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David Bradbury, Australia, 2009, 70 minutes
You might not know Philip Blenkinsop’s name but chances are you have seen his frontline photographs. His work has appeared on the front cover of Time Magazine and his documentary art has been exhibited in countless galleries around the world. Philip’s creative stomping ground is South East Asia, where he divides his time documenting current civilian uprisings and lesser-known wars.
In 1989 Philip left his comfortable life in Australia to pursue a photojournalism career in China. To his own surprise, he finds himself still there 20 years later, now trying to create a workspace in an impressively chaotic studio. This is where Oscar-nominated filmmaker David Bradbury catches up with him, and it is one of the rare times that we see Philip confined to the indoors. Unlike many of his journalist peers, Philip refuses to be corralled at a Hilton buffet and escorted to political hotspots. The majority of Philip’s time is spent dodging teargas and rubber bullets as he ekes toward the epicentre of conflict and experiences the edges of human emotion.
In My Asian Heart we are also treated to some very calm and intimate moments with Philip, as he reflects upon the brutally honest and violent images he has witnessed. We follow him back to Australia where we meet his parents and see the strong family bond from where he draws strength and wisdom. We see Philip at his best and his worst in the days leading up to the massive protest that lead to the overthrow of the Nepalese monarchy. Little is left unsaid in this film that is sometimes difficult to digest, but serves to remind us that integrity still exists in the world of photojournalism.
Director’s biography
David Bradbury is one of Australia’s best-known and most successful documentary filmmakers whose work takes us into the heart of struggles for environmental, social and political justice around the world. His films have been shown on all the major Australian commercial and public broadcast networks as well as overseas. Bradbury has won countless international film festival prizes and was the winner of five AFI awards and two Academy Award nominations. He began his career as a radio journalist with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1972. Bradbury worked as a freelance journalist covering the Spring Revolution in Portugal in 1974 as well as the overthrow of the Greek military junta in Athens that same year and the final days of the Shah of Iran.
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