Ian Darling
Ian Darling
What is it about the Icebergs? If you’re a visitor you won’t be disappointed by the beauty of the world’s most photographed pool. But if you stay a bit longer you’ll find that there is a whole lot more to it.
Ian and his filmmaking team have been down at the pool for more than 2 years with the mission of documenting what makes the pool so special. The pool itself in all its glory and in all weather. The characters (vale Neil, Jimmy and Lord Ted), the bankers, the bakers, that Saturday quizzers, the lap swimmers, the sauna regulars, the baby pool walkers, the dunkers … who all intersect at this magnificent place to create a rich and wonderful community.
And finally … drum roll … The Pool film, the result of all this work, is being launched this Saturday night at the State Theatre as part of the Sydney Film Festival. Watch the trailer HERE.
The team also spent many, many hours interviewing members. You can dip into those interviews HERE. There are some really great stories so take a dip into this archive of social history.
We wanted to know a bit more about Ian so we put the BO spotlight on him.
What is your Bondi story?
My Bondi story started back in the winter of 1991, when I ‘temporarily' moved from Melbourne to Sydney. I went to Bondi for a swim, thought it strange that so many people were still swimming in winter. I was a very seasonal swimmer in Melbourne. Maybe it was an unusually sunny winter that year, but from that moment I was hooked, and never returned to Melbourne. Luckily over the decade the Swans became a more serious footy team too, so even more reason to stay!
How do you spend the first hour of your day?
I wish I was a morning person and I wish I had a routine. I’m currently making 2 films The Pool and The Valley, and it’s difficult to define how my morning starts these days. Both film shoots have involved early morning shoots (‘early’ for me anyway). We typically started our days filming at Icebergs at 5.30am. Such a joy to experience 100 incredible sunrises. With The Valley (a film set in Kangaroo Valley) our days have started as early as 1:00am and 2:00am, and even 3:00am when filming the dairy farmers. Post production always involves late nights in the edit suite, making early mornings even more unreliable and unpredictable.
Is there one thing you’d like people to know about you?
Gosh, that’s not really something I think about. Um.. maybe that I’m tone deaf, a lousy painter, a bad actor and can’t play a musical note, despite wishing I could sing, play the acoustic guitar, paint and perform on stage.
What sort of impact has the making of The Pool had on you?
This was the first film shoot where we entirely immersed ourself in the subject. We had an unwritten rule that we would swim every day that we were filming. And over the 100 day film shoot, I think we swam 99 out of the 100 days (with one day being a huge storm that closed everything). The film has introduced me to the most incredible community. So friendly and welcoming. I try and swim at Icebergs at least 3 times a week, and I look forward to seeing the familiar faces there, as much as I do the swim. I now love swimming in this pool far more than any other pool anywhere! And I too think the coffee at the Crabbe Hole is the best coffee in Sydney. So that’s quite an impact!
