Book your tickets for Sing the Body Electric, Sat 26 Oct - Sun 5 Jan. Undershed - Welcome to a new kind of gallery.
Image of Tara Judah

Tara Judah

Tara Judah is a freelance film critic, editor, and improviser.

Tara was Watershed's Cinema Producer for two years from April 2018 after working freelance in programming and editorial for the Watershed's archive, classic and repertory film festival, Cinema Rediscovered, which launched in 2016.

Tara was also Co-Director at 20th Century Flicks video shop and programmed films for Australia's iconic single screen repertory theatre The Astor, and for Melbourne's annual feminist film event, Girls on Film Festival. Tara is a trustee on the board of directors at one of the world’s longest continuously operating cinemas, Curzon Cinema & Arts in Clevedon.

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“ The Village Detective: A Song Cycle ”

An image of a damaged piece of film reel. We can make out a man in uniform, looking seriously at the camera. The surface of the reel has come away, leaving grey grazes across the surface.
Posted on Thu 7 July 2022 by Tara Judah
Article

In July of 2016, Bill Morrison’s friend and composer, the late Johann Johannsson, emailed him to say that Icelandic fishermen had dredged up several reels of film with their latest lobster haul...

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;The Village Detective: A Song Cycle&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ Queen of Diamonds ”

Film still from Queen Of Diamonds
Posted on Fri 1 July 2022 by Tara Judah
Article

Beautifully restored and screening as part of Cinema Rediscovered 2022, Tara Judah explains how Queen of Diamonds is a fiercely feminist, strange and spicy fatally femme odyssey ready to be rediscovered.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;Queen of Diamonds&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ A Shadow of Thyself ”

SHIRLEY
Posted on Mon 26 Oct 2020 by Tara Judah
Article

Facing the artist's shadow in the films of Josephine Decker.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;A Shadow of Thyself&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ London Film Fest at home ”

RELIC
Posted on Mon 26 Oct 2020 by Tara Judah
Article

This year's London Film Festival took place in our very own venue, and also at home. Here are a few of our highlights and films to look forward to in the coming months.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;London Film Fest at home&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ The Eyes Have it ”

Mogul Mowgli
Posted on Sun 18 Oct 2020 by Tara Judah
Article

We caught up with writer-director Bassam Tariq to find out all about the Evil Eye and shadow conflict in Mogul Mowgli.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;The Eyes Have it&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ A festival in favour of the collective experience  ”

IFFR 2020
Posted on Wed 5 Feb 2020 by Tara Judah
Article

This year's International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) focused on the collective - all the way across the film value chain from filmmaking to audiences. Sitting in darkened rooms with hundreds of other eager cinephiles, I was warmed by the beating heart of what we can create and experience as a collective.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;A festival in favour of the collective experience &nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ Facing Australian History ”

The Nightingale
Posted on Thu 28 Nov 2019 by Tara Judah
Article

Jennifer Kent's The Nightingale was marked by controversy in the press but the film is only as violent as the history it tells. Framing faces, Kent confronts the viewer with a powerful and philosophical contemplation of responsibility and culpability in the face of humanity.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;Facing Australian History&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ The confinement of liberty in Une Femme Douce ”

Une Femme Douce
Posted on Thu 20 June 2019 by Tara Judah
Article

At last year’s Courtisane film festival in Ghent, I saw Robert Bresson’s Une Femme Douce. I couldn’t believe that I had not only never seen this film but that it hadn't come up in conversation on Bresson, French cinema of the ‘60s and ‘70s, cinematic gaslighting, or the impact of the male gaze.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;The confinement of liberty in Une Femme Douce&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ Politically potent unpleasant appetites ”

La Grande Bouffe
Posted on Wed 19 June 2019 by Tara Judah
Article

The films belonging to Gluttony, Decadence & Resistance were all selected for their interest in asking us, as viewers, to think, feel and step outside of the safety of seeing films as entertainment, letting them instead activate us through an aesthetics and affect of excess that was designed to disgust and disrupt.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;Politically potent unpleasant appetites&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ Introducing 'Fiction Documentary': power play in My Friend the Polish Girl ”

