Mother of All Balls

 The Sydney Town Hall was the venue for Saturday night's Mother Of All Balls, the brain child of actor Rachel Ward. The MoAB raises much needed funds for the YWCA's mentor program for kids from broken and troubled homes and it's become a must attend event pulling in big names from the Australian film industry. In the past drop-in guests have included Sam Neill, Cate Blanchett, Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe and Quentin Tarrantino.
In our lovely snaps : Rachel dances with husband, actor Bryan Brown (currently starring in the ABC's Old School on Sunday nights) and one of Sydney's brightest and cleverest publicists Sally Burleigh looks sensational with a very handsome Mathew Collett.

Watch This Film

There is a real buzz in the industry about director Cate Shortland's new film Lore. The flick was premiered at the Sydney Film Festival on Saturday night and it has been picked up by Music Box through French-based international sales agent Memento Films for distribution in the US.

Lore is a joint Australian, German and the UK production by Porchlight Films which had a huge success with the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. 

An adaptation by Cate (left) and Robin Mukherjee of Rachel Seiffert’s The Dark Room it's the story of Lore, a young German girl who must get her four younger siblings to her grandmother on the other side of the country after her Nazi parents are arrested by Allied Forces.

Lore fans Rachel Ward &Matilda Brown

Saskia Rosendahl

     

Underbelly Razor star Jeremy Lindsay Taylor & wife Marnie Pleffer at Lore

Lore is beautifully filmed and newcomer Saskia Rosendahl gives a superb performance as the main character. A name and a movie to watch.










Below: watch Cate talk about Lore on SBS:

Tropfest-Twenty Years On....

At least two of the movie superstars at last night's Tropfest were there at the beginning-Nicole Kidman and Toni Collette. Others like Geoffrey Rush and Cate Blanchett have come onboard in recent years.

Some who are about to be catapulted into superstar status like Joel Edgerton ( The Great Gatsby) even appeared in Tropfest entries before finding stardom. Any visiting actor makes their way to The Domain to join 150,000 Sydneysiders for the festival.
Sadly, Leo Di Caprio and Tobey McGuire were too busy bunkered down at Fox Studios putting the finishing touches to their roles in Gatsby. Russell Crowe also sent apologies as he flew out to Europe yesterday.

                                              

It's twenty years since director John Polson conceived of the idea of a short film festival and held it in the Tropicana coffee shop in Kings Cross. The Shuttle was there with about 40 others (we lent him 50 bucks for photocopying)

Now it's screened to huge gatherings in every capital city around Australia and there are Tropfests held in London, New York, Toronto, Bangkok and Beijing. Recently one was held in Abu Dhabi.
Last night's first prize went to to Alethea Jones for Lemonade Stand, a comedy about a man and his grandfather whose efforts to sell lemonade bring a clash with an officious council officer.

Keeping it in the family- film-maker Matilda Brown (below left) and her mum, actress Rachel Ward (right).

The Full Monte

TWO late arrivals at the Mother Of All Balls last week had all eyes swivelling in their direction.
Not just because one was the ample bossomed party girl Sharon Sargeant who became something of an Internet star in India when her picture from the same event last year was featured in the Times Of India newspaper, but it was also her seemingly new partner, an inscrutable looking gentleman in a rather magnificent robe that drew many comments

Even the Shuttle, well used to seeing the world's most famous private eye Frank Monte around town was momentarily fooled and thought Sargeant had found a new paramour.

Monte's superb disguise  fooled all, particularly as he wandered the room nodding and saying hello to various friends who looked perplexed at the sight of the stranger greeting them.

It was possibly the best costume of the night. According to one guest  the ball's mastermind actress Rachel Ward voiced that opinion whilst her husband, actor and producer Bryan Brown noted that the cloak Monte wore would be ideal for a feature film he had in mind.

Monte's robe was an amazing original Emperor's gown from the Shang Dynasty (3000 years ago) which normally hangs in a case on a wall in his New York office.

"When I heard that the theme was Shanghai Chic I thought it was the prefect outfit even though Shanghai didn't actually exist when this ceremonial gown was created. I bought in Paris 25 years ago and it was authenticated by the National Palace Museum in Taipei. They've said when the time is right, they would love to add it to their collection of Chinese antiquities which is the best in the world."

Until then, Monte is having the cloak crated and shipped back to New York,.

There are over 20 sponsor marquees at today's Polo In The Park at Centennial Park but most action is expected to be happening around the Paspaley Pearls tent. The event has become increasingly popular since it began in 2006.
Brisbane held the first matches last week followed by Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.
All eyes will be on the star attraction- handsome young Argentinian player Baron Jakob Von Plessen.

Mother Of All Balls

Rachel Ward and husband Bryan Brown

Actress Rachel Ward's Mother of All Balls annual event has raised over $3M now for the YMCA and is becoming so popular that larger and larger premises are needed each year.

Held at Royal Randwick Racecourse this year, the huge function centre easily held the 450 guests who attended. With the theme- Shanghai Chic, a 1930s 'Paris of The East' atmosphere was re-produced.

