Dawn Jackson

Welcome to the latest episode of the Cinema Australia Podcast.

This episode is a little different from usual, as it features two interviews originally recorded for my radio segment on 2RRR and the Community Radio Network. I thought I’d also publish them here for your listening pleasure.

It’s also worth mentioning that I’ve been quite unwell of late, which is why there’s been a short gap between episodes. I’m looking forward to bringing you more podcast episodes over the coming months.

My first guest here is Dawn Jackson, a filmmaker from Perth whose new documentary POINTE: Dancing on a Knife’s Edge is currently touring Australia with a series of Q&A screenings.

POINTE: Dancing on a Knife’s Edge is a captivating and moving documentary about Australian dancer Floeur Alder, daughter of ballet luminaries Lucette Aldous AC and Alan Alder. At 22, just as she was about to embark on her European dance career, she survived a brutal stabbing by a stranger outside her home. While the physical wounds healed, the trauma stirred turbulent memories from her past, sparking a deeply personal quest to find her place in the dance world.

Dawn Jackson is an award-winning filmmaker and dancer passionate about social change through storytelling. Since completing her Master’s at the WA Screen Academy, specialising in directing, Dawn has been developing the feature documentary POINTE: Dancing on a Knife’s Edge, which recently won the inaugural Brian Beaton Award. She is also developing Caves House – Place of Love, an innovative social history documentary project, and Hush, a new dance/film work born out of an arts residency in the Arctic Circle. Dawn’s previous work includes the men’s mental health drama Fathom, which she directed and produced in 2017.

You can catch POINTE: Dancing on a Knife’s Edge at the following locations:

Darwin
Wednesday 29 October 7pm

Sydney
Thursday 27 November 6.30pm

Melbourne
Sunday 30 November 3.30pm

Launceston
Thursday 4 December 7pm

Adelaide and Brisbane TBA 2026

Davo Hardy

If you’ve been following Cinema Australia for a while now, you’ll know that my next guest needs no introduction.

Davo has released a new feature film almost every second year since his debut, The Lives We Lead, in 2015. Since then, Davo’s filmography has included Hunting for Shadows, A Silent Agreement, The Blood of God, Public Eye, and The Switchblade Sisterhood.

Davo’s latest film, Mothers, Lovers and Others, follows the interweaving private lives and family dramas of several people who cross paths at an orgy.

Davo certainly has a signature style, and as I tell him in this interview, there’s no one else like him making movies in Australia today.

Mothers, Lovers and Others is available to watch now via davohardyfilms.com.

Anyway… enjoy.