http://if.com.au/ Inside Film - Australia en-us http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss info@if.com.au (The Editor) http://if.com.au/2013/06/19/article/The-Rocket-wins-the-popular-vote/QZNOZDQOLT.html http://if.com.au/2013/06/19/article/The-Rocket-wins-the-popular-vote/QZNOZDQOLT.html Don Groves <p> Writer-director Kim Mordaunt’s debut film The Rocket was voted best narrative feature at the Sydney Film Festival in the Foxtel Movie Channels Audience Awards.</p> <p> The award is a propitious sign in the lead-up to the Lao-set film’s premiere on August 29. Sitthiphon Disamoe stars as Ahlo, a boy who enters a rocket festival competition to help save his poverty-stricken family after they are uprooted by the construction of a hydro-electric dam.</p> <p> The gong for most popular documentary went to The Crossing, director Julian Harvey’s account of two young Aussies, Clark Carter and Chris Bray, who decide to cross a remote island in the Arctic for the hell of it.</p> <p> The Rocket beat Saudi Arabian director Haifaa Al Mansour’s Wadjda, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi’s The Past, Belgian director Felix van Groeningen’s The Broken Circle Breakdown and Spanish director Pablo Berger’s Blancanieves.</p> <p> In the docs category the next most popular titles were Stories We Tell, This Ain't No Mouse Music, Muscle Shoals and Blackfish.</p> <p> The festival reported a 22% increase in ticket sales and a 20% increase in revenue. Total attendances at films and talks grew by 17% to 143,050.</p> <p> All told there were 278 sessions across the 12 days of the festival, including 192 films from 55 countries in 54 languages, 20 world premieres, four international premieres, 124 Australian premieres, 17 retrospective titles, 82 features, 51 documentaries and 30 short films.</p> <p> For the first time ever the SFF screened films from Angola (Death Metal Angola), Bangladesh (Television), North Korea (Comrade Kim Goes Flying), Malawi (William and the Windmill) and Saudi Arabia (Wadjda).</p> <p> More than 150 Australian and international filmmakers attended.</p> Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:31:43 +1000 http://if.com.au/2013/06/17/article/Buckskin-Perception-win-Sydney-Festival-prizes/WLPKRPQEXW.html http://if.com.au/2013/06/17/article/Buckskin-Perception-win-Sydney-Festival-prizes/WLPKRPQEXW.html Don Groves <p> Buckskin, a documentary which profiles Adelaide language teacher Jack Buckskin’s mission to teach the once-endangered Kaurna language to Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, won the Foxtel Australian Documentary prize.</p> <p> Director Dylan McDonald was awarded the $10,000 prize at the Sydney Film Festival. Buckskin is part of SFF’s Screen: Black program of films from Indigenous filmmakers.</p> <p> The Foxtel jury gave a special mention to Miss Nikki and the Tiger Girls, Juliet Lamont’s film which chronicles the careers of emerging young female pop stars in Myanmar. Highly commended was Big Name No Blanket, Steven McGregor’s tribute to the Warumpi Band, its late front man George Rrurrambu, and his creative relationship with songwriter Neil Murray.</p> <p> The jury comprised director/ producer Ned Lander, documentary filmmaker Sascha Ettinger Epstein and Mariska Dean, Head of Programming – Factual Channels for Foxtel Networks Australia.</p> <p> The $5,000 Dendy Live Action Short Award went to Perception, director Miranda Nation and producer Lyn Norfor’s film which recounts the death of Crystal, a mother, daughter, lover, stripper and survivor. The jury acknowledged two standout performances in the Dendy live-action finalists: Maia Thomas, the lead in Perception and Ed Oxenbold of All God’s Creatures for “a tender and honest performance by a young actor with beautiful comic timing and a wisdom beyond his years.” The Dendy Awards were judged by Jason Ryle, Executive Director at the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts; Sylvia Wilczynski, producer of The Rocket; and actress/filmmaker Mirrah Foulkes.</p> <p> The $5,000 Rouben Mamoulian Award named after the Hollywood director who first presented the award in 1974 and presented to the best director in the Dendy Awards competition went to David Lyons, director of Record, the story of a father in mourning who struggles to connect with his blind daughter.