I’M WANITA in Film Ink
A surprising take on a classic story
At first, I’m Wanita appears to be a conventional rockumentary, except here the music is Honky Tonk, a sub-genre of Country, a style that hasn’t been fashionable for more than half a century.
The film’s central character, Wanita, dubs herself the ‘Queen of Honky Tonk,’ and lives in Tamworth, where the local music industry works hard at ignoring her formidable gifts.
But as the film rolls out, details of a complicated life emerge sending the film off into fascinating directions. Charitable to a fault, Wanita goes out of her way to help strangers, and the down-on-their-luck while she alienates husband, daughter and close friends. For years, she has supplemented her musical life with a side-line as a sex worker…and meanwhile, she plots a trip to the USA where she hopes to record an entire album in Nashville, just like her heroes Loretta Lynne and Patsy Cline.
Like the Maysles Brothers’ classic Salesman, I’m Wanita, is a sublime observational style deep dive into a sub-culture, a lifestyle and personality, and what emerges is a human portrait of talent and struggle…and obsession.
We spoke to Matthew Walker ahead of the I’m Wanita premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival.
Read the full interview here in Film Ink
