- Megan Spencer
-
Megan Spencer is an Australian documentary film maker who specializes in the 'guerrilla video' style of documentary portraiture. Based in Bendigo, she is also a prominent film critic, journalist and radio presenter.
Contents
Biography
Born in 1966 in Australia, Spencer studied Speech pathology in Melbourne before becoming actively interested in film and radio. In the 1980s, as a volunteer, she co-produced 'Eeek!' a 3RRR cultural theory radio show, hosted by Philip Brophy and Bruce Milne. She later studied Media Arts at RMIT University and completed her first documentary film: Heathens in 1994.
- 1996-98 Co-founded, programmed and ran the VCA Documentary Film Society
- 1999 Joined ABC Radio's Triple J national youth network as resident film critic and journalist
- 2002 Co-founded Triple J's annual Framebreaks National Youth Short Film Festival
- 2002 MIFF Film Critic’s Jury
- 2004-06 Film critic on SBS Television’s The Movie Show
- 2004 Completed her M.A. in Media Arts (Documentary) at RMIT University
- 2007 Guest Director of Revelation Perth International Film Festival
- 2008 Afternoons presenter on 105.7 ABC Darwin
Spencer is also an advocate for film culture, and has been invited as a guest speaker to countless film events around Australia. She broadcasts regularly on ABC Radio National, Sydney and Melbourne metro ABC radio, and regional ABC radio. She has worked as a film programmer (RMIT, VCA, Kingston Arts Centre), and taught documentary and film theory and practice (Melbourne University, VCA, RMIT, AFTRS Melbourne). She has written for publications IF Magazine, Real Time, documenter, The Eye and Like.
Spencer has been a judge for film festivals and competitions across Australia, including Sydney Film Festival, Shoot Out, St. Kilda Film Festival, Brisbane International Film Festival, Melbourne International, Underground and Fringe Film Festivals, Real Life On Film Documentary Festival, Queensland's Pandanus Film Festival, the SA Zoom Fest, Melbourne International Queer Film Festival, SPAA Fringe, the annual AFI Awards and IF Awards.[citation needed] She is also the Patron of Bendigo's roller derby league, the Dragon City Derby Dolls.
In June 2006 Spencer was criticised for a live on-air review for the movie X-Men: The Last Stand, in which she commented "Jews used to be oppressed and now they are the oppressors" (in reference to the character Magneto, a Jewish holocaust survivor). Melbourne Ports MP Michael Danby, in a letter to the station that had aired the review, called the comments "careless and ignorant".[1]
Filmography
- Heathens, 1994
- Hooked On Christmas, 1997
- Strange Hungers, 2002
- Lovestruck: Wrestling's No. #1 Fan, 2005
- Brent
- The Band, 2009
Notes
External links
External links
Categories:- Australian documentary filmmakers
- Australian film critics
- 1966 births
- Living people
- RMIT University alumni
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.