UM, ZOMG, have you seen our lineup? It's unreal. GG is all ages and unisex so everyone can come and meet shining feminist diamonds like Anna Barnes, Georgia Fields, Evelyn Morris, Catriona Wimberley, Kat Muscat, Amy Gray, Gavriil Bikes, Amy Jenkins, Hiba Casablanca, Genevieve Stewart, Bonnie McKernan, Clare Feenan, Leena van Deventer, Tara Judah, Cerise Howard, Sarah-Jane Woulahan, Nakkiah Lui, Cynthia Lam, Claudia Long, Katie Mack, Lauren Halstead, Kylie Zen Fletcher, Charm of Finches, Sticky Institute, A Zine Thing and Bitch Please: Trans Woman Distro! 

SERIOUS. All of these babes will be at GOFF 2pm Saturday making zines, performing live music, doing nailz, chatting #femmolyfe and being awesome, before we screen The Punk Singer - The documentary about Kathleen Hanna to round it all off. It's the shiniest jewel in the GOFF crown cos it's feminists of all ages coming together to celebrate girl (and grrrl) culture!

And if you book ahead you can get a massive discount, like HALF PRICE TICKETS kinda discount. We originally thought of this as a group rate for 4 or more, but not everyone will be coming with a gang, so it's now for everyone who books in advance. So share this up and get a crew together, or come and meet your new girl gang! Use the code GOFFGANG to claim your half price ticket!!

So... you're coming aren't you!?

Social Media Win of The Week :: Not Now, Not Ever.

Hi there! Have you been on social media this week? Of course you have... I have. 

Have you noticed this really great thing?

"Not Now, Not Ever" 

Julia Gillard's misogyny speech has been set to music and performed by award winning choral group Australian Voices. Artistic director, Gordon Hamilton approached Brisbane composer Rob Davidson to create something special with the iconic speech after the success of the previous speech mash up "We Apologise". 

This tickled my fancy for a few reasons. 

Firstly, I've been feeling particularly femmo and anti patriarchal recently - especially after reading Natalie Barr's Daily Telegraph article about why discrimination is basically the fault of each individual woman and due to our own choices - not a systemic fault in society in general. Yup.. it's out fault gals. I loved this response from Andie Fox at Daily Life. 

Secondly, How clever are people?!! Right?! Someone had an idea and they got folks on board and they went for it. I think that's ace.

And, for the record... I really don't like Tony Abbott... I think he's a piece of work and I enjoy watching JG bring him down a peg or two.

Have you noticed anything particularly awesome being shared around the social media traps recently? Please share in the comments.

Funny women, bikeish talk and pants-off cycling :: Pushy Women South Side Speaking Event

Gee I love funny women.

Yesterday I had the good fortune of being allowed to volunteer at the Pushy Women South Side Speaking Event held at the Gasworks Theatre in South Melbourne.

The City of Port Phillip and The Squeaky Wheel joined forces with larger-than-life Catherine Deveny to bring together a knock-your-socks-off lineup of intelligent, hilarious women to chat about all things bikeish.

Having offered to volunteer- another YOLO experience- I arrived at the theatre and asked to be put to work. After throwing a few postcards on seats, helping some of the performers unpack and assisting on the door I took my seat and spent the next two hours laughing harder than I have in a long time. 

Tracey Harvey

Bev Killick

Highlights for me were Tracey Harvey taking off her pants and knickers and cycling around the stage and Bev Killick regaling us with a story of an unfortunate bike incident which culminated in her stubbie-wearing butcher father yelling "EVONNE! EVONNE! BEV'S CAUGHT HER VAGINA ON HER NEW RED BIKE!". My Goodness, I honestly have not laughed as much in a really long time.

There were a bunch of other fab speakers with varying levels of enthusiasm for bikes and cycling- some who don't cycle much and one (Sally Warhaft) who admitted to having no interest in bikes at all, poking fun at the language and politics of the cycling world. I liked it. I could relate. I like riding for riding's sake and I join Sally in being happy to avoid all the other bits. I also enjoyed the exploration of the phrase "ON YA BIKE" and  the suggestion of a few people she'd like to say it to (I concur, particularly Scott Morrison and Tony Abbott).

Karla Burt

I think I have a bit of a girl-crush on Karla Burt, star of Girl Friday (click HERE to watch!) who spoke about her love affair with cycling around Paris and her dismay at the realisation that the bike awaiting her back at home was an ugly old mountain bike and would not be nearly as romantic and life-enriching as her Parisian ride. Her description of the purchase of a sparkly new step-through made me want to leave my ugly-but-reliable workhorse on the verandah un-padlocked. Maybe I'll just sell it and save up for a Lekker. Yes... that's what I'll do.

Kate Miller-Heidke

Kate Miller-Heidke told the story of a lost love... the love being a brand new white Mongoose mountain bike; the loss being the Christmas Day theft that occurred outside Indooroopilly McDonalds. It was a heart-wrenching tale. The musical accompaniment was a nice touch and added a certain sorrowful vibe.

Considering I didn't really do very much as a volunteer, I feel extremely lucky to have been able to sit in on this event. I look forward to future Pushy Women events where I can be a more useful tag-along. Thank you Pip and Jette for allowing me to contribute in the small way I did.

If you like the sound of this event, there is another coming up on March 16th where you can see Kate Langbroek, Bev Killick, Genevieve Morris, Van Badham, Anne Edmunson, Karen Pickering, Lally Katz and Pip Lincoln talk bikes. Details HERE.