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Documentarian Ian Darling's filmography includes a myriad of films that explore the fabric of Australian society. With Paul Kelly - Stories of Me, Darling immersed viewers into the poetry of one of Australia's greatest lyricists. In The Final Quarter, the excoriating and cruel racism inflicted upon footy legend Adam Goodes is explored through the media's coverage of the event. Then, working as a producer on a film like The Department, Darling shines a light on the people who keep the child protection system moving in NSW.
Each of these stories paints a picture of the kind of Australia that we live in - a complicated and multifaceted community that stretches from Western Australia to the shores of Bondi Beach in NSW. It's near those Bondi shores that Darling takes audiences with his latest film, The Pool, a mood driven documentary that presents a year in the life of the iconic Bondi Icebergs Club, a varied group of individuals who call the stunning seaside pool home.
The Pool sways through different styles of documentary filmmaking. At once, it's a nature documentary, with Ben Cunningham's camera capturing every shade of blue and purple that the sea, its sunrises and shadows of sunsets offer, at other times it leans towards a talking heads style documentary as swimmers, lifeguards, and trainers each tell personal stories about what the pool means to them. Darling matches the tone of the pool with an array of iconic songs that are masterfully paired with Paul Charlier's score.
What emerges from the salty waters of Bondi is a tonal poem that embraces the feeling and mood of being immersed in a body of water and being at one with yourself and the world, free from thoughts and worries. It is, quite simply, a unique experience that feels wholly appropriate for a documentary about a swimming pool.
Midway through watching The Pool, I couldn't help but be reminded of Apichatpong Weerasethakul's view that to fall asleep during one of his films is an honour. While I didn't fall asleep during The Pool, the experience that Darling has created is so relaxing that I couldn't help but want to drift off with the sounds of his film playing in my mind, wondering where the stories I hear would take me.
This is a question I wish I asked Ian when I interviewed him ahead of the films screenings at the Adelaide Film Festival, and the national release for The Pool on 7 November. Instead, our discussion swayed into the realm of talking about what swimming means to him, how he worked in the different colour palette for the film, and what his perspective of the truly Australian nature of this story is. The Pool is a film that, if you give yourself over to it, will certainly transport you to a different place, and is a visual treat on the big screen.
The Pool screens at Adelaide Film Festival on Sunday 27 October, where Ian Darling will be in attendance and on Sunday 3 November. Tickets are available via the Adelaide Film Festival website here. For those unable to attend, The Pool will release nationally on 7 November.
Q&A screenings of The Pool, with director Ian Darling, will begin in Noosa on October 31 and travel down the east coast to Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney and Melbourne. The cinema season of The Pool then commences nationally on November 7 (November 14 in Victoria).
Four-time British Olympian Suki Brownsdon will be in conversation with Ian at the Brisbane Q&A on Monday November 4 at Palace Barracks.
BCC Noosa hosts Q&As on Thursday October 31 and Friday November 1 coinciding with the annual Garmin Noosa Triathlon. The October 31 Q&A is with director Ian Darling, editor Sally Fryer and Margaret Simpson Lee, Executive Producer of the film and a participant in the film itself. Margaret is also a national champion in the SLSC competition Nationals and an Icebergs swimming champion.
The November 1 Q&A sees Ian Darling host a conversation with Olympic athletes, Ky Hurst and Yasu Hirai Fukuoka and Margaret Simpson Lee. HOTA on the Gold Coast will host a Q&A on Wednesday November 6. There will be Q&A screenings in Sydney to follow on the weekend of November 9 and 10.
Actor (and swimmer) Jeremy Sims will be in conversation with Ian following screenings at Hayden Orpheum Pictures Palace (4pm, Saturday November 9) and United Warriewood (4pm, Sunday November 10). Journalist Katrina Strickland will moderate Q&As at the Randwick Ritz (2pm, Saturday November 9) and Palace Moore Park (2pm, Sunday November 10). The film is also the opening night film at Sunset Cinema in Bondi on Thursday November 14.
Ian will then travel to Melbourne where Walkley Award winning sports journalist Caroline Wilson will host a Q&A screening at Classic Cinemas Elsternwick at 3pm on Saturday November 16. Sorrento Writers Festival Director Corrie Perkin hosts a Q&A screening at Lido Cinemas Hawthorn at 2pm on Sunday November 17.
Tickets available here: https://www.madman.com.au/the-pool/#session-times-panel