KT 122: BBBC x Wabi Sabi Rendezvous (Jordy Pollock, 2024)
David Heslin on an underrated classic screening at the BBBC this Saturday night.
BBBC (The Brunswick Bulleke-Bek Brunswick Cinema) is an exhibition-space-turned-cinema located at GalleryGallery Inc. in Brunswick on Hope St. They screen movies on Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights throughout June and July — find out more here.
This Saturday night they present a special screening of two Adelaide based movies: Wabi Sabi Rendezvous and Paco (Tim Carlier, 2022).
Words by David Heslin
“But do you see how the sky and the clouds and the sea, they all sort of blend together? It’s because it’s overexposed. We can’t really make out our subjects … so we can make up our own stories about them.”
In Jordy Pollock’s Wabi Sabi Rendezvous, identities are both blurred and gently drawn out through conversation. Through their sometimes flirtatious, sometimes charmingly awkward interactions, Monika (Hebe Sayce) and Yael (Lauren Koopowitz) belong to a long tradition of dual protagonists: like the central figures of Jacques Rivette’s Celine and Julie Go Boating and the Maries of Věra Chytilová’s Daisies, they inhabit a magical world that belongs solely to them and yet, somehow, has the capacity to bend their surroundings to its will.
But what is it, precisely, in this modest 60-minute feature shot in and around Adelaide’s Botanic Garden, that constitutes magic? For the most part, it’s the vibe: the feeling that these characters, in their exhilarating embrace of spontaneity (occasionally manifesting in little fourth-wall breaks), aren’t quite inhabiting the same world as the rest of us. If there’s any talisman, it’s Yael’s Yashica T3 camera, which also drives much of the plot: it brings her and former primary school classmate Monika together, and serves as the conduit for Yael’s unspoken love affair with a man on a bench.
The camera also articulates the film’s themes. The first part of the title of Wabi Sabi Rendezvous refers to the Japanese philosophy of embracing imperfection and impermanence, a concept reflected in both Yael’s photographs – whose blemishes are a central part of her artistic practice – and the way people interact in the film: these are encounters that push against the world’s demands for efficiency, and pay little attention to what might be considered a correct way of doing things.
First and foremost, Wabi Sabi Rendezvous is a film about relationships – between friends, between lovers, between an oblivious object of desire and their devoted admirer – but without any of the heaviness that might entail. Monika and Yael meet spontaneously and develop a very natural connection; their subsequent rendezvous are casual, and the space of the park that they return to forms a kind of open-world game for them to inhabit. The sudden resumption of their childhood friendship is a bond that’s less a renewal than a palimpsest; we understand that the former schoolfriends are, like any acquaintances who begin afresh after a long time apart, in a sense meeting for the first time.
Similarly, the polyamorous love that Monika and her long-distance boyfriend Arthur (Robbie Greenwell) practise is free of many of the obstacles that people prop up for themselves. Even if that relationship is clearly already on its deathbed by the film’s beginning, Pollock refreshingly portrays it sensitively and with neither glamorisation nor judgement. A central sequence revolves around a very honest conversation on the subject, which situates ethical polyamory in its proper place: as a legitimate and considered decision between partners that, nonetheless, like anything else in life worth doing, carries neither guarantees of success nor protection from emotional complications.
The counterpoint to the scenes revolving around Monika and Yael are three mirrored vignettes in which Monika and Arthur break up in different ways. Shot in black-and-white, these sequences are very different in tone from the rest of the film: dialogue is comically contrived, and movements are self-consciously choreographed. Each, in turn, recurs with the characters switching sides in the same exchange. The effect is a playful psychodrama, not so much erasing gendered interpretations as testing them – how do we react when we see a woman saying and doing the same thing a man did previously, and vice versa? These sequences lend a formal quality that’s otherwise only present in the Éric Rohmer-style date markers that punctuate the film. (There’s a distinctly Rohmer-like feeling, too, to Yael and Monika’s conversations – an approach to cinematic narrative that’s deceptively difficult to get right, but that Pollock, through Sayce’s and Koopowitz’s convincing rapport, effortlessly captures.)
When film critic and Flinders University screen lecturer Nicholas Godfrey (who’s also written about the film) introduced me to Wabi Sabi Rendezvous in early 2023 – at that stage, still in post-production ahead of its Adelaide Film Festival premiere around 18 months later – I was really charmed by its originality, and I’ve only come to admire it more each time I’ve revisited it. I had the good fortune of watching Tim Carlier’s Paco only a few weeks after I first encountered Wabi Sabi Rendezvous, and while it’s a very different – and, in its own way, brilliant – movie, their shared origins in the parks and streets of Adelaide and air of magic make them feel like part of the same cinematic universe (also helped, of course, by Sayce’s key onscreen roles in both, while Carlier and Pollock each have small cameos in each other’s films). I always thought they would make for a perfect double-bill, so I’m pretty excited to have finally gotten the opportunity to test that out at the Bulleke-Bek Brunswick Bootleg Cinema on Saturday the 12th of July (this will be Wabi Sabi Rendezvous’s first public screening in Melbourne and, if I’m correct, Paco’s second).