</p> <p> The $4,000 Yoram Gross Animation Award for best Australian animated short was awarded to Butterflies, a stop-motion horror-fairytale directed by Isabel Peppard and produced by Warwick Burton.</p> <p> The winners of the 2013 Foxtel Movie Channels Audience Awards will be announced Wednesday.</p> Mon, 17 Jun 2013 06:18:58 +1000 http://if.com.au/2013/06/16/article/Sydney-festival-lauds-Only-God-Forgives/YHJPWXIJSX.html http://if.com.au/2013/06/16/article/Sydney-festival-lauds-Only-God-Forgives/YHJPWXIJSX.html Don Groves <p> It was booed by the critics at the Cannes Film Festival but Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn's Only God Forgives won the top prize at the Sydney Film Festival.</p> <p> Jury president Hugo Weaving conceded the “visually mesmerising and disturbing film” had polarised the jury and said it was a majority decision to award the bleak drama the $60,000 Sydney Film Prize.</p> <p> Icon is due to release the film, which stars Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas and Vithaya Pansringarm, on July 18. It's described as a brutal story of betrayal, rage and redemption set in the Thai underworld.Œ</p> <p> Typifying the hostile response in Cannes, IndieWire's Eric Kohn said, “Refn stages each scene with the self-serious bleakness of a Robert Bresson picture, but applies such a cheap, one-note premise that his air quote approach to art house aesthetics reeks of student film indulgence."</p> <p> “I am very honoured and extremely excited to have received this honourable award from a country that in my opinion has one of the great film histories of the world,” said Refn, who won the Sydney Film Prize for his 2009 British prison thriller Bronson.</p> <p> Other films in competition included The Act of Killing, a powerful re-enactment of the Sumatran genocides from documentarian Joshua Oppenheimer; Dutch director Alex van Warmerdam’s comedy Borgman;Œ The Broken Circle Breakdown from Belgian director Felix van Groeningen; Calin Peter Netzer's Romanian drama Child’s Pose; For Those in Peril, the feature debut of Scottish director Paul Wright; Australian director Kim Mordaunt’s Laos-set The Rocket ; Canadian director Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell;Œ and Wadjda from Saudi Arabia's first female director Haifa Al Mansour.</p> <p> The jury comprised Weaving, filmmakers Anand Gandhi (India) and Pia Marais (Sweden/Germany), film critic and curator Paolo Bertolin (Italy) and Australian producer Kath Shelper.</p> Sun, 16 Jun 2013 15:12:20 +1000 http://if.com.au/2013/06/13/article/Pharaoh-Vs-The-Egyptians-set-for-Indie-Gems-fest/ZBLNUSTWHP.html http://if.com.au/2013/06/13/article/Pharaoh-Vs-The-Egyptians-set-for-Indie-Gems-fest/ZBLNUSTWHP.html Don Groves <p> Egyptian-born, Sydney-based comedian Akmal Saleh was so dismayed at the way Western media portrayed the 2011 revolution in his homeland that he shot a documentary on the subject.</p> <p> Pharaoh Vs The Egyptians will have its Sydney premiere on the opening night of the fourth annual Indie Gems Festival which runs September 12-14 at the Riverside Theatres, Parramatta.</p> <p> “Most of the information that Australians got about the uprising came from CNN, which Akmal felt was either inaccurate or did not reflect what was happening,” festival organiser John L. Simpson told IF.Œ “He was very passionate about it, went to Egypt and made this extraordinary documentary about what the Egyptian people actually did. It’s a story of a tyrant (President Hosni Mubarak) who has gone too far and the people who got sick of being lied to by their government. Ïn light of what’s happening in Turkey at the moment the story becomes even more important.”</p> <p> The film explains how social media helped bring millions of people together, as related by young activists who were instrumental in coordinating the protests. Simpson hopes to arrange a theatrical release for the documentary through his distribution company Titan View once Akmal has cleared the commercial rights to use some of the images sourced from a photo agency. The doco has played in a few festivals including the Byron Bay International Film Festival and the Canberra Comedy Festival.