My Friend the Polish Girl
Posted on Tue 28 May 2019 by Tara Judah
Article

Bending the boundaries of genre far beyond their limits, filmmakers Ewa Banaszkiewicz and Mateusz Dymek have coined a new term for their unique feature debut, My Friend the Polish Girl. The 'Fiction Documentary', as they call it, questions both modes of filmmaking, asking us to think about the ethics and power dynamics at play every time a camera is picked up and aimed at an individual.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;Introducing 'Fiction Documentary': power play in My Friend the Polish Girl&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ Letter to Koreeda ”

Our Little Sister
Posted on Wed 10 April 2019 by Tara Judah
Article

Hirokazu Koreeda's films have taken up so much real estate in my heart that I wondered what I might say if I wrote a letter to the great filmmaker.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;Letter to Koreeda&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ Projections: an invitation to abandon expectations and explore new worlds ”

Big Talk
Posted on Fri 5 April 2019 by Tara Judah
Article

'Projections' is a collection of stunning short artists' moving image film commissions touring UK cinemas this Spring, and Watershed are thrilled to be showing all four. Each one has been matched to a feature film in our programme and will whisk you away to unusual and otherworldly places, offering visual and aural interventions of a super sensory kind..

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;Projections: an invitation to abandon expectations and explore new worlds&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ Looking back at Carol Morley's Out of Blue ”

Out of Blue
Posted on Wed 3 April 2019 by Tara Judah
Article

Carol Morley is a singular British talent whose latest feature film, Out of Blue, reveals a mystery so compelling it spans her entire career. Morley, who is a Cinema Detective of sorts, searches for a new way of looking that might just change the way we understand our own gaze.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;Looking back at Carol Morley's Out of Blue&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ Simon Amstell on Benjamin: "The feelings are real" ”

Benjamin
Posted on Mon 18 March 2019 by Tara Judah
Article

Following a special preview screening of Benjamin, Simon Amstell joined writer and comedian Ellen Waddell on stage at Watershed for a Q&A that had the entire audience in stitches. Examining everything from his process to his deepest fears and how he travelled to Bristol from London (by train), Amstell was earnest and endearing, just like the characters he's brought to life onscreen, Cinema Producer Tara Judah writes.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;Simon Amstell on Benjamin: "The feelings are real"&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ Getting to know Teddy Pendergrass: Part 2 ”

Teddy Pendergrass: If You Don't Know Me
Posted on Mon 25 Feb 2019 by Tara Judah
Article

When you think of soul music, the dulcet tones of Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and Barry White spring to mind, but what about Teddy P?Teddy Pendergrass: If You Don't Know Me charts the rise of a should-have-been super star. Cinema Producer Tara Judah talks to radio presenter and promoter DJ Style about one of the world's lesser known first class soul singers.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;Getting to know Teddy Pendergrass: Part 2&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ Getting to know Teddy Pendergrass: Part 1 ”

Teddy Pendergrass
Posted on Tue 19 Feb 2019 by Tara Judah
Article

Countless music docs have taught us that talent alone isn’t enough. To really make it, you have to be a star. But what if all the elements are aligned and destiny has other plans? Teddy Pendergrass: If You Don't Know Me charts the rise of a true star who ought to be a household name. Cinema Producer Tara Judah talks to writer, historian and soul music fan Edson Burton about one of the world's lesser known, but quietly loved soul singers.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;Getting to know Teddy Pendergrass: Part 1&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ Feel IFFR - Highlights from this year's International Film Festival Rotterdam ”

IFFR Tiger
Posted on Thu 14 Feb 2019 by Tara Judah
Article

This year’s International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) asked its audience to feel their way through its impressive 400+ programme of films. Feeling everything from vulnerable to strong, frightened to empowered, excited, anxious and occasionally confused, Cinema Producer Tara Judah reflects on this year’s festival, and highlights a few films we can expect to see at Watershed in the coming months.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;Feel IFFR - Highlights from this year's International Film Festival Rotterdam&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ The conversation continues with Capernaum ”