For me, both occupy a really special space within independent Australian cinema that sits somewhere outside whatever constitutes a mainstream cinema in this country – certainly, in terms of their funding, distribution and sometimes limited festival exposure. It’s a category populated by films like James Vaughan’s Friends and Strangers, Audrey Lam’s Us and the Night, David Easteal’s The Plains, Georgia Temple’s Grace, Who Waits Alone, Allison Chhorn’s The Plastic House and no doubt others that I’ve not yet had the privilege of seeing. These aren’t merely underdogs to be championed or works that show promise, but films to be cherished and enjoyed as they are, without reservation. All they need is to find their audience. I hope Wabi Sabi Rendezvous will continue to reach its own – not just on Saturday, but in many venues for many years to come.
LISTINGS
THU 10 JULY - WED 16 JULY (A-Z by Cinema)
Notable Screening:
DADo Film Society presents:
Flathead (2024) - dir. Jaydon Martin
Tix available here
New Films in Release
A Nice Indian Boy
Roshan Sethi, 2024
Screening around town
Festivals:
Hurtigruten Scandinavian Film Festival
July 11 — 3 August, tix available here
Melbourne Documentary Film Festival
Until July 31, visit their site for more info!
Children’s International Film Festival
7 June — 20 July, tix available here
Films
Magic Beach
Robert Connelly, 2024
Screening Fri & Sat
New Voice In Australian Cinema
NAIDOC Week Shorts 2025
Various
Screening Thursday
Our Warrior: The Story of Robbie Thorpe
Anthony Kelly, 2025
Screening Thursday
Focus on Queer 中文 Cinema
The Wedding Banquet
Ang Lee, 1993
Screening Thu
Spring Fever
Lou Ye, 2009
Screening Fri
Happy Together
Wong Kar Wai, 1997
Screening Sat
The River
Tsai Ming-liang, 1997
Screening Mon
The Last Year of Darkness + Panel Discussion
Ben Mullinkosson, 2023
Screening Tue
Spotlight on Japanese Horror
Battle Royale
Kinji Fukasaku, 2000
Screening Sat
Paprika
Satoshi Kon, 2006
Screening Sun
Matinees
Every Little Thing
Sally Aitken, 2024
Screening Fri, Sat, Sun
No screening this week
No screening this week
Hurtigruten Scandinavian Film Festival
July 11 — 3 August, tix available here
Scandinavian Film Festival
Number 24
John Andreas Andersen, 2024
Screening Fri
Films
Legend
Ridley Scott, 1985
Screening Tonight
Dragonslayer
Matthew Robbins, 1981
Screening Sat
Willow
Ron Howard, 1988
Screening Sat
The Neverending Story
Wolfgang Petersen, 1984
Screening Sunday
Princess Mononoke
Hayao Miyazaki, 1997
Screening Sunday
Excalibur
John Boorman, 1981
+
Clash of the Titans
Desmond Davis, 1981
Screening Sunday from 7pm
Knightriders
George A. Romero, 1981
+
Masters of the Universe
Gary Goddard, 1987
Screening Monday from 7pm
Red Sonja
Richard Fleischer, 1985
+
Highlander
Russell Mulcahy, 1986
Screening Tuesday from 7pm
Amadeus with Special Live Performance and Q and A
Milos Forman, 1984
Screening Wednesday
Fire and Ice
Ralph Bakshi, 1983
Screening Sat 05 at 2pm
Conan the Barbarian
John Milius, 1982
Screening Sun 06 at 2pm
The Dark Crystal
Jim Henson & Frank Oz, 1982
Screening Sun 29
BBBC CINEMA (GALLERYGALLERY BRUNSWICK)
Wabi Sabi Rendez-Vous
Jordy Pollock, 2024
+
Paco
Tim Carlier, 2023
Screening on Saturday 12
The Films of Irene France
Various
Screening Sunday 13 July
The Kiss Before the Mirror
James Whale, 1933
Screening Monday 14 July
No screening this week
Superman (Chinese subtitles)
James Gunn, 2025
Screening Daily
A Cool Fish
Rao Xiaozhi, 2018
Screening Daily
Lovesick
Hsu Fu Hsiang 2025
Screening Daily
No screening this week
Looking for Mr. Goodbar
Richard Brooks, 1977
Screening Saturday 12 July from 6:30pm
In the Rear View
Double Feature: BREATHLESS + CONTEMPT
Jean-Luc Godard, 1960 + Jean-Luc Godard, 1963
Screening Tuesday 14
Desperately Seeking Susan
Susan Seidelman, 1985