</p> <p> The closing night film is Korean-Australian director Michael Kang’s Gossip Nation, which chronicles the conflicts and dramas of a community of African immigrants and refugees who settled in Sydney’s Blacktown. The protagonist is Kemi, an unemployed Nigerian teenager who learns that gossip and innuendo can wreak havoc and turn her friends and family against each other.</p> <p> Simpson picked up the film after it won the last year’s DigiSPAA competition. He’s arranging community screenings and four-wall deals with some exhibitors.</p> <p> One innovation at this year’s Indie Gems festival is a student short film competition for aspiring filmmakers who live in the western suburbs, created around the theme of “kindness.” Simpson hasn’t yet figured out what the prizes will be. Also on the program will be a DIY cinema marketing forum. Œ</p> Thu, 13 Jun 2013 10:40:20 +1000 http://if.com.au/2013/05/27/article/Oz-deals-for-Cannes-prize-winners/JEIITVMJHL.html http://if.com.au/2013/05/27/article/Oz-deals-for-Cannes-prize-winners/JEIITVMJHL.html Don Groves <p> Transmission Films collared Australian rights to Blue Is The Warmest Color (La Vie D’Adele – Chapitre 1 & 2), the French film that won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday.</p> <p> Directed by Abdellatif Kechiche, the 3-hour, sexually explicit drama about a teen’s lesbian love affair was only the second French film to win the coveted Palme d’Or in 46 years (the most recent was The Class in 2008).</p> <p> Transmission Films joint managing director Andrew Mackie told IF he expects the film to get an R rating, at most. “We're very happy with our acquisitions,” he said, reflecting the general feeling among Aussie distributors who were very active in the Cannes market.</p> <p> Among the other titles in Transmission’s shopping bag are The Silence, Martin Scorsese’s passion project that he’s been working on since 1989, adapted from Shusaku Endo’s novel about Jesuits and the dawn of Christianity in 17th Century Japan; Jane Got a Gun, a Western that stars Natalie Portman, Joel Edgerton and Ewan McGregor; Zach Braff’s Kickstarter crowd-funded Wish I Was Here; and an untitled Mike Leigh project.</p> <p> Madman Entertainment had a productive Cannes, nabbing The Lunchbox, Indian director Ritesh Batra's debut film about a young Mumbai housewife and a stranger who build a fantasy world, which won the Critics Week viewers’ choice award in Cannes; and Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s 3D adventure The Young and Prodigious Spivet, the story of a gifted 12-year-old boy (Kyle Catlett) who leaves his family in Montana and takes off on a cross-country adventure to the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. to receive a prize, co-starring Helena Bonham Carter and Kathy Bates.</p> <p> In Cannes Madman MD Paul Wiegard had his first look at several films he had pre-bought: Blood Ties, which stars Clive Owen, Marion Cotillard, Billy Crudup, Zoe Saldana and Mila Kunis, the tale of brothers on opposite sides of the law in 1970s New York; Only Lovers Left Alive, about star-crossed vampires who’ve loved each other for centuries but find something always gets in the way, featuring Tilda Swinton, John Hurt, Mia Wasikowska and Tom Hiddleston; and The Past, a family melodrama from Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, who won an Oscar for best foreign film for A Separation.</p> <p> “It’s been a brilliant Cannes for Palace Films,” said general manager Nicolas Whatson. “We've acquired over a dozen world cinema jewels (including some major prize-winners) and look forward to announcing very soon.”</p> <p> According to Cannes trades, Palace’s buys included French box-office hit comedy The Gilded Cage (La cage dorée); Paolo Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty, hailed by Time magazine as an “unfailingly vivacious and poignant document of a great city, Rome, in its third millennium of glamorous decline and fall”; and Uruguayan director Alvaro Brechner’s upcoming comedy Mr. Kaplan, about an elderly Jewish wannabe Nazi hunter. The Cannes trades also reported Hopscotch eOne snapped up A Walk In The Woods, a comedy to be directed by and starring Robert Redford as a writer who tries to revitalise his life by undertaking a perilous journey on the perilous Appalachian Trail with his overweight, recovering alcoholic friend (Nick Nolte). EOne had pre-bought another hot Cannes title, Stephen Frears’ Philomena, which stars Judi Dench as an Irishwoman who searches for the son she was forced to give up for adoption.