Haven't we all at some point in time fantasized about stepping through a cinema/TV screen and into the world of our favourite movies and television shows? I certainly have!

With its modern, urban setting and stunning harbour, it is easy to see why Sydney leads the way as an ideal and versatile shooting destination. Movies shot here have been set in New York (Godzilla: Final Wars, Kangaroo Jack), Chicago (The Matrix and sequels), London (Birthday Girl), Seville (Mission Impossible 2), Bombay (Holy Smoke), Darwin (Australia), Myanmar (Stealth), Mars (Red Planet) and the fictitious city of Metropolis (Superman Returns, Babe: Pig in the City).

Whether popular landmarks or off the beaten track locations that are often hard to find, you can now explore Sydney in a fun and unique way with the SYDNEY ON SCREEN walking guides. Catering to Sydneysiders as much as visitors, the guides have something to offer everyone, from history, architecture and movie buffs to nature lovers.

See where productions such as Superman Returns, The Matrix and sequels, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Candy, Mission Impossible 2, Mao's Last Dancer, Babe: Pig in the City, Kangaroo Jack, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Muriel's Wedding, The Bold and the Beautiful, Oprah's Ultimate Australian Adventure and many more were filmed.

Maps and up-to-date information on Sydney's attractions are provided to help you plan your walk. Pick and choose from the suggested itinerary to see as little or as much of the city as you like.

So, come and discover the landscapes and locations that draw filmmakers to magical Sydney, and walk in the footsteps of the stars!

A GREAT ALTERNATIVE TO EXPENSIVE TOURS, YOU CAN NOW ENJOY EXPLORING SYDNEY FOR UNDER $10 WITH THE SYDNEY ON SCREEN WALKING GUIDES. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT US AT SYDNEYONSCREEN@HOTMAIL.COM

Subscribe to the blog and keep up with all the latest Aussie film and entertainment news. Read about what the stars are up to, who's in town, what movies are currently filming or being promoted. Locate us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sydneyonscreen and "like" our page!

Sydney on Screen walking guides now on sale!

Click on the picture above to see a preview of all four walking guides and on the picture below to see larger stills of Sydney movie and television locations featured in the slideshow!

Copyright © 2011 by Luke Brighty / Unless otherwise specified, all photographs on this blog copyright © 2011 by Luke Brighty


Sydney on Screen guides are now available for purchase at the following outlets:

Travel Concierge, Sydney International Airport, Terminal 1 Arrivals Hall (between gates A/B and C/D), Mascot - Ph: 1300 40 20 60

The Museum of Sydney shop, corner of Bridge & Phillip Streets, Sydney - Ph: (02) 9251 4678

The Justice & Police Museum shop, corner of Albert & Phillip Streets, Sydney - Ph: (02) 9252 1144

The Mint shop, 10 Macquarie Street, Sydney - Ph: (02) 8239 2416

Hyde Park Barracks shop, Queen Square, Sydney - Ph: (02) 8239 2311

Travel Up! (travel counter) c/o Wake Up Sydney Central, 509 Pitt Street, Sydney - Ph (02) 9288 7888

The Shangri-La Hotel (concierge desk), 176 Cumberland Street, The Rocks, Sydney - Ph: (02) 9250 6018

The Sebel Pier One (concierge desk), 11 Hickson Road, Walsh Bay, Sydney - Ph: (02) 8298 9901

The Radisson Plaza Hotel Sydney (concierge desk), 27 O'Connell Street, Sydney - Ph: (02) 8214 0000

The Sydney Marriott Circular Quay (concierge desk), 30 Pitt Street, Sydney - Ph: (02) 9259 7000

Boobook on Owen, 1/68 Owen Street, Huskisson - Ph: (02) 4441 8585


NSW, interstate and international customers can order copies of Sydney on Screen using PayPal. Contact us at sydneyonscreen@hotmail.com to inquire about cost and shipping fees.


All four volumes of Sydney on Screen are available to download onto your PC or Kindle at:
Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.fr, Amazon.de, Amazon.es and Amazon.it


Queer Sydney’s cinema locations

The Imperial Hotel in Erskineville, filming location for The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert



Although gay Australians are generally aware of local queer cinema, few Aussies, not to mention inbound travellers, realise just how often Sydney has appeared as a backdrop on the little and big screens.

From Number 96, The Sum of Us and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert to Muriel’s Wedding and Strictly Ballroom, the city is teeming with locations featured in gay or camp movies and television shows.

Australian gay cinema truly began with director Frank Brittain’s drama The Set. Shot in Sydney in 1970, the cult classic was the first movie to tackle homosexuality as a main theme.

