I Peed on Fellini

I PEED ON FELLINI, the long-awaited memoir from legendary film critic David Stratton, is an honest, funny and thoroughly entertaining journey through a remarkable life in film.

Passionate since boyhood about the cinema, Stratton has reviewed thousands of movies, directed and adjudicated at international film festivals, and lectured in film history at the University of Sydney. His best-known role, however, has been as the co-host, with Margaret Pomeranz, of The Movie Show on SBS and -- more recently -- At the Movies on the ABC. Since 1986 the duo has entertained Australia with their honest and often controversial reviews and interviews; for many, they are the most influential film critics in the country.

A recipient of both the Longford and Chauvel Awards for his contribution to the Australian film industry, Stratton's hallmarks are his incredible depth of cinematic knowledge, his passionate opposition to censorship and his lifelong commitment to quality film. In this outstanding memoir, he tells his story with candour and verve.

David Stratton has become something of an Australia Icon when it comes to film. I Peed on Fellini is a recollection of David Stratton's remarkable life in film and indeed an account of both Australian and international film history. Filled with anecdote and rich in experience, David Stratton shares with us the initmate details that have formed and contributed to his stellar career, including his ill fated meeting eith Fedrerico Fellini, which lends itself to the cover title.

"My only encounter with Federico Fellini occurred in a toilet. This was in 1966, when he was one of the most celebrated and amired film directors in the world".

"I was 26 years old and I had recently directed my first Sydney Film Festival. Iwas on my first visit to one of the legendary European festivals. Venice was, in fact,t he oldest of all the festivals having been founded in 1933, during this era of Mussolini and Fascism. This being the first international film festival I'd attended, I knew nobody there. The friends I would make in the future were unknown to me then; I was a babe in the wood, a novice at the game. But waiters offered glasses of champagne and I drank a few realising, as I did so, that I was drinking on an empty stomach, not have had the time for dinner that evening.

After about an hour of such 'star-gazing', several glasses of champagne, a few bites of canapes and the occasional desultory conversation. I felt an urgent need to find a toilet. With an increasing sense of urgency I sought a 'cabinet' and when I finally located one, the urge had become close to desperate. There I was at last, standing up against the porcelain, feeling a sense of relief. A man was standing next to me, a big man who looked vaguely familiar. I stole a glace at him. Could it be? It was....

David Stratton was born in 1939 in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, UK. At the age of nineteen he founded the Melksham and District Film Society. He emigrated to Australia in 1963, where he quickly became involved in the local film scene He was the Director of the Sydney Film Festival for seventeen years. During his career at SBS David was the feature film consultant, presenter of movies, and of course co-host of the highly successful The Movie Show with Margaret Pomeranz for a record eighteen years. Since 1983, David has been a film critic for Variety (published in Los Angeles), a commissioner of the Australian Film Commission, a film critic for The Australian and a lecturer in film history at the University of Sydney. He is also the author of THE LAST NEW WAVE and THE AVOCADO PLANTATION. David has served on several internation film festival juries, including the Berlin International Jury (1982); the Montreal International Jury (1982); and the Venice International Jury (1994). He was also President of FIPRESCI (International Film Critics) Juries in Cannes (twice) and Venice. He is a past president of the Film Critics Circle of Australia. Davids long list of awards and achievements include: - 60th Anniversary Medal by the Festival du Film de Cannes (2007) - The Chauvel Award by the Brisbane International Film Festival (2007) - Raymond Longford Award of Australian Film Institute (2001) - Commander of Order of Arts and Letters by French Government (2000) David is currently the co-host of At The Movies on ABC TV.

Random House Australia
Author: David Stratton
ISBN: 9781741666199
RRP: $34.95