</p> <p> Roadshow reportedly swooped on Justin Chadwick’s Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom, which chronicles Nelson Mandela’s extraordinary journey from childhood in a rural village through to ascension to President of South Africa, starring Idris Elba and Naomie Harris.</p> <p> Sharmill Films nabbed The Missing Picture, an autobiographical documentary by French-Cambodian director Rithy Panh which uses clay animated figures to tell Panh’s recollection of events that led to the deaths of his family, which won the top prize at the Un Certain Regard sidebar in Cannes.</p> <p> Sharmill’s Natalie Miller also picked Valeria Bruni Tedeschi’s A Castle in Italy, the saga of an actress and her aging mother; Kurdish filmmaker Hiner Saleem’s My Sweet Pepper Land set on the Iraqi/Turkish border; and Reaching for the Stars, a doco about the English/Irish pop phenomenon One Direction.</p> <p> Œ</p> Mon, 27 May 2013 16:40:17 +1000 http://if.com.au/2013/05/27/article/Rossiter-takes-the-top-honour-at-ACS-awards/KWSUKSVAJF.html http://if.com.au/2013/05/27/article/Rossiter-takes-the-top-honour-at-ACS-awards/KWSUKSVAJF.html Staff Reporter <p> Jonathan Rossiter was named Australian Cinematographer of the Year at the 2013 ACS National Awards for Cinematography staged in Canberra on Saturday at Old Parliament House. Œ</p> <p> Rossiter shot the animated short film Sleight of Hand, directed by Michael Cusack for South Australian-based animation company Anifex. The short has been accepted into competition in the Nashville Film Festival, The Athens International Film + Video Festival and the Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film in Germany. Œ</p> <p> Adam Arkapaw won the Golden Tripod for his feature Lore and Roger Deakins took the international award for Skyfall. Œ</p> <p> Here’s the full list of winners: Australian Cinematographer of the Year Jonathon Rossiter, Sleight of Hand Inducted Into ACS Hall Of Fame Peter Donnelly, Peter Hannan,Mike Molloy, Les Wasley ACS Life Membership Bestowed Peter Curtis, Nino Martinetti International Award For Cinematography Roger Deakins, Skyfall NFSA John Leake OAM ACS Emerging Cinematographer Award Dale Bremner Best Student Cinematography Tim Barnsley “Inferno” Gold Plaque Experimental & Specialised Jonathan Rossiter “Sleight of Hand” Golden Tripod John Bowring TV Station Breaks & Promos Sidat de Silva “Firedance” Golden Tripod Music Videos Edward Goldner, Kimbra, "Come Into My Head" Award of Distinction Zoe White, Exit Music, "The Night" Golden Tripod Single Camera News, Local & Regional Adam Wilson "Muslim Protest" Golden Tripod News Directors Award Adam Wilson Seven News "Muslim Protest" Gold Plaque Neil Davis International News Matthew Allard "Skin Deep" Golden Tripod Current Affairs Lee Ali "Too Young To Work" Award of Distinction Mark Dobbin "Yakuza" Golden Tripod TV Magazine, Lifestyle & Reality Simon Nicholls "Chef On The Road" Golden Tripod Corporate & Educational Miles Rowland "Future Health Leaders Conference Promo" Award of Distinction Jason Wingrove "BHP - The Future is an Amazing Place" Golden Tripod Documentaries, Cinema & TV Ben Emery "Mustang - A Kingdom on the Edge" Award of Distinction Dion Beebe "Zen of Bennett" Golden Tripod Ron Taylor Wildlife / Nature Malcolm Ludgate "Monster Bug Wars Series 2" Award of Distinction Richard Fitzpatrick "Great Barrier Reef Episode 1" Golden Tripod Virtual Cinematography David Peers "Happy Feet" (Cinematographer Camera) Golden Tripod David Dulac "Happy Feet" (Cinematographer Lighting) Golden Tripod Commercials Local / Regional Benjamin Shepherd "Morris Janks" Golden Tripod Commercials National / International Simon Ozolins Foxtel "Favourite Things" Award of Distinction Daniel Ardilley "HSBC Rugby" Golden Tripod Dramatised Documentaries Jaems Grant "Australia On Trial - Mount Rennie Outrage" Golden Tripod Fictional Drama Shorts Jason Hargreaves "Beatlefeeders" Golden Tripod Telefeatures, TV Drama & Miniseries Toby Oliver "Beaconsfield" Award of Distinction Dave Cameron "Bliss The Beginning of Katherine Mansfield" Golden Tripod Features Cinema Adam Arkapaw "Lore" Golden Tripod Œ</p> Mon, 27 May 2013 10:09:07 +1000 http://if.com.au/2013/05/17/article/Gatsby-receives-lukewarm-reception-at-Cannes-Luhrmann-defends-film-to-press/USKOPTEYFR.html http://if.com.au/2013/05/17/article/Gatsby-receives-lukewarm-reception-at-Cannes-Luhrmann-defends-film-to-press/USKOPTEYFR.html Emily Blatchford <p> Various media reports are claiming Baz Luhrmann’s highly-anticipated film The Great Gatsby received a less than enthusiastic reception at the Cannes Film Festival.</p> <p> Gatsby, though not competing at Cannes, was a surprise choice to open the 66th Festival. In the spirit of the film’s Jazz-age, 1920’s “flapper” dancers hit the red carpet on Wednesday night as well as stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire and director Luhrmann.Œ</p> <p> Despite the party atmosphere of both the festival and the film, Gatsby did not appear to inspire much excitement in the audience.Œ</p> <p> According to Gregg Kilday of the Hollywood reporter, “instead of a de rigeur standing ovation, the 3D movie’s conclusion was met with polite but muted applause.”Œ</p> <p> ABC Online went one further, claiming “the Roaring Twenties classic got a cool reception at a press screening, where it met prolonged silence punctuated by some whistles of disapproval and a smattering of supportive applause.”Œ</p> <p> Luhrmann has defended his film against the mixed reviews to the press.Œ</p> <p> "I knew that would come. I just care people are seeing it," he said.Œ</p> <p> However he also joked he wouldn’t be adverse to some positive reviews if critics were leaning that way.Œ</p> <p> “I mean I made Moulin Rouge! and Romeo and Juliet, and Strictly Ballroom for that matter,” he said. “And they never got one of those big high critic scores. By the way, don’t get the wrong idea, I love it, so if you’re thinking about it go for it. Don’t hold back!”</p> <p> The Great Gatsby hits Australian cinemas on May 30.Œ</p> Fri, 17 May 2013 09:48:10 +1000 http://if.com.au/2013/05/16/article/AACTA-announces-changes-to-Awards-six-new-awards-created-for-television-craft/LZWVHOHFXY.html http://if.com.au/2013/05/16/article/AACTA-announces-changes-to-Awards-six-new-awards-created-for-television-craft/LZWVHOHFXY.html Emily Blatchford <p> The Australian Academy of Cinema Television Arts has announced a number of changes to their annual awards, including the creation of six television craft awards.</p> <p> Numerous factors prompted AACTA to conduct a review of the Awards earlier this year. Namely, AACTA sought to restructure the awards in light of their current financial situation (AACTA is still looking for a new naming rights sponsor) as well as feedback from AACTA’s guild partnerships and an industry appeal for additional rewards.Œ</p> <p> The 3rd AACTA Awards will feature a total of 40 AACTA awards – just one less than last year – however with the creation of six new awards; others have been placed on hold indefinitely.Œ</p> <p> These include Best Direction in a Documentary, Best Cinematography in a Documentary, Best Sound in a Documentary, Best Editing in a Documentary, Best Visual Effects, Best Young Actor, Best Screenplay in a short film and the discretional Outstanding Achievement in a Short Film Screen Craft Award.Œ</p> <p> The AACTA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Feature Length Documentary Screen Craft will now be a discretionary award, as will the Best Performance in a Television Comedy.Œ</p> <p> Overall, AACTA CEO Damian Trewhella said he was pleased with the restructuring given the organisation’s financial position and the growing need to better recognise television crafts.Œ</p> <p> “We did our own survey later last year and found a unanimous response to the fact there was a lack of recognition in Australia for screen professionals. In particular television was a huge gap,” he says. “The problem is we can’t then just go and introduce [a bunch of new awards], we only have a limited number and we already have 40.