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I have composed the score to the Documentary Film by Zanny Begg, as part of Sydney Festival 2019

On July 4th, 1975 Juanita Nielsen, low-income housing activist, style icon and journalist, known for her large beehive hairdo, went to what she believed was a “business meeting” at The Carousel Club, Kings Cross, Sydney and vanished, never to be seen again.

Juanita was involved in the Green Bans movement, a powerful 1970s alliance between residents and trade unions, that defended the right of low income communities to live in the inner city of Sydney, particularly in Kings Cross and Woolloomooloo.  She campaigned against the violent eviction of long term tenants on Victoria Street, Kings Cross, who were being pushed out to make way for the construction of high rise apartment blocks. Her struggle revealed dark connections between developers, organised crime, corrupt police officers and state power; her death forming a riddle which lies at the heart of contemporary Sydney.

In The Beehive Zanny Begg has teamed up with software engineer Andy Nicholson to create a randomised non-linear video installation that allows multiple versions of the story to unfold.  There are over 1344 versions of the film, each viewing offering a unique insight into this unsolved mystery.

The Beehive won the inaugural  $70,000 ACMI and Artbank commission and premiered at ACMI on July 31, 2018. It will feature in the 2019 Sydney Festival at UNSW Galleries. Creative Producer for the project was Philippa Bateman, Enigma Machine Productions.