Batemans Bay: Local filmmaker, Isabel Darling, premieres showie film at Sydney Film Festival

A south coast filmmaker – who spent the past seven years creating a fly-on-the-wall documentary on carnival workers – has had her feature length film premiere at the prestigious Sydney Film Festival.

Isabel Darling, with Bell’s Family Carnival members Elwin Bell Jnr and Roy Bell at the Sydney Film Festival 2023.

A south coast woman who has spent the past seven years creating a stereotype-breaking film on carnival workers has had her hard work pay off with a feature-length documentary recently premiering at a prestigious film festival.

‘The Carnival’, directed by Batemans Bay’s Isabel Darling, said she was “validated” to have her film capturing the lives involved with the travelling Bells Family Carnival recently premier at the Sydney Film Festival in front of packed audiences.

“It was just so incredibly validating to just finally be there, to be at such a prestigious festival, in a cinema packed with people clapping, laughing and crying at something you have spent nearly a decade working on,” she said.

Ms Darling, who was raised in Canberra before moving to Batemans Bay to start her family, had been interested in films her whole life and produced “heaps” of short films and advertising films before making the leap to feature-length.

The documentary follows the Bell family who run the ‘Bell’s Family Carnival’, a travelling theme park with rides and games for families, which has operated over six generations.

Isabel Darling at the Bell’s Family Carnival filming her documentary.

Ms Darling said she wanted to make a “fly on the wall” film, to break the negative stereotype carnival workers faced, while also showcasing the drama and dynamics in the “family empire”.

“The Bell family absolutely loved the film and I think a big part of that was because it shows audiences what these workers are really like,” she said.

Ms Darling said the film highlighted how the group of carnival workers were really just “hard working, caring people”.

“It really answers a lot of questions, but it opens up eyes of viewers to show them that these showies are really just good people doing a job like anyone else,” she said.

Isabel Darling filming the Bell’s Family Carnival as they travel.

The Bell family attended the Sydney Film Festival screenings of the documentary which was played three times at Event Cinemas on George St, with the family received a standing ovation after the movie concluded on one occasion.

“The audience didn’t know they were there and when the credits rolled, they stood up and the crowd went wild,” Ms Darling said. “We then had a Q&A and it all went so well.”

Ms Darling believed her film had successfully broken the ‘showie’ stereotype.

“People came up to me after the movie and said they would never look at carnival workers the same again,” she said.

The film will play around Australia as part of the Travelling Film Festival.

However, Ms Darling hopes to have a special premier in Batemans Bay, her hometown and the town where the Bell family keep their carnival the longest.

“I can’t say much at the moment, but we are working with council on a special screening for Batemans Bay,” she said.

A shorter version of the film will also be airing nationwide on SBS early next year and a trailer for ‘The Carnival’ can be seen here.