Œ</p> <p> “But a recognition of television crafts is a priority for the industry at this time. There is agreement across the guilds on this. Australian television has continued to go from strength to strength and this has led us to a historic position, in that we are able to recognise television as well as film.Œ “It’s about finding the right mix; the most relevant mix for industry at this time.” </p> <p> Trewhella said he was saddened by the temporary loss of the VFX Award, which ultimately was decided too expensive an Award to run at this time.Œ “The VFX award – it’s a really important category and we are very disappointed not to be running that,” he says. “But it’s a labour intensive category. It covers short films, documentaries, TV showsˆ it’s very cost intensive to run and doesn’t have the revenue stream associated with it.</p> <p> “Maybe a campaign from VFX artists coordinated with industry may possibly see us squeeze something else in [in the future] – there’s a lot of jostling.”Œ</p> <p> The changes appear to have been welcomed by a number of guilds, with the APDG, AGSC, ASSG, ADG and ASE all issuing statements of support.Œ</p> <p> AACTA is also currently calling for entries and jurors. More information can be found here:Œ<a href="http://www.acta.org">http://www.acta.org</a></p> <p> The 3rd AACTA Awards will be held in Sydney in 2014.Œ</p> <p> To see a full list of the 3rd AACTA Awards, see below:Œ</p> <p> 3rd AACTA AWARDS</p> <p> TELEVISION 1. AACTA Award for Best Children’s Television Series 2. AACTA Award for Best Television Comedy or Light Entertainment Series 3. AACTA Award for Best Reality Television Series 4. AACTA Award for Best Documentary Television Program 5. AACTA Award for Best Television Drama Series 6. AACTA Award for Best Telefeature or Mini Series 7. AACTA Award for Best Direction in Television (Drama) 8. AACTA Award for Best Direction in Television (Non-Drama) 9. AACTA Award for Best Screenplay in Television 10. AACTA Award for Best Cinematography in Television 11. AACTA Award for Best Editing in Television 12. AACTA Award for Best Sound in Television 13. AACTA Award for Best Original Music Score in Television 14. AACTA Award for Best Production Design in Television 15. AACTA Award for Best Costume Design in Television 16. AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama 17. AACTA Award for Best Lead Actress in a Television Drama 18. AACTA Award for Best Guest or Supporting Actor in a Television Drama 19. AACTA Award for Best Guest or Supporting Actress in a Television Drama 20. AACTA Award for Best Performance in a Television Comedy (Discretionary)</p> <p> FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY 1. AACTA Award for Best Feature Length Documentary 2. AACTA Award for Outstanding Feature Length Documentary Screen Craft (Discretionary)</p> <p> SHORT FILM 1. AACTA Award for Best Short Fiction Film 2. AACTA Award for Best Short Animation</p> <p> FEATURE FILM 1. AACTA Award for Best Film 2. AACTA Award for Best Direction 3. AACTA Award for Best Original Screenplay 4. AACTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay 5. AACTA Award for Best Cinematography 6. AACTA Award for Best Editing 7. AACTA Award for Best Sound 8. AACTA Award for Best Original Music Score 9. AACTA Award for Best Production Design 10. AACTA Award for Best Costume Design 11. AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor 12. AACTA Award for Best Lead Actress 13. AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actor 14. AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actress</p> <p> ADDITIONAL AWARDS 1. AACTA Raymond Longford Award 2. Byron Kennedy Award</p> <p> Audience Choice Award(s) will be announced later in the year, as usual. Œ</p> Thu, 16 May 2013 08:40:45 +1000 http://if.com.au/2013/05/15/article/Screen-Australia-supports-second-Asian-Animation-Summit/GMLJSWUEDO.html http://if.com.au/2013/05/15/article/Screen-Australia-supports-second-Asian-Animation-Summit/GMLJSWUEDO.html Emily Blatchford <p> Screen Australia has announced its support for the second annual Asian Animation Summit. </p> <p> Last year ten Australian television animation projects were presented at the inaugural AAS, which was held in Kuala Lumpur in December.