Based on the roman à clef by Gabrielle Carey and Kathy Lette, Puberty Blues is the 1981 portrayal of teenage rites of passage in Cronulla. A true snapshot of the era, it features all the sexism and terrible diets of the time (people really did eat Chiko Rolls) as well as a wealth of lost Australian idioms: “rack off”; “you’re a moll”; “rooting”. The recent TV series captured some of its pungent quality but the film, starring Nell Schofield and Jad Capelja, is something else entirely.
The Ritz Cinema Randwick is hosting a charity screening for Sunrise Cambodia, which helps kids, families and communities in struggling parts of the country. Director Bruce Beresford (Mao’s Last Dancer, Driving Miss Daisy, Breaker Morant) will attend the screening and appear in conversation afterwards with SBS host Lee Lin Chin.