Capernaum
Posted on Mon 11 Feb 2019 by Tara Judah
Article

From Peace Activist Bjørn Ilher speaking out about Erik Poppe's Utøya last year, to our most recent discussion on American politics and the legacy of the War on Terror following Adam McKay's Vice, the conversation is really ramping up, and it's about to get even more intense as Capernaum comes to Watershed, Cinema Producer Tara Judah writes.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;The conversation continues with Capernaum&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ The Island of Hungry Ghosts and Australian "compassion fatigue" ”

Island of the Hungry Ghosts
Posted on Wed 9 Jan 2019 by Tara Judah
Article

Already exasperated by successive Australian governments and their refusal to treat refugees as human beings, Australian Cinema Producer Tara Judah explains why she was moved but not shocked by this poetic and emotionally charged documentary.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;The Island of Hungry Ghosts and Australian "compassion fatigue"&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ 2018 on screen: celebrating, supporting, revising and exploring ”

9-5
Posted on Thu 13 Dec 2018 by Tara Judah
Article

As 2018 draws to a close, we cast our eye back over the year that was; from celebrating women in cinema and workers' rights, to reclaiming the canon, revising generic tropes and exploring the liminal spaces between fiction and reality. It's been a powerful year in film, and one worth remembering, Cinema Producer Tara Judah writes.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;2018 on screen: celebrating, supporting, revising and exploring&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ Discussing Disobedience: agency, resistance and reclaiming the self ”

Disobedience
Posted on Tue 27 Nov 2018 by Tara Judah
Article

A careful and considered study of ritual and religion, Sebastian Lelio's Disobedience was this year's most personally affecting film for Cinema Producer Tara Judah.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;Discussing Disobedience: agency, resistance and reclaiming the self&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ The lost credit of Margarethe von Trotta ”

The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum
Posted on Tue 30 Oct 2018 by Tara Judah
Article

Margarethe von Trotta was one of the key figures of the New German Cinema movement, and yet she has constantly been overlooked by the cinematic history books. With four stunning new restorations of her most remarkable films back on the big screen, it's time to celebrate - and credit - this talented and strikingly political filmmaker, Cinema Producer Tara Judah writes.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;The lost credit of Margarethe von Trotta&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ Touch Me Not: fusing forms and breaking borders ”

Touch Me Not
Posted on Tue 23 Oct 2018 by Tara Judah
Article

Winner of the Berlinale Golden Bear, Adina Pintilie's Touch Me Not is a unique fusion of fiction and reality, breaking down borders and opening up bodies on screen, Cinema Producer Tara Judah writes.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;Touch Me Not: fusing forms and breaking borders&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ Matangi, Maya or M.I.A. - just who is this problematic pop star? ”

Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.
Posted on Wed 12 Sept 2018 by Tara Judah
Article

Everyone wants to know who's behind star persona M.I.A., and if there's more than meets the eye to the outspoken Sri Lankan born, London raised refugee bringing politics to pop music. Candid, confident and clever, Matangi "Maya" Arulpragasam speaks, sings and raps from the heart, Cinema Producer Tara Judah writes.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;Matangi, Maya or M.I.A. - just who is this problematic pop star?&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ Of shimmering twilight on the horizon: where fiction and reality meet in The Rider ”

The Rider
Posted on Fri 7 Sept 2018 by Tara Judah
Article

Horse trainer Brady Jandreau gives the performance of a lifetime, against the blinding twilight of a South Dakotan horizon, where fiction and reality meet in The Rider, Cinema Producer Tara Judah writes.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;Of shimmering twilight on the horizon: where fiction and reality meet in The Rider&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ "That's the Thing About Memory": Unreliable Narrators in Bart Layton's American Animals ”

American Animals
Posted on Wed 5 Sept 2018 by Tara Judah
Article

Talking to writer-director Bart Layton about his hybrid beast of a movie, American Animals, offered fascinating insight into his thrilling heist hybrid, told by a pack of unreliable narrators, Cinema Producer Tara Judah writes.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;"That's the Thing About Memory": Unreliable Narrators in Bart Layton's American Animals&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ What's fair in love and Cold War? ”