Œ</p> <p> The AAS, this year to be held in Phuket, Thailand, is aimed at promoting the co-production and co-financing of children's animation across Asia.Œ</p> <p> The 2013 AAS has been extended by a day to allow more screening opportunities and will be held from 9-11 December.Œ</p> <p> An initiative of ABC TV and Screen Australia, Korea’s KOCCA and Malaysia’s MDeC, the AAS is produced and owned by Kidscreen and supported by Singapore’s Media Development Authority (MDA).Œ</p> <p> “The first AAS was highly successful, with a significant number of broadcasters and major distributors from the region and key players from Europe and North America in attendance,” said Screen Australia’s Head of Marketing Kathleen Drumm. “The quality of projects was outstanding and the AAS has proved to be a valuable way of tapping into the market potential of the Asian region. We are delighted to be working with our partners again on this exciting event.”</p> <p> This year, the AAS will feature up to 24 projects from the Asian region. Financial support from Screen Australia and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will be available for up to six Australian producers so that they may attend the summit to present their projects. </p> <p> Applications open in July and online registration can be found hereŒ<a href="http://asiananimationsummit.com">http://asiananimationsummit.com</a> Attendees from Australia, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore can use the promo code AASPARTNER to access an exclusive discounted rate. Œ</p> Wed, 15 May 2013 09:56:49 +1000 http://if.com.au/2013/05/14/article/AiF-announces-the-2013-finalists-for-Heath-Ledger-Scholarship/RCAVYWVVDI.html http://if.com.au/2013/05/14/article/AiF-announces-the-2013-finalists-for-Heath-Ledger-Scholarship/RCAVYWVVDI.html Inside Film Correspondent <p> Australians in Film President Andrew Warne has announced the fifteen finalists for the 2013 Heath Ledger Scholarship. The Scholarship is named after Oscar-winning Australian actor Heath Ledger, who tragically passed away in January 2008, and has the full support of the Ledger family and friends. Of the final fifteen, an esteemed panel will choose one winner and two runners-up, who will be announced in Los Angeles on June 12. The overall winner will received USD$10,000 in cash, a return ticket to Los Angeles, a one-year Scholarship to Stella Adler Acting School in LA, a trip around California for two a Showcast & Breakdown Services VIP casting package and $5000 worth of visa and immigration services. The runners up will round-trip ticket to Los Angeles plus a Showcast VIP casting package. The 2013 finalists are: Hannah Barlow, Elizabeth Blackmore (Home & Away), Laura Brent, David Coussins, Ashleigh Cummings (Puberty Blues), Georgia Flood (Wentworth & House Husbands), Geraldine Hakewill, Andrew Hazzard (Home & Away), Will Howarth, Reef Ireland(Puberty Blues), Kate Jenkinson (House Husbands and Home & Away), Andrew Lees (Rescue Special Ops), James Mackay (The Straights), Bob Morley (Neighbors and Home & Away) and Alex Williams(Underground, the Julian Assange story). They will be judged by a panel made up of actor Wes Bentley (Heath Ledger's co-star in Four Feathers), casting agents Ann Fay (Maura Fay Casting), Nikki Barrett (Barrett Casting) and Leslee Feldman(Dreamworks), directors Gregor Jordan (Ned Kelly) and Kieran Darcy-Smith (Wish You Were Here), talent manager Will Ward (ROAR) and agent Steve Alexander (Resolution). Benefactors of the Heath Ledger Scholarship include Nicole Kidman, Naomi Watts, Hugh Jackman,Deborra-Lee Furness, Michelle Williams, Phil Noyce, Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin. The Australians in Film 2013 Heath Ledger Scholarship is sponsored by Virgin Australia, AusFilm, Visit California, Raynor and Associates, Stella Adler Acting and Theatre and Showcast Breakdown Services.</p> Tue, 14 May 2013 15:49:17 +1000 http://if.com.au/2013/05/06/article/Australian-Directors-Guild-announce-winners-of-2013-Awards/NNEJSXNOWD.html http://if.com.au/2013/05/06/article/Australian-Directors-Guild-announce-winners-of-2013-Awards/NNEJSXNOWD.html Emily Blatchford <p> The Australian Director’s Guild has announced the winners of the 2013 ADG Awards during their annual Awards ceremony held on Friday night in Sydney.