Public Speaking

Julian Shaw on 'Darling!'

“I was doing a show in Sydney. Afterwards, I was handing out Aids ribbons and this 15-year-old boy came up to me and said the show had changed his life and that he wanted to tell my story. And wragtig [good grief], a year later he knocked on my door. Many of the schoolkids I performed for were about Julian’s age so he could relate to them.” - Pieter-Dirk Uys, THE TIMES, 2007

Part of the ongoing appeal of ‘Darling!’ has been the story of filmmaker Julian Shaw – who has overcome enormous obstacles to bring his debut documentary to international screens. Beginning work on the film at the age of 16, Julian negotiated an ‘Independent Learning Contract’ with his Australian high school, allowing him to attend school two days a week whilst working on preparing and shooting ‘Darling!’ in South Africa.

Julian Shaw has travelled to theatrical screenings of his documentary in New Zealand, South Africa, Italy and Germany and is now available to share his story in Australia as part of its education release through schools and universities. The filmmaker says: ‘When I first saw Pieter’s show the thing that stuck out the most was what he said about performing his ‘AIDS Awareness Entertainment’ to a million school kids in South Africa. What they were experiencing was no longer this abstract thing on the other side of the world – it was real and I could relate to it as a young person. Pieter spoke about a generation facing a virus without a cure, but more importantly facing a huge deal of fear and confusion. This is why I wanted to make the film, because fear is a universal emotion, and the heart of the film is as relevant to Australians as it is to Africans.”

Julian Shaw’s presentations are designed to help audiences young and old engage with the issues in his documentary, as well as to impart a motivational message of following ones dreams, as he has done to make ‘Darling!’ a reality.

JULIAN SHAW CAN BE BOOKED FOR SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS THROUGH THE METRO SPEAKERS BUREAU:
http://www.metromagazine.com.au/bureau/index.html

Direct contact: darlingmovie@hotmail.com