Steven Ball
Marie Craven
Solrun Hoaas
Daryl Dellora

Melbourne independent filmmakers

Leo Berkeley
Giorgio Mangiamele
Michael Buckley
Moira Joseph
 
     


Bill Mousoulis
b. July 14, 1963, Melbourne, Australia.

BIOGRAPHY:   Bill Mousoulis is a Greek-Australian independent filmmaker and occasional writer on film. He has made over 100 films since 1982, working in both Australia and Greece, including 11 features, the latest of which is My Darling in Stirling (2023).

In 1985 he founded the Melbourne Super 8 Film Group, and in 1999 he founded the online film journal Senses of Cinema. He founded this website (Melb indie filmmakers) in 2003, and the website Pure Shit: Australian Cinema in 2018.

Together with Chris Luscri, he currently curates the Australian film programs Unknown Pleasures and Australian New Wave, since 2018.

 


CRITICAL OVERVIEW:   As a filmmaker, Bill Mousoulis has been influenced in equal measure by the French nouvelle vague and the Italian neo-realists. Many of his short films are snappy and colourful hybrids of various non-narrative forms (essay, diary, documentary, music clip). His longer narrative films have a different feel, being very formal, minimal, moody, but are also sometimes expressionistic. He is a realist by trade, and, being fascinated by the human soul, his key subjects are love and murder. With his two features made in Greece in the 2010s, Wild and Precious (2012) and Songs of Revolution (2017), he devled more into socio-political material, and with his most recent feature, My Darling in Stirling (2023), he has created a full-blown musical (but still in a realistic setting).

See Innersense, Bill Mousoulis' website, for much more on his work.


FILMOGRAPHY:

 
 
Dreams Never End

Family Life (1982, 3 mins, Super 8)

Doubt (1982, 8 mins, Super 8)

In a Lonely Place (1982, 4 mins, Super 8)

Random (1983, 3 mins, Super 8)

Random Too (1983, 3 mins, Super 8)

Mary-Go-Round (1983, 3 mins, Super 8)

'82 Into '83 (1983, 7 mins, Super 8)

Home Movie (1983, 3 mins, Super 8)

 
 
Back to Nature

Double Play (1983, 3 mins, Super 8)

Reflections (1983, 3 mins, Super 8)

Mystery (1983, 24 mins, Super 8)

Ascension: The Story of Bill (1983, 14 mins, Super 8)

Soul-Twister (1983, 11 mins, Super 8)

Christine and Linda Go Skating (1983, 16 mins, Super 8)

Dreams Never End (1983, 9 mins, Super 8)

J.C.: The Jewellery-Case (1984, 10 mins, Super 8)

 
 
Faith

Aspire to Infinity (1984, 17 mins, Super 8)

Pretty Naive (1984, 13 mins, Super 8)

Streets (1985, 5 mins, Super 8)

Drive (1985, 9 mins, Super 8)

Love Letter (1985, 6 mins, Super 8)

Back to Nature (1985, 13 mins, Super 8)

Everyday (1985, 5 mins, Super 8)

Body Talk (1986, 4 mins, Super 8)

Glass Darkly (1986, 7 mins, Super 8)

 
 
Embrace

Physical World (1986, 10 mins, Super 8)

Still (1986, 7 mins, Super 8)

Fun Girl (1986, 4 mins, Super 8)

The Green Door (1986, 5 mins, Super 8)

The End of the World (1987, 10 mins, Super 8)

Faith (1987, 27 mins, Super 8)

A Question of Faith (1987, 9 mins, Super 8)

Glorious Day (1987, 12 mins, 16mm)

Embrace (1988, 8 mins, Super 8)

 
 
Knowing Me, Knowing You

Knowing Me, Knowing You (1988, 6 mins, Super 8)

After School (1988, 20 mins, 16mm)

Waiting in the Wings (1988, 5 mins, Super 8)

Out (1988, 30 seconds, Super 8)

We're Chained (1989, 4 mins, Super 8)

Melbourne '89 (1989, 13 mins, Super 8)

Between Us (1989, 37 mins, 16mm)

Precious (1989, 10 mins, Super 8)

 
 
Precious

Crazy Motherfucker (1989, 3 mins, Super 8)