Food by top chef Luke Mangan and excellent champagne from Nicholas Feuillatte (still the top selling champagne in Paris and billed as the "Australian champagne'-vineyard owner Nicholas divides his time between his French chateau, a Tangier palace and a magnificent Sydney harbour side penthouse) and some excellent wines from a new label, Eagle Rest.

Silverchair's Chris Joannou & Laura Csortan

Anthony Minichiello & Terri Biviano

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Earth to Channel Nine News !

The photographer Alison Jackson (who you have just discovered) as featured first on the Shuttle over 12 months ago and as recently as 4 weeks ago is not American-she is British, born in Hampshire.

here's Alison's film of Charles & Camilla's yoga session..see lots more at her youtube channel

Tropfest 2011

Film-maker John Polson's mastermind Tropfest, the largest short film festival in the world once again screened to a live audience of around 10,000 in the Domain on Sunday while hundreds of thousands watched live via Foxtel around the country.








Each year the entrant's films must feature the same object -this year a key. Winner of the festival was Damon Gameau with his entrant Animal Beatbox.



Stephan Elliot * Olivia Newton John



 It's been 19 years since the first Tropfest began and many winners have gone on to work on main stream film productions.

There is always a host of celebrity judges and this year they included director Bruce Beresford, John Polson, Rachel Ward and Priscilla Queen of The Desert director Stephan Elliot.

The red carpet (which was purple) is also a great for star-spotting as dozens of  Australian and International movie people arrive.

 What seemed like the entire cast of Stephan Elliot's new film Few Best Men strode in-Olivia Newton John, Tim Draxyl and Xavier Samuel.




Leana Wallsman

 

* Few Best Men is currently being filmed around Sydney and in the Blue Mountains. The word is out-Xavier Samuel looks destined to be our latest star and heartthrob !





Few Best Men stars : Tim Draxyl, Kevin Bishop, Xavier Samuel, Kris Marshall



The Mother of All Balls

Now in it's 8th year, actress Rachel Ward's Mother of All Balls went of without a hitch on Friday night at Royal Randwick Racecourse in the Oaks Lawn Marquee.



Bryan Brown & Rachel Ward



With A Rock The Kasbah theme it was an exotic extravaganza of Bedouin chic on a warm evening reminiscent (if you shut your eyes) of  Casablanca meets Marrakesh in a seductive swirl of colour and light with Camel racing, dancing, a Moroccan Souk for Fez hats and jewellery and a sumptuous dinner by Luke Mangan, inspired by the fragrant and tantalising spices of Morocco.



Matilda Brown



And most important, one of the Shuttle's favourite sponsors, Nicholas Feuillatte Champagne which is now the largest selling non vintage bubbles on the planet. Sadly the great man himself Nic Feuillatte failed to appear as he is ailing at his Sydney home where he is now permanently based having sold his Tangier palace.

In the past any major movie personality in town has attended Rachel's baby including Hugh Jackman , Russell Crowe and Quentin Tarrantino.

This year we had Kerri-Anne Kennerley and cricket great Shane Watson and girlfriend Lee Furlong ( see our pic from the OHLALA Mag).








Lee Furlong & Shane Watson







Rudi's shorts up for grabs

A pair of leather Rudolf Nureyev's shorts will be auctioned tomorrow night at Australia House in the Strand in London to aid the Tait Memorial Trust. Designed and signed by Yves St Laurent and presented to the ballet star in 1961, the funds raised will go to scholarships to be awarded to young Australian dancers studying ballet in the UK.

The Tait Trust was set up by Isla Baring in 1992 to honour her parents Sir Frank and Lady Viola Tait who played an important part in the establishment of theatre and the performing arts in Australia. Dame Joan Sutherland, Barry Humphries and the Countess of Harewood are patrons. Actors Bryan Brown and Rachel Ward will be at the Tait-a-Tait night which will be a celebration of Tchaikovsky ballet music with young Aussie dancers performing and a recital by distinguished pianist Leslie Howard.Tickets are £45 and can still be had by emailing info@taitmemorialtrust.org or by phone/fax to 020 7385 2719.

 Will they be these shorts ?. In the 1960's Nureyev made his first visit to Australia with Sir Robert Helpmann. Staying at Sydney's Sebel Town House, on his second night he wandered down to the notorious gay beat in nearby Rushcutters Bay park. He chose the wrong night with the "pretty police' out in force-young handsome officers sent out to public conveniences to attract gay men with gay sex highly illegal (although rampant) at the time. The following day, after much diplomatic action late into the night to suppress Rudi's name, a small newspaper article appeared under the headline: "Leather shorted Pervert arrested in Park". A week later Nureyev flew out when charges were quietly dropped, presumably with his leather shorts intact.

Friends said later Nureyev would describe the scene almost imitating an Aussie accent correctly . Apparently he really fancied the young copper who slapped handcuffs on him, and thought it was part of a sex game. As he was hauled away he announced "I am the great Nureyev ! ", to which the plod said "I don't care who the fuck you are mate, you're nicked"