Ben Apfelbaum

THE COMBINATION REDEMPTION

The Hoyts Entertainment cinemas at the Entertainment Quarter hosted the world premiere of THE COMBINATION REDEMPTION.

I felt like I was attending a Lebanese wedding as cast, crew and community members glammed up for this event. It has been a long time  since I have attended a red carpet with such an array of dazzling and glittering formal wear.                    

Set in an outer western Sydney suburb this tale is at its heart a Romeo and Juliet romance but in this case it is a Christian Lebanese man who loves a Muslim woman.  Not only does the protagonist have to contend with this obstacle but he also has to protect himself from a neo Nazi group as well as a mafioso type villain who are all out to kill him. It is a gritty and violent cinematic metaphor of some of the problems  underprivileged communities face who are struggling to have a better way of life and a normal and peaceful existence.

In introducing the film  director and well known actor David Field claimed that his motivation for  participating in this film  was to get ‘some good tucker. This was based on the fact that Field directed a prequel to this movie a decade earlier. Both he and  producer and writer  and star George Basha paid tearful tribute to Aboriginal actor Tony Ryan who died shortly after the film’s completion. Tony Ryan had participated in all of George Basha’s films.

In another unique touch , there was a Welcome to Country by elder Uncle Greg. Thereafter, led by Tony’s son on didgeridoo an indigenous dance troupe performed brief dance excerpts of the ceremony held at Tony’s funeral.

It was a moving and unique start to an Australian film which garnered hopes that it can break through  the general viewing public’s indifference to a local content movie.

Featured image Johnny Nasser. All images 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.