Graphic Novels! Melbourne! UK Premiere Screening!

By John Freeman on February 7, 2013

Following its European premiere at the 40th Angoulême International Comics Festival, the brilliant new documentary movie Graphic Novels! Melbourne gets its UK premiere in London on Wednesday 13th February, at a special Comica Festival screening, supported by the Australian High Commission.

Co-directors David Hayward and Bernard Caleo will be in London to introduce their film.

Over the past five years, graphic novel publishing has arrived in Australia, and it is overwhelmingly based in Melbourne. In Graphic Novels! Melbourne! we meet theartists and the publishers of this new phenomenon in Australian book publishing.The film investigates the comic book community of Melbourne, out of which thegraphic novel artists have grown.

The city and suburbs of Melbourne feature asbackdrops against which the film, the artists and the graphic novels are set. As partof this documentary, we witness comic books in Melbourne entering universitystudies, literature festivals, and art galleries.

Graphic Novels! Melbourne! uncovers an energetic, diverse and productive comicsculture on the streets of Melbourne. It investigates the life and work of four local graphic novelists in particular: Pat Grant, Nicki Greenberg, Mandy Ord and BruceMutard.

There are also interviews with four international comic book luminaries:Scott McCloud, Shaun Tan, Dylan Horrocks and Paul Gravett, all of whom lend theirperspective to the development of comics culture in Melbourne.

• Graphic Novels! Melbourne – Wednesday 13th February, The Anatomy Theatre at School of Arts & Humanities at King’s College, The Strand, London WC2R 2LS. Doors open 7pm for a 7.20pm start. To book your tickets at £5 each, please send an email to give your name and how many tickets you would like, and we’ll confirm by return. Some tickets will also be available on the night, on the door.

• Graphic Novels Melbourne: www.graphicnovelsmelbourne.com

• Watch the trailer here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISbCDR12caY

Poster art by Pat Grant

About the Author
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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.