Documentary of Charles and Christa Billich to be screened at Cannes Film Festival

Controversial Sydney coupleCharlesand Christa Billich will make their Cannes Film Festival red carpet debut next month as the stars of a documentary that focuses on their lives.

Controversial Sydney coupleCharlesand Christa Billich will make their Cannes Film Festival red carpet debut next month.

The flamboyant artist and his business manager wife are the subjects of a documentary that will screen in the prestigious Palais theatre on May 19.
Director Steve Ravic has been working on the project for the past 15 months, shadowing the couple as they’ve travelled around the world.

“We have gone really deep into their personal lives,” he explained.

Sydney artist Charles Billich and his wife Christa will make their debut at Cannes Film Festival after they were filmed for a documentary. Picture: Damian Shaw

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Ravic hopes to use interest in the documentary to fund a feature film biopic on Billich, who moved to Australia from the former Yugoslav occupied Croatia in 1956 and spent time in the Bonegilla Immigration Camp.

He made his name as an artist here and overseas, particularly known for his paintings of nude women.

The Billich’s met in the 1980s and have been married for 33 years. Famously, the artist has spoken of being a swinger and slept with another woman on the couple’s wedding night.

“I’m controversial, risqué and of dubious provenance,” Billich, 85, said when asked what to expect of the documentary.

“Sometimes I wonder why I have had so much acclaim and sometimes I wonder why I haven’t had enough acclaim. I have a bit of a problem with my ego. You name me an artist who is totally modest though.”

Producer of the documentary Steve Ravic said the documentary goes really deep into their lives. Picture: Damian Shaw

His wife, who has appeared on both The Real Housewives of Sydney and Melbourne, is his greatest muse, but now refuses to pose naked for her husband.

“I can always stand on my head and nothing would sag then,” she laughed, adding of the documentary: “I think it is going to be very honest. We didn’t hold anything back, even me saying I will never marry him again and questioning why I ever did. Our life has been controversial, that is the fun of it.”