The centerpiece of this year’s London Australian Film Festival is a special double bill dedicated to a legend of Australian stage and screen, Mr Barry Otto. We kick things off with the UK premiere of reigning AACTA Best Documentary award winner, OTTO BY OTTO, followed by a live Q&A with the film’s director (and Barry Otto’s daughter), Gracie Otto.

Many will know Barry Otto from Strictly Ballroom, where he played the long-suffering father with a heavy secret and a penchant for dancing on rooftops. But Otto was a star of stage and screen long before joining Baz Luhrmann’s crew of ensemble actors. Even before his leading role in Bliss (1985), Barry had a celebrated career in the Australian theatre, and this documentary traces his journey through highs and lows, and across stage and screen.

A celebrated documentary filmmaker in her own right, Gracie Otto (Under the Volcano, The Last Impresario), is also the director of riotous comedy, Seriously Red, which we screened at The Garden Cinema in 2023. Always inspired and entertained by her mega-star father, she set out to make a documentary about his life and astonishing career – both through her eyes and those of his peers. The result, however, was something altogether more poignant - an intimate and beautiful testament to a life well lived, a document of a mind in decline, and the deep love of a family struggling to allow him to live in the way he desperately deserves.

This screening will be followed by a live Q&A with Gracie Otto, and a special 40th anniversary screening of Barry Otto’s first leading role in the darkly surreal masterpiece, Bliss (Ray Lawrence, 1985).

Australian snacks and sweets will be on sale, and a raffle will be held before the screening. With thanks to Cody Greenwood and Gracie Otto.

WHY WE CHOSE THIS FILM

Laila (LAFF director): “This was top of my list long before the AACTA award. It’s such a gorgeously tender film about a daughter’s love of her talented and brilliantly eccentric father in his fading years. I absolutely adored it and thrilled that Gracie will be joining us to give us more insight in person.”

Stephen (LAFF co-programmer): “A wonderfully intimate, and achingly heartfelt doc telling the warts and all story of one of Australia's finest actors, Barry Otto, through the eyes of friends, family and fellow thesbs. We are particularly delighted to be joined by Gracie Otto, who will be discussing her film (and her father) in an exclusive Q&A, and to be pairing this with Otto’s outstanding performance in Aussie cult classic, Bliss."

Cast:
Barry Otto, Gracie Otto, Miranda Otto, Gillian Armstrong, Baz Luhrmann