</p> <p> Women directors took home several of the coveted awards, with Cate Shortland beating male competitors Wayne Blair (The Sapphires) Tony Krawitz (Dead Europe) and Kieran Darcy-Smith (Wish You Were Here) to scoop Best Direction in a Feature Film for Lore.Œ</p> <p> Women continued to triumph in the television sector, with Rachel Perkins winning Best Direction in a TV Drama Series for Redfern Now (Pretty Boy Blue) and Jessica Hobbs taking home the gong for Best Direction in a TV Mini Series for Devil’s Dust (Parts 1 & 2).Œ</p> <p> Also triumphant in their fields were Jessica Reddenbach, who won the Award for Best Direction in a Short Film for Tender; Jennifer Peedom for Best Direction in a Documentary Series for Life at 7; Grace McKenzie for Best Direction in a Documentary Feature for Audrey of the Alps and the visibly overwhelmed young filmmaker Madeleine Parry, who won Best Direction in a Documentary (Stand Alone) for Meatwork.Œ</p> <p> One of the highlights of the evening was the surprise entrance of Lachy Hulme who presented industry veteran Jamie Leslie with a career achievement award for his outstanding work as First Assistant Director on a number of projects.</p> <p> The Awards were hosted by Adam Zwar and other presenters included Rachel Ward, Bryan Brown, Susie Porter and Denise Roberts.</p> <p> A list of the rest of the winners can be found below.Œ</p> <p> Glendyn Ivin - Best Direction in a Telemovie – for Beaconsfield Daniel Nettheim Esben Storm Award - Best Direction in a Children’s TV Program - for Dance Academy Series 2, Ep 25 “The Second” Nash Edgerton – Best Direction in a Music Video – for DUQESNE WHISTLE Adrian Goodman - Best Direction in a Student Film - for Wakey Wakey David Gould – Best Direction in a TV Drama Serial – for Home and Away EP 5438 Dario Russo – Best Direction in a TV Comedy – for Danger 5 David Barker – Best Direction in a Cross Platform Project – for Bad RealityŒ Tim Bullock – for Best Direction in a TV Commercial – for Flatties Christiaan Van Vuuren and Connor Van Vuuren – Best Direction in an Original Online Project – for Bondi Hipsters</p> Mon, 06 May 2013 14:25:47 +1000 http://if.com.au/2013/05/02/article/Jason-van-Genderen-scoops-top-prize-at-UK-Sundance-for-short-Red-Earth-Hip-Hop/ZUXNHQZBST.html http://if.com.au/2013/05/02/article/Jason-van-Genderen-scoops-top-prize-at-UK-Sundance-for-short-Red-Earth-Hip-Hop/ZUXNHQZBST.html Emily Blatchford <p> <img alt="" height="336" src="/image/Jas_Sundance (2) WEB.jpg" width="441" /></p> <p> Jason van Genderen at Sundance London</p> <p> Terrigal based filmmaker Jason van Genderen has won first prize in the Nokia Music sponsored Sundance London competition for his six-minute short.Œ</p> <p> Shot entirely on a Nokia Lumia 920 Smartphone, van Genderen’s film Red Earth Hip Hop explores how hip hop music is helping preserve Indigenous local languages and stories in remote communities. The film was made after Nokia Music and Sundance asked filmmakers from all over the world to submit a 60 second trailer pitching an underground music story. Of over 280 films, van Genderen and Glasgow’s Bartosz Madejski were selected as the two global finalists. They were each awarded $5000 and two Nokia Lumia 290 smartphones with which to complete their film (with only a week to do it). Both short films premiered and Sundance London, with Red Earth Hip Hop declared as the overall winner. “I was blown away, it was just incredible,” van Genderen says. “I was completely convinced the other finalist was going to win.” Both Madejski and van Genderen were surprised at the quality of their films on the big screen considering they were shot entirely on phones. “Our films were shown after the premiere of the new American Noise series, which are six short films about underground music in America. It was just a beautiful introduction for our two shortsˆ [and the other films] were shot on film or digital and then up came up two films shot up on smart phones. They held up surprisingly well on the big screen, we were both really surprised.” According to van Genderen, both finalist projects were