Change (1989, 1 min, Super 8)

Honey (1989, 7 mins, Super 8)

How Soon is Now? (1990, 3 mins, Super 8)

Richmond Girl (1990, 6 mins, Super 8)

sex/dialogue/empathy: 38 (1990, 7 mins, Super 8)

Construction Group (1990, 7 mins, Super 8)

Love (1991, 3 mins, Super 8)

Michelangelo's Dream (1991, 5 mins, Super 8)

 
 
Open City

Untitled (1992, 4 mins, Super 8)

Open City (1993, 80 mins, Super 8)

Ladykiller (1994, 80 mins, Super 8)

Document 45 (1994, 10 mins, Super 8)

Vale (1994, 3 mins, Super 8)

Rich Woods '90-'95 (1995, 7 mins, Super 8)

Abbot's Ford '95 (1995, 6 mins, Super 8)

Fit Waters '95-? (1995, 3 mins, Super 8)

 
 
Ladykiller

Cinema 1895-1995 (1995, 3 mins, Super 8)

The Shadows (1996, 5 mins, Super 8)

Makes Me Stronger (1996, 8 mins, Super 8)

When I Grow Up (1996, 34 mins, Super 8)

Green (1996, 3 mins, Super 8)

How To Use Your Camera (1996, 7 mins, Super 8)

White (1996, 2 mins, Super 8)

My Blessings (1997, 78 mins, 16mm)

 
 
Desire

The Wild Bunch (1997, 2 mins, Super 8)

Thirteen (1998, 3 mins, Super 8)

Holy Land (1998, 3 mins, Super 8)

Winter (1998, 8 mins, Super 8)

Underground Sky (1998, 16 mins, Super 8)

Desire (1999, 77 mins, 16mm)

Cold Heart, Warm Mind (1999, 4 mins, Super 8)

Focus at Infinity (1999, 2 mins, Super 8)

 
 
Lovesick

The Circle Turns (2000, 7 mins, Super 8)

Lovesick (2002, 70 mins, Super-16)

Needles and Pins (2002, 3 mins, video)

When I Grow Up ('02) (2002, 40 mins, Super 8)

The Color of Murder (2002, 4 mins, Super 8)

Passage (2003, 16 mins, video)

Don't Move (2003, 6 mins, video)

High (2003, 3 mins, Super 8)

 
 

Passage

New Horizons (2003, 9 mins, video)

A Sufi Valentine (2004, 34 mins, video)

Canary (2004, 2 mins, video)

Spring Rhapsody (2004, 84 mins, video)

Blue Notes (2006, 93 mins, video)

Nocturnal Submissions (2006, 6 mins, video)

Kosta (2006, 17 mins, video)

A Nocturne (2007, 70 mins, video)

 
 

A Nocturne

1:20 p.m. (2007, 8 mins, video)

Flash (2007, 16 mins, video)

I'm Gonna Leave You (2008, 3 mins, video)

Ηλιοβολοσεμα (Volos Sunset) (2009, 7 mins, video)

The Experimenting Angel (2010, 7 mins, video)

Culture Shock, Level One (2010, 6 mins, video)

Pig in a Poke (2010, 9 mins, video)

I Had to Fall in Love With You (2011, 3 mins, video)

 
 

Wild and Precious

Into the Wild (2011, 7 mins, video)

Wild and Precious (2012, 87 mins, video)

The Making of Wild and Precious (2012, 18 mins, video)

Daddy-Long-Legs (2014, 8 mins, video)
co-directed with Vicky Mousoulis

To Paramythi (The Fairy Tale) (2014, 2 mins, video, color, sound)

Wide Open Road (2015, 3 mins, video, color, sound)

Three Strikes (2015, 10 mins, video, color, sound)
co-directed with Vicky Mousoulis

 
 

My Darling in Stirling

Songs of Revolution (2017, 118 mins, video, color, sound)

Songs of the Underground (2017, 78 mins, video, color, sound)

Songs of the Crisis (2017, 56 mins, video, color, sound)

Smasth the Fascists: OUST! (2017, 17 mins, video, color, sound)

"Oh, what a night!" (2017, 19 mins, video, color, sound)

Frozen Stars (2018, 3 mins, video, color, sound)