Cold War
Posted on Tue 28 Aug 2018 by Tara Judah
Article

Where love and war are concerned, it's all just shades of grey. Paweł Pawlikowski's Cold War romance hits the big screen with striking polemic and a full palette of black and white, Cinema Producer Tara Judah writes.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;What's fair in love and Cold War?&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ The Riddles of Film History in 360 degrees ”

Riddles of the Sphinx
Posted on Mon 20 Aug 2018 by Tara Judah
Article

Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen's Riddles of the Sphinx showed us a 360 degree alternative view to the so-called 'male gaze' of mainstream cinema. Revealing a riddle of hetero-patriarchal film history, our Summer of rediscovery with restorations from amazing women filmmakers paves the way for an Autumnal change, Cinema Producer Tara Judah writes.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;The Riddles of Film History in 360 degrees&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ Women on the Periphery: taking centre stage ”

Saute ma Ville
Posted on Wed 25 July 2018 by Tara Judah
Article

On Cinema Rediscovered's focus on Women on the Periphery, Agnés Varda, Laura Mulvey, Spike Lee and more, Watershed Cinema Producer Tara Judah reflects on a history of critical conversations and curatorial choices that have left so many great filmmakers just outside of the spotlight.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;Women on the Periphery: taking centre stage&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ Behind Closed Doors: inside The Apartment ”

The Apartment
Posted on Mon 23 July 2018 by Tara Judah
Article

In the wake of allegations against some of Hollywood's most powerful figures, Billy Wilder's The Apartment feels more timely than ever. Ripe for rediscovery, it reveals a savage critique of patriarchal capitalism, Cinema Producer Tara Judah writes.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;Behind Closed Doors: inside The Apartment&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ Why is a fish a car? Learning to love Zama ”

Zama
Posted on Tue 29 May 2018 by Tara Judah
Article

"Beautifully short but bizarre..." Our comments board gets Cinema Producer Tara Judah thinking about the beguiling beauty of new release Zama and how it led to loving the work of Lucrecia Martel.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;Why is a fish a car? Learning to love Zama&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ Whose responsibility? On Coralie Fargeat's Revenge ”

Revenge
Posted on Thu 17 May 2018 by Tara Judah
Article

Tara Judah, Watershed Cinema Producer, reflects on a Q&A she hosted with film academic and author, Dr Tanya Horeck, after a screening of Coralie Fargeat’s debut feature film Revenge, on Sat 12 May. The pair and the audience discussed the interplay of morality and ethics in visual representations of violence and lots more.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;Whose responsibility? On Coralie Fargeat's Revenge&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ Rediscovering form as content: Experiments in Aesthetics ”

Image from Voor Film (2015), courtesy of LiMA Archive
Posted on Thu 28 July 2016 by Tara Judah
Article

Rediscovering cinema is not only about unearthing filmic gems from the past, it’s also about advances in the conversation about and practices of cinema now.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;Rediscovering form as content: Experiments in Aesthetics&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ The Personal is Political: Women in Archives ”

Still image from The Host (2015) dir. Miranda Pennell
Posted on Wed 20 July 2016 by Tara Judah
Article

At the intersection of personal memory and political and social change there are hosts of women's archives.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;The Personal is Political: Women in Archives&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ The Art of Cinema-Going ”

Photo of the interior of Curzon Cinema Clevedon
Posted on Mon 11 July 2016 by Tara Judah
Article

Cinema-going still exists and in it is a craftsmanship all its own; an experience that is both immersive and cognitive, one that presents and presumes a combination of surrendering and activism in viewing.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;The Art of Cinema-Going&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>  

“ Room at the Top: Angry Young Men in the British New Wave ”

Still form Room At The Top
Posted on Thu 16 June 2016 by Tara Judah
Article

Adapted from John Braine’s novel of the same name, Room at the Top is the story of one man’s disillusionment with class and society in post-war Britain.

Read more <span class="card-quote">&ldquo;</span>&nbsp;Room at the Top: Angry Young Men in the British New Wave&nbsp;<span class="card-quote">&rdquo;</span>