Screening Daily exc. Tue
Strange Days
Kathryn Bigelow, 1995
Screening Daily
The Doom Generation
Gregg Araki, 1995
Screening Thu & Sun
My Beautiful Laundrette
Stephen Frears, 1985
Screening Thu, Sat, Sun & Tue
What The Fest
The Holy Mountain
Alejandro Jodorowsky, 1973
Screening Thursday 8:40pm
Crash
David Cronenberg, 1996
Screening Thu, Sat & Sun
Enter the Void
Gaspar Noé, 2009
Screening Friday 3:50pm
The Vanishing
George Sluizer, 1988
Screening Fri and Mon
The Thing
John Carpenter, 1982
Screening Fri — Mon
The Piano Teacher
Michael Haneke, 2001
Screening Sat and Mon
New Release
La Grande Maison Paris
Ayuko Tsukahara, 2024
Screening Daily
A Nice Indian Boy
Roshan Sethi, 2024
Screening Daily
The Shrouds
David Cronenberg, 2024
Screening Daily
Make it Look Real
Kate Blackmore, 2024
Screening Daily (Nova excl)
The Wolves Come Out at Night
Gabrielle Brady, 2024
Screening Daily
Jane Austen Wrecked my Life
Laura Piani, 2024
Screening Daily
28 Years Later
Danny Boyle, 2025
Screening Daily
Materialists
Celine Song, 2025
Screening Daily
Bring Her Back
Danny Philippou & Michael Philippou, 2025
Screening Daily
The Phoenician Scheme
Wes Anderson, 2025
Screening Daily
Universal Language
Matthew Rankin, 2024
Screening Daily
Wilding
David Allen, 2023
Screening Daily
The Surfer (Read our review)
Lorcan Finnegan, 2025
Screening Daily
The Salt Path
Marianne Elliott, 2024
Screening Daily
The Wedding Banquet
Andrew Ahn, 2025
Screening Daily
Sinners
Ryan Coogler, 2025
Screening Daily 9 (excl Sun)
Tinā (Mother)
Miki Magasiva, 2025
Screening Daily
Last days of every other film, probably, see calendar
DOGMILK DEGUSTATIONS
No screening this week
No screening this week
GAY24 (Bar Flippy’s)
No screening this week
No screening this week
To see all events, click here.
Nashville
Robert Altman, 1975
Screening Thursday 7pm
General Release
A Nice Indian Boy
Roshan Sethi, 2024
Screening Daily
The Shrouds
David Cronenberg, 2024
Screening Daily
Jurassic World: Rebirth
Gareth Edwards, 2025
Screening Daily
F1
Joseph Kosinski, 2025
Screening Daily
28 Years Later
Danny Boyle, 2025
Screening Daily
Materialists
Celine Song, 2025
Screening Daily
The Phoenician Scheme
Wes Anderson, 2025
Screening Daily
Sinners
Ryan Coogler, 2025
Screening Daily
PALACE BALWYN / BRIGHTON / COMO / KINO / PENTRIDGE / MOONEE PONDS / WESTGARTH
General Release
A Nice Indian Boy
Roshan Sethi, 2024
Screening Daily
The Story of Souleymane
Boris Lojkine, 2024
Screening at Palace cinemas only
The Shrouds
David Cronenberg, 2024
Screening Daily
Jane Austen Wrecked my Life
Laura Piani, 2025
Screening Daily
Materialists
Celine Song, 2025
Screening Daily
Riviera Revenge
Ivan Celberac, 2024
Screening Daily
M3GAN 2.0
Gerard Johnstone, 2025
Screening Daily
The Phoenician Scheme
Wes Anderson, 2025
Screening Daily
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Christopher McQuarrie, 2025
Screening Daily
Bring Her Back
Danny and Michael Philippou, 2025
Screening Daily
Sinners
Ryan Coogler, 2025
Screening Daily
& some other blockbusters.
Between shows.
Until next time.
THE MELBOURNE CINÉMATHÈQUE (ACMI)
APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION: SEIJUN SUZUKI
Branded To Kill
Seijun Suzuki, 1967
Screening Wed 15, 7pm
+
The Madness of Youth
Seijun Suzuki, 1960
Screening Wed 15, from 8:50pm
F1
Joseph Kosinski, 2025
Screening Daily
Elio
Adrian Molina, Domee Shi & Madeline Sharafian, 2025
Screening Thu, Sat, Sun & Wed
Wilding
David W. Allen & David Allen, 2023
Screening Thu & Fri
28 Years Later
Danny Boyle, 2025
Screening Sun
The Wolves Always Come at Night
Gabrielle Brady, 2024
Screening Thu, Sat and Sun
The Shrouds
David Cronenberg, 2024
Screening Monday exclusively
Swing Girls
Shinobu Yaguchi, 2004
Screening Wed
UNKNOWN PLEASURES @ Thornbury Picture House
No screening this week