My Darling in Stirling (2023, 79 mins, video, color, sound)

Songs of Revolution TRAILER (2017)
The Experimenting Angel (2010, 7 mins)


SCREENINGS:

Over 560 (with a combined audience of around 36,000), including at:

Adelaide Film Festival (2015, 2023)
Athens International Film Festival (2008, 2012)
Cyprus International Film Festival (2012)
Asia Pacific Film Festival (2012)
Greek Film Festival of Australia (1990, 2012)
Cork Film Festival (2008)
Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film (2008)
Images & Views of Alternative Cinema, Cyprus (2024)
Melbourne International Film Festival (1986, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 96, 97)
Melbourne Underground Film Festival (2001, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07)
Brisbane International Film Festival (2001)
Sydney Film Festival (1990)
St.Kilda Film Festival (1988, 89, 90, 96, 04)
Melbourne Super-8 Film Festival (1986-99)
Sydney Super-8 Film Festival (1984-87)
Melbourne Fringe Film and Video Festival (1984-90, 97, 02)
Adelaide Frames Film and Video Festival (1990, 94)
Melbourne Cinematheque (1988, 2023)
Nova Dose, Cinema Nova (2001)
Australian Centre for the Moving Image (2004)
La Mama Theatre (2004)
SBS-TV "Eat Carpet" (1989)

Also: various smaller screenings overseas, in Europe, U.S.A., Phillipines, Argentina, Japan, etc.


AWARDS:

After School
Certificate of Merit, St.Kilda Film Festival, 1989

Between Us
4th Best Film, St.Kilda Film Festival, 1990
Best Fiction Film nomination Dendy Awards, 1990

Lovesick
Best Innovation in Undeground Cinema, Melbourne Underground Film Festival, 2003
Best Cinematography, Melbourne Underground Film Festival, 2003

Spring Rhapsody
Special Jury Prize, Melbourne Underground Film Festival, 2005
Best Sound, Melbourne Underground Film Festival, 2005

Blue Notes
Special Jury Prize, Melbourne Underground Film Festival, 2006
Best Cinematography, Melbourne Underground Film Festival, 2006
Best Supporting Male Actor (Adam Royall), Melbourne Underground Film Festival, 2006

A Nocturne
Best Film, Melbourne Underground Film Festival, 2007
Best Actress (Vanessa de Largie), Melbourne Underground Film Festival, 2007
Best Editing (Bill Mousoulis), Melbourne Underground Film Festival, 2007

Wild and Precious
Nostimon Imar Award, Cyprus International Film Festival, 2012.


SCRIPTS written, but unproduced:

all feature-length, and 1st Draft, unless otherwise noted

29 (aka Love Affairs) (1990-92) (3 drafts)
Everybody (1991, part of feature Private Lives) (30 mins) (2 drafts)
The Magician (1991)
Saint (1992)
Making a Killing (aka Mercy for the Devil) (1993) (2 drafts)
The Mark of Love (1994)
Bloody Lovely (1995)
The Birth of the World (1995)
So Real (1996)
Green Again (1996)
Voyage to Greece (1998) (2 drafts)
diary.com (1999, for SBS' "Hybrid Life") (30 mins) (2 drafts)
Experience (2001)
Star Guitar (2002)
Run For Your Life (2002) (30 mins)
Happy Hour (2003) (15 mins)
A Couple of Rules (2003)
Tender Passage (2004)
Dream-Crossed (2006)
Girl World (2007)
(some of these scripts financed by AFC and SBS)

Also these treatments / outlines:

Forty Circles (2005)
The Twisting of Our Hearts (2006)

Louder Than Words (2019)


FILMS half-shot, but uncompleted:

My Life Goes to the Football (1986) (Super 8 short)
This is Today, on Super 8 (1986) (Super 8 short)
Heaven-Sent Machines (1988) (Super 8 short)


SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY:

"5th Sydney Super-8 Film Festival" by Andrew Preston, Filmnews, Feb 1985.

"In Memoriam Small Movies: A Homage to Bill Mousoulis" by Adrian Martin, Cantrills Filmnotes, Autumn 1986. 

"Love Letter and Back to Nature" by Nadine Myatt, Filmviews 127, Autumn 1986.

