Naarm rock legend Redro Redriguez is remembered in See Me: A Film About Redro Redriguez by Nathan Wood, screening at St Kilda Film Festival on June 15.
For director Nathan Woods, David ‘Redro Redriguez’ Whip – the incomparable subject of See Me: A Film About Redro Redriguez – was more than just a mentor to the emerging filmmaker. He was a friend.
Filmed in the last six months before Redro’s passing, Nathan’s documentary captures the rock’n’roll legend’s everlasting impact on the creative communities he championed.
See Me: A Film About Redro Redriguez
- Showing as part of Documentary Showcase Part 2
- Sunday, June 15, 1pm to 3pm
- St Kilda Town Hall
- Tickets here
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“My first introduction to Red was him asking me to film [for him],” Nathan recalls. “I didn’t even have a video camera.”
After filming a mate’s gig at the Moonah Arts Collective on his phone – “just to chuck it on YouTube” – Red saw Nathan’s clip online. Subsequently, Red also saw something in the filmmaker that Nathan hadn’t yet seen in himself.
As COVID erupted and lockdowns ensued, Nathan bought a camera and started shooting more for Moonah Arts Collective. “A lot of people couldn’t go see live music or anything,” Nathan says. “[Red] had an idea to film bands and put it on YouTube. That was how I started being friends with him.”
The filmmaker says that he “grew up just making videos with my mates.” After he met Red and began filming with him, that’s when “all these doors started opening up for me.”
Red became one of Nathan’s biggest supporters, bringing him into a network of creatives and introducing him to other filmmakers. “It was pretty scary for someone who only had [shot on] an iPhone,” Nathan laughs.
“I didn’t want it to be a death tribute”
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As a teen in ’80s Naarm, Red spent his early years in the music scene as a roadie with bands like Jane’s Addiction and Noiseworks. Later, Red would go on to play in bands of his own, as well as produce and mix records for countless Naarm favourites. In his career as a live sound engineer, Red purportedly mixed over 5,000 bands at the iconic Cherry Bar, proving his legendary status and love of the local arts community.
Six months before Red lost his battle with cancer, Nathan turned his camera onto the person who had encouraged him to pick it up in the first place.
“I decided I wanted him on camera,” Nathan reflects. “I wanted to just tell his story, and for it not to be forgotten. He was terminally ill when we filmed it. [He had] only six months left, I think, of his life. We did an interview for about an hour, and that’s all he could handle.”
There’s perhaps no more apt way for Nathan to immortalise Red and his impact on creative communities than in film. But, as Nathan clarifies, “I don’t want it to be a death tribute. I want it to be more of a legacy for him.”
Nathan took a leaf out of Red’s book when it came to embracing a DIY approach to making the documentary. “The film was made in four weeks, from start to finish,” he explains. “There was no money spent on this. Like, zero money. It’s me doing it in the cheapest way I could.
“I feel like I was a bit out of body when I was making it. Normally, when I’m editing something, I know what I’m doing. But this one was really weird. I felt almost like he took over my body. It was really strange – I felt like he was doing it for me.”
A legend that lives on
Interspersed with archival images from throughout Red’s colourful life, plus some incredible scans of Red’s own handwriting, See Me is a film that doesn’t bother with your expectations. Instead, it’s as honest as it is sensitive, cutting right to the core of who Red was.
“I wanted him to be able to have the freedom to be, to talk about himself,” Nathan reflects. “And I wanted him to be in charge of his life without me having to manipulate it. I just wanted for him – if he was alive – to see the movie, for him to be proud of what it looks like and how he’s come across.”
Making the film might have been an out-of-body experience for Nathan, but he was undoubtedly there: talking to Red on camera, editing the footage in the early hours of the morning, saying goodbye to his friend at the end.
“This film has been good for my growth,” Nathan says. “I’ve never been around death like the way I was with him. It makes me a little bit less scared of my, I guess, ending of life. Like, I witnessed it first hand. Every death’s different, but I guess it makes you a little less scared.”
See Me: A Film About Redro Redriguez screens as part of St Kilda Film Festival’s Documentary Showcase (part two) on Sunday 15 June at 1pm. A free panel follows at 2.30pm featuring director Nathan Woods and Redro’s bandmates Mike Findlay and Watty Thompson, discussing Redro’s legacy in the local music scene. The event concludes with a solo set from Thompson. Held at St Kilda Town Hall, entry is free but registration is essential as spots are limited.
To register, head here.
This article was made in partnership with St Kilda Film Festival.
