Palman Qui Meruit Ferat
Capturing the Royboys
BRETT Swain saw a newspaper ad just over a year ago that inspired the nostalgic in him: "Fitzroy v South Melbourne, Brunswick St Oval, 2pm Saturday." The old ground is only a block or so from his home, so Swain and another film-maker, Mick Wannenmacher, grabbed their cameras and went along for a look. They walked home that night having fallen in love with suburban football all over again, and with enough material "in the can" to make Royboys, a 28-minute documentary that will screen this Thursday evening as part of the St Kilda Film Festival.
"We wanted to know what it was like having Fitzroy back on Brunswick Street, and what suburban football meant to the local community," says Swain, who filmed Peter Bedford addressing the South players before the D1 amateurs game, Bill Stephen revving up the Roys, and a host of interviews and footage of the game.
Swain acknowledges they were blessed with an amazing finish. "I was in the old stand interviewing a supporter, and heard someone say there was 50 seconds to go. I turned the camera around and caught the centre half-back kicking the ball, and the full-forward marking it. He'd had a dog of a day, kicked one goal six or something. As he comes in to take the kick the siren goes. When the ball left his foot — and we captured this, it was fantastic — you could have heard a pin drop, and then during its flight through the air, you hear just one guy in the crowd say, 'Go!' "
What happened next will be on show at the Palace George Cinemas, Fitzroy Street, St Kilda from 6pm Thursday, and at a repeat screening on Saturday afternoon, where Royboys will be judged against three other films for the award in the category "Positive images of ageing".