Another trailblazer was television’s Number 96, the first soap opera to feature a regular gay character. Launched in the early 1970s, the series’ opening credits were filmed at Moncur Flats, 83 Moncur St, Paddington.

The 2012 comedy, A Few Best Men, takes a lighter, more tongue-in-cheek approach to homosexuality. The script describes Daphne (Rebel Wilson) as being 13 percent lesbian.

Director Stephan Elliott’s movie tells the story of a young English lad’s unusual wedding in Australia that goes from bad to worse thanks to his unruly mates. Much of the action takes place at the Yester Grange estate in the Blue Mountains.

In the 1990s, Elliott directed worldwide hit The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Two drag queens and a transsexual cross the Outback in a bus on their way to a cabaret gig.

Elliott’s ‘road movie in a frock’ kicks off with a tragedy when Bernadette (Terence Stamp) loses her partner, Trumpet, to peroxide fumes — he asphyxiates while dyeing his hair!

Trumpet’s funeral scene was filmed in Camperdown Cemetery on Church St, Newtown.

A stone’s throw from Camperdown, at 35 Erskineville Rd, Erskineville, is the Imperial Hotel, the setting for the send-off scene in Priscilla. This is where Adam (Guy Pearce) christens the bus ‘Priscilla’ by smashing a bottle of champagne over the roo bar, before he, Bernadette and Tick (Hugo Weaving) set off for Alice Springs.

The blow-up doll tied to a kite you see crashing in China at the end of the movie was filmed at the Chinese Garden of Friendship in Darling Harbour.

The date scene in The Sum of Us where Harry (Jack Thompson) proposes to Joyce (Deborah Kennedy) was shot near Darling Harbour’s Harbourside Shopping Centre.

The Sum of Us depicts a father and son’s close bond and their individual struggles to find love. The movie filmed in Rushcutters Bay Park, the setting of the footy game, and in the Royal Botanic Gardens. Jeff and his father, Harry, live on Campbell St, Balmain.

Although much of P J Hogan’s colourful ABBA campfest, Muriel’s Wedding, is set in Queensland, principal photography was done in New South Wales. After leaving Porpoise Spit, Muriel (Toni Collette) gets a job at Videodrama, a video store that originally operated at 135 Oxford St, Darlinghurst. Her roommate, Rhonda (Rachel Griffiths), works at Euro Star Dry Cleaning & Laundry opposite, at 100 Oxford St.

The scenes featuring Muriel trying on wedding dresses were shot at the House of Jean Fox at 48 Macquarie St, Parramatta. The store has since moved.

Grotta Capri, at 97-101 Anzac Pde, Kensington, is the restaurant where Muriel slurps her Orgasm cocktail while her bitchy friends reveal plans to holiday without her on Hibiscus Island. 

The Sea World Resort on the Gold Coast stood in as Hibiscus Island though some scenes were filmed in Sydney at Le Beach Hut, 179 Russell Ave, Dolls Point.

One of the highlights of Muriel’s Wedding is, of course, the wedding. This took place in St Mark’s Anglican Church at the corner of Darling Point Rd and Greenoaks Ave, Darling Point.

Another ‘camp as Christmas’ hit of the 1990s is Baz Luhrmann’s glittery dance comedy and directorial debut, Strictly Ballroom. The movie looks at the backstage backstabbing that occurs in the world of competitive ballroom dancing.

The dance sequences were shot in venues including the Kogarah RSL Club, 254 Railway Pde, Kogarah, and Petersham Town Hall, 107 Crystal St, Petersham.

The dance school run by Les Kendall (Peter Whitford) was a set built on a soundstage in Mentmore Studios, Rosebery. The rooftop sequence featuring Scott (Paul Mercurio) and Fran (Tara Morice) dancing to Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time was filmed above a business at the corner of Victoria and Marrickville Rds, Marrickville.

The scene where Fran’s family teaches Scott how to dance the paso doble was shot near the railway tracks in the Pyrmont Goods Yard. The tracks and sets were torn up shortly after filming was completed, making way for the Star Casino complex.

On the night the paso doble number was filmed, two government officials showed up for an inspection.

One of them pointed towards the milk licence vendor number painted on the milk bar set and said accusingly, “That vendor number doesn’t exist!”

“Neither does the milk bar,” a crew member replied glibly.

By LUKE BRIGHTY

INFO: www.sydneyonscreen.blogspot.com

1 comment:

  1. eStreet, the iconic soapie of the 90s was filmed at Camperdown Cemetary in Church street as well, I used to hang around there as I lived up the road

    ReplyDelete