Here’s arts editor HELEN MUSA’s latest Arts in the City column. 

Canberra’s Chris Latham is the main talking head in the documentary Elegy, which has won Best Documentary at the Athens Marathon Film Festival. Written by Michael Walsh and directed and filmed by Dan Fordham in Skyros, Greece, the film traces the achievements of life of Australian composer and Olympian Frederick Septimus Kelly as pianist, Olympic gold-medal rower and composer of Elegy for Strings (In Memoriam Rupert Brooke), written while serving at Gallipoli during World War I.

Floral Impressions: Coins in Bloom at the Royal Australian Mint showcases the Mint’s tradition of floral iconography in coin design. Royal Australian Mint, Deakin, until March 31, 2027.

Country music favourite James Blundell returns with The Patience Wins, an intimate live show focused on storytelling and the songs that have shaped his 34-year career. Royal Hotel Queanbeyan, June 17.

Blamey Swings Rock see the popular big band joined by vocalists Jared Newall, Leisa Keen, Steve Amosa and Ashleigh Harris singing songs by the greatest rock artists and bands of all time, including The Rolling Stones, Van Halen, Pink Floyd and Elton John, At The B, Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre, May 16. 

Rare Bird Ensemble, Ambrosia Lounge and Mill Theatre combine live entertainment with fine dining in an immersive cabaret experience, Love & Forgetting, Tales from a Young Mixer. Performed by a bartender in Ambrosia Lounge at Fyshwick, the production follows the journey of a country kid chasing big dreams from the Riverina to Manhattan. Ambrosia Lounge, June 18-20.

The 12th annual SmartFone Flick Fest, the international film festival dedicated entirely to smartphone filmmaking, is now open for entries. The festival again heads to the Sydney Opera House in November after attracting more than 450 entries from around the world last year. Entries are now open at sf3.com.au 

Queanbeyan Multicultural Festival, postponed because of poor weather, will now coincide with World Refugee Day at Queanbeyan Park, June 20.