Noyes named Aussie best
From humble beginnings growing up in Mooroolbark to international recognition for his first short
film, Aaron Lee Noyes made waves as an up and coming talent in photography and film in 2023.
As director and writer of the film ‘Mr.Gypsie’, Noyes took home best Australian director at the London Director Awards on 9 February.
“Making this film, I was pretty naive. I didn’t write it or make it thinking about festivals whatsoever,” he said.
“I did this for me and to make something beautiful and to show the world that I can do it and get myself on the right path.”
Having made the transition from the corporate world to full time editorial and fashion photographer in May 2022, Noyes had always viewed the digital mediums as a passion project. But taking a leap of faith, the teenage dream of pursuing photography as a career came true at 34-years-old.
“To get this kind of acknowledgment so early is obviously an immensely proud feeling. I’m proud of myself, I’m proud of the crew, I’m proud of the actors. It was a huge amount of work…I’m still coming back down to earth a little bit about it,” he said at the time.
Snowy symphony for composer
Coldstream resident Bruce Rowland and The Man from Snowy River composer saw his music played live to the film for the first time by Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in August.
In preparation for the event, Rowland and his team spent months digitising the original score, converting the music to a digital format for use by the orchestra.
Rowland’s career spans a number of motion pictures, cable movies, mini-series, series, animations, jingles and special live events but said that Snowy has had a long run.
“It’s had long legs,” he said.
The score is quite technical and uses signature French horns which require a full orchestra to play.
“I’ve worked with the Melbourne Symphony many times and they are a wonderful orchestra,” he said.
Major photographic exhibition on show
The only Victorian showing of the finalists for the National Photographic Portrait Prize (NPPP) 2022 was held at the Yarra Ranges Regional Museum.
Spanning three months from June to September, the exhibition brought the Archibald of photography to the region to be enjoyed by locals.
From 50 photographers named as finalists, the Yarra Ranges had two residents selected, with Tom Goldner and Ivan Gaal displaying works.
“Their inclusion highlights the high calibre of creative practitioners that call this region home. We are very lucky to be surrounded by a hugely talented creative community – it makes my job very exciting,” Yarra Ranges Regional Museum Exhibitions Curator Maddie Reece said.
Mount Evelyn’s Idol
Taking on the mantra ‘it’s now or never’, Mount Evelyn’s Josh Hannan graced the screens of thousands as he pursued his music career on Australian Idol.
Making it to the top three contestants, Josh bowed out with a positive spirit and
Having gone into Australian Idol with a dream of one day recording his own music and taking a chance on the industry, Josh said to have made it to the end was not something he expected.
“I had no idea going into it how I was going compare to all of the competition,” he said.
“It gives me a lot of confidence going forward, regardless of the result that I’m going to be able to pursue this career with hopefully a bit of success.”
Bringing ageism to the forefront
The culmination of 17 wordsmiths’ work was unveiled in a new exhibition, a milestone achievement for many of the participants, combining the two artforms of poetry and photography.
Poetic Portraits brought together individuals from all over the Yarra Ranges, both professional writers and amateurs, who were 50 or older to delve into their stories of relationships, ageing and connection to both themselves and their landscape.
Excited by the topic of ageism and being able to meet other passionate poets and storytellers, Fotoula Reynolds said speaking about age carried a sense of pride.
“A lot of people do find coming into their senior years the challenges confronting, but I certainly have not felt that, I’ve been very excited actually. I was pleased to be part of it.”
Poetic Portraits will be on display at the Lilydale Civic Centre until 31 January and is accessible Monday to Friday.
Award success at the ‘birds
The Lilydale Athenaeum Theatre Company (LATC) scooped the pool at the 2020-2022 Lyrebird Awards for a number of categories of theatre production.
With the 2020 production of The Full Monty taking home both Best Production (Comedy) and Best Set Design (Comedy), director Katie Jane Amey said it proved everything worked in the show.
“I view the Best Production (Comedy) award as affirmation that the entire production, on balance, just worked – all the elements, all the moments, all the people,” she said.
“We felt really good about it when it was onstage, and it was really nice to be remembered
from way back in February/March 2020.”
Best Performer in a Lead Male Role (comedy) for Cosi, actor Mark Crowe said the combination of seriousness and laughter made the play special.
“It’s a comedy with heart,” he said.
“It gave them plenty of laughs and plenty to think about at the same time. With the diversity that is portrayed in the characters, they can do more than what is normally expected of them.”
