What's On(line)!
30 YEARS OF FLICKERFEST
Flickerfest has been showcasing the best of Australian films for what feels like forever. To celebrate their 30 year milestone, the team are celebrating by partnering with SBS On Demand! Until the end of the year, you can catch up on some of the best films to come out of Flickerfest from the last 30 years via this free online streaming platform.
Wrap your eyes around 49 award-winning flicks, both Australian and international. To bring you up to speed on this festival, it is an Academy Awards accredited short film festival – which means winning films at Flickerfest are eligible for consideration in the Oscars and BAFTAs. Noteworthy nominated or winning films include Butter Lamp, Timecode (both international) and The Eleven O'Clock (Australian) – all available to watch until 31 December 2021.
To stream visit www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/movies/flickerfest
WHAT'S ON IN LAKE MAC?
Looking for activities to keep the kids entertained at home? A Lake Mac Art Pack could be just what you need. There are four low cost activities available, suitable for all ages – Go Wild Art Pack, Watercolour Landscapes Art Pack, Razzle Dazzle Art Pack and a Dobell Art Pack. Packs are $10–$12 each which includes postage to all Hunter local government areas and can be purchased using Discover Vouchers. To purchase an art pack visit lakemac.com.au/events-directory/council-events/lake-mac-art-packs
Or if you want to find ways to create art at home using simple household items, the Museum of Art and Cultural Lake Macquarie, yapang has online activities available for ages 3–8, ages 8+, students and adults. Visit mac.lakemac.com.au/learn/online-activities
If you’re looking for something to read, head to Lake Mac Libraries and become a member. Members have access to thousands of digital magazines and newspapers via Pressreader. There are no limits on downloads and they’re yours to keep forever. They also have the Lake Mac Libraries app available. The simple, easy-to-use app is free to download
and offers everything you need right in the palm of your hand. To get started today visit library.lakemac.com.au/home
For more information about online events and resources Lake Macquarie City Council have available please visit lakemac.com.au/events
REGISTER NOW FOR THE LET'S LIFT PROGRAM AND BOOST YOUR HEALTH AND WELLBEING
Registrations are now open for the Let's Lift Lake Mac program. It's free for all Lake Macquarie residents and will start on Monday 6 September for seven weeks (18 October).
Lake Mac have partnered with Avondale University to bring you this project to help boost happiness and mental health within our community during these tough times.
This award-winning mental health and wellbeing program is more like an adventure designed to help you live a happier life. It brings together scientifically-proven strategies from the fields of neuroscience, positive psychology and lifestyle medicine.
Participants will connect online and receive the tools, knowledge and weekly challenges to help them take charge of their own wellbeing. How amazing is that!
Best of all, registration is FREE for Lake Mac residents. Newcastle residents can still sign up however there is a cost of $99. To register visit www.theliftproject.global/letsliftlakemac
TEDxSYDNEY 2021
Join TED in 2021 as they explore the theme of POSSIBLE. Take a look into the future – explore where we go from here, what innovations are just around the corner, what stories of ingenuity and resilience can we learn from. What can we discover about our world, our work and ourselves that once may have been inconceivable, and what are some of the biggest challenges facing us today.
The first lineup of six highly-acclaimed and fearless speakers and performers will be sharing their visions of what is POSSIBLE with you – including the likes of inventor George Peppou, performer Sarah Saleh, activist Grace Tame, along with scientists, poets, filmmakers, technology pioneers, performers, designers – it’s going to be one hell of a show with many powerful ideas.
TEDxSydney 2021 will be held online on 17 September, broadcast straight into your home from the Sydney Opera House on 17 September. They are still monitoring the health advice daily and will update our website, social channels and ticket holders should any details need to change.
Join them as we explore bold and brave ideas together – claim your spot at www.tedxsydney.com/event/tedxsydney-2021-online
TRY AN ONLINE ESCAPE ROOM
Ways to interact have come a lonnnnng way since 2020, and physical experiences have found new ways to entertain us from our living room. Enter the Escape Room – who'd have thought you could do this from afar?
A few notable ones worth trying with friends are – Isolation by the original Escape Room in Melbourne (2–6 players); or Experios which has you covered with different levels of difficulty and themes (2–6 players, plus corporate options of up to 2,000 players).
LOG ONTO KANOPY
Did you know you can access over 26,000 movies from Australia and all over the world for free with nothing more than a virtual library card on Kanopy?
This great service can be enjoyed on Apple TV, Chromecast and Airplay (or your laptop) – all you will need to do is visit www.kanopy.com and use your library card. Register for free using your ID and voila, thousands of films will be available to stream direct at your fingertips. Each user can stream up to 12 movies each calendar month – once you press play on a film, you have 3 days to view it as many times as you like! New additions include the dark comedy Guns Akimbo starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma starring Anya Taylor-Joy, a host of documentaries and plenty more!
Visit your local library and sign up for a virtual card to get started.
BLACKMORES VIRTUAL SYDNEY RUNNING FESTIVAL
We may not be able to head to Sydney for the real event, but you can still put your training into practice to take on your favourite event distance in the Blackmores Virtual Sydney Running Festival!
The Running Festival is FREE to enter, but you can also pay to upgrade to their premium option – where you'll unlock race day goodies. Distances include the Marathon (42.2km), Half Marathon (21.1km), 10km Bridge Run, and the Family 3.5km Fun Run. Blackmores have partnered with Race Roster and the ASICS Runkeeper™ app to record your run, so all you will need to do is register, download the app and record a run between 19 September–17 October!
New features helping bring this virtual event to life are on the way, so stay tuned. To keep you motivated along the way there will be competitions, plus don’t forget to share your photos and upload your results.
Find more information and register at www.sydneyrunningfestival.com.au. Make sure you observe any local Government restrictions and COVID-safety requirements while participating in this event.
A Conversation with Acclaimed US Writer Jonathan Franzen
Newcastle Writers Festival is excited to be co-hosting Jonathan Franzen’s first Australian event celebrating the release of his highly anticipated new novel Crossroads, on October 5.
This online conversation will be held from 7.30pm, led by ABC Radio’s Sarah Kanowski. If you can't tune in on October 5, you will be able to watch the interview on demand until October 12. Franzen will be discussing family, America, and where the modern novel must go from here.
Franzen’s new novel Crossroads is the first in an ambitious new trilogy, A Key to All Mythologies. It’s a family saga spanning three generations and tracing the inner life of our culture through to the present day. Crossroads, which is published by HarperCollins Australia, serves as a foundation for a sweeping investigation of human mythologies, as the Hildebrandt family navigates the political, intellectual, and social crosscurrents of the past 50 years.
Franzen is the author of six novels, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the German Akademie der Kunste, and the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He is recognised as one of the best American writers of our age and has won many awards.
This special event is presented in partnership with The Wheeler Centre in Melbourne and Byron Writers Festival and funds raised from Hunter ticket sales will support Newcastle Writers Festival. Tickets are $15, or $10 concession (plus $4 booking fee).
