Ben Apfelbaum

OPENING NIGHT OF THE SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL 2023

Warwick Thornton (director) Aswan Reid (lead actor) Kath Shelper (producer)
Bryan Brown, Rachel Ward
Claudia Karvan
Deanne Weir (SFF Board Chair) John Graham ( Min for the Atrs) Nashen Moodley (SFF director)
Hugo Weavlng
Matt Day & son
Susan Prior
Tessa de Josselin (

The Sydney Film Festival (SFF) 2023 is well under way with many sessions sold out and the promise of extra screenings.

The 70th SFF got off to a great start with the Australian Premiere of Warwick Thornton’s film THE NEW BOY which he both wrote and directed.

Despite the film starring Cate Blanchett and Deborah Mailman the moral centre of the film is played by an 11 year old First Nations boy, Aswan Reid.

On the Red Carpet Thornton joked that during the making of the film he kept urging Aswan not to look at the camera. Now on the Red Carpet he kept on telling Aswan to look at the cameras.

After the screening of the film Thornton said that he had never sensed in his film that a 10,000 seat audience were pouring an energy into it and as a result the film radiated that energy back to the audience.

He also remarked that the majority of the cast, who were young boys, wrapped themselves in a bond of camaraderie, supplemented by another ring of ‘protection’ and support by the cast and crew.

A standing ovation was  inevitable for yet another masterpiece by Warwick Thornton.

Featured image – Nash Edgerton & Damon Herriman

Text and photos by Ben Apfelbaum 

Published by Ben Apfelbaum

My photography began when my father handed me the proverbial brownie box camera as a child. As cameras developed I went through Fujica and Olympus range finders graduating to my first single lens reflex camera, the Minolta SRT101, the latter being the greatest facilitator to my growth as a photographer. Digital photography has only added to this. I was a regular contributor to Camera Craft magazine (Australian Camera ) for over three years. During Australia’s Bicentennial year (1988) I made it a personal project to document the celebrations. This culminated in the creation of a book of my photos which was published in 1989. The book was called CELEBRATING AUSTRALIA and came with an accompanying calendar. My works have appeared in a number of publications including the coffee book entitled MY AUSTRALIA (1989), publisher Robertsbridge Severn. This book had a preface by the then Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke. I was a co-photographer on a book entitled SYDNEY- DISCOVER THE CITY with text written by Robert Treborland. Major Mitchell Press was the publisher. Also for two years I was the photographer for calendars celebrating Sydney’s multicultural communities. The two calendars were entitled MULTICULTURAL SYDNEY. My work appeared in a group exhibition held at Sydney’s Town Hall pertaining to the diversity of life in South America to raise money for orphanages there. I have over one hundred photos stored in the New South Wales State Library archive. I had a solo exhibition held in 2007 entitled Ben’s Lens at the Sydney Jewish Museum which celebrated the vibrancy of the Sydney Jewish community. Some of these photos are on the Museum’s permanent display. I have exhibited internationally firstly at the Spruill Gallery in Atlanta Georgia, united states, and in an exhibition entitled Kosher and Co at the Jewish Museum in Berlin. Currently I am a regular contributor to J-Wire and this esteemed publication.