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South African filmmaker Jo Menell is most well-known for the cult feminist classic, Dick (1989), which featured 1000 penises accompanied by an audio commentary from women. The nature of that film, however, belies a rich career in film and journalism that spans the Vietnam War, the Allende government in Chile, the emergence of gay rights in San Francisco, a 1981 Bob Marley documentary, an Oscar nominated film about Nelson Mandela (1997), and the Street Talk television series, as well as close relationships with key figures from the 20th Century. Born into a life of privilege, Menell had progressive political inclinations and soon left apartheid South Africa for Britain where he was schooled in the ways and connections of the British ruling class. The film chronicles his amazingly rich and varied life using archival footage alongside a series of interviews conducted with Menell while his portrait was being painted by Cape Town artist Beezy Bailey.
The 1970s punk rock movement: New York had the Ramones, London had the Sex Pistols, Australia had the Saints. Stranded takes a look at the role four musicians from suburban Brisbane played in the explosion of one of the all time greatest musical movements. Featuring interviews with the members of the band, including its leaders Ed Kuepper and Chris Bailey, as well as the likes of Sir Bob geldof, former Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra and Buzzcocks guitarist Steve Diggle, Stranded examines how the oppresive and conservative government of Joh Bjelke-Peterson in the 1970s helped act as a catalyst for the rise of punk rock in Australia, and how as a result The Saints went on to be one of the most influential bands in the country.