Essendon, Melbourne, July 2014

I love the concept of Underground Cinema. Based on my oh-so-positive experience the first time I went (see pictures here) I knew it wouldn’t be less than magical. And it was. When we arrived at Essendon Airfield we were whipped away to a dreamy land not at all in Australia, but in Morocco. There was the cafe Blue Parrot, a jewellery salesman with odd wares, a loud carpet salesman, a fancy looking police officer and a whole bunch of shady types. Half-way through the night we were all herded over to a hangar across the street, to what had been outfitted as Rick’s Café Americain, with a bar (of course!), gambling and live music with a band. Oh and did I mention the airplane that was half way in the hangar? Even the loo line was interesting, as you waited on the side of the concourse and got to the outlines of small planes backdropped by the sunset.

Eventually the movie began, and although it was cold (especially sitting still), I enjoyed every second, sipping on some red wine and every now and then glancing across the shoulder over to the airplane, just dreaming of another era.