"Physical World" by Nadine Myatt, Filmviews 129, Spring 1986.

"Faith" by Darron Davies, Filmviews 133, Spring 1987.

"Super-8 Strategies" by Anne-Marie Crawford and Vikki Riley, Cinema Papers, Nov 1987.

"Faith" by Bill Mousoulis, Cantrills Filmnotes, Spring 1987.

"Bill Mousoulis: Profile" by Rolando Caputo, Case Studies in Independent Production, 1988. 

"Between Us" by Raffi Ghazarian, Super Eight, February 1990.

"Blown Up" by Michael Hutak, Filmnews, March 1990.

"The Other Side" by Bill Mousoulis, Cantrills Filmnotes, Autumn 1990.

"From Doubt to Faith to ...?" by Bill Mousoulis, Super Eight, Nov 1992.

"Open City = Open Cinema" by Michael Filippidis, Filmnews, Sep 1993.

"Not Cheap, Just No Budget" by Ben Holgate, Sydney Morning Herald, Sep 29, 1993.

"Open City? Closed Circle" by Steven Ball, Super Eight, Nov 1993.

"Recent Super-8 Theatrical Features" by Scott Murray, Australian Film 78-94, 1995.

"I dream of avant-garde narrative ..." by Bill Mousoulis, unpublished, April 1996.

"Reel Life" by Kathie Kamboropoulos, Neos Kosmos, Aug 12, 1996.

"Doing it his way" by Vicky Tsaconas, Neos Kosmos, July 11, 1997.

"A Tale of Two Directors" by Adam Zwar, Herald Sun, July 27, 1997.

"Once Upon a Time in the Fest ..." by Adrian Martin, The Age, July 31, 1997.

"Bill's desire" by Vicki Aristidopoulos, Neos Kosmos, November 27, 2000.

"Q & A with director Bill Mousoulis" by Maria Anastasopoulos, Neos Kosmos, May 14, 2001.

"Five Questions for Melbourne Movie Maverick Bill Mousoulis", Beat, May 16, 2001.

"Working in the Realm of the Senses" by Philippa Hawker, The Age, May 16, 2001.

"Homage (No.2) to Bill Mousoulis" by Adrian Martin, Senses of Cinema, Issue 14, June 2001.

"A Moral Position" by Bill Mousoulis, Metro, No. 129/130, Spring 2001.

"Lovesick: Bill Mousoulis and the 'Outside World'" by Maximilian Le Cain, Metro, No.135, Autumn 2003.

A Sufi Valentine - review, by Tom Ryan, The Sunday Age, June 13, 2004.

A Sufi Valentine - review, by Adrian Martin, The Age, June 14, 2004.

"Subtle Strokes from the underground" by Rolando Caputo, RealTime, Issue 64, Dec 2004 - Jan 2005.

Seeing in the Night: A Nocturne, by Fiona A Villella, Senses of Cinema, Issue 46, Feb 2008.

Podcast - "Songs of Revolution" - Bill Mousoulis, by Chris Luscri, You Tube, July 2017.

Podcast - Bill Mousoulis on Meat Bone Express, by Mike Retter, You Tube, March 2018.

A Poetic Kind of Realism: Bill Mousoulis’ Dreams Never End (1983), by Fiona Villella, Cinematheque AnnoStations, May 2023.

The Cost of Living: Bill Mousoulis’ Lovesick (2002), by Jake Wilson, Cinematheque Annotations, May 2023.

My Darling in Stirling review, by Adrian Martin, Film Critic, October 2023.

Notes on My Darling in Stirling, by Rüdiger Tomczak, shomingekiblog, October 2023.

Songs of Joy and Melancholy: On My Darling in Stirling, by Frankie Kanatas, Senses of Cinema, November 2023.

A more comprehensive Bibliographical list is found on the Press page.

Wild and Precious Q&A in Greece (2012)
Podcast, interview by Chris Luscri (2017)


© Bill Mousoulis, June 2024.

Bill Mousoulis' website: Innersense

Bill Mousoulis' Vimeo Channel

Contact Bill Mousoulis

Back to Melbourne independent filmmakers index page


   
 

 

Melbourne independent filmmakers is compiled by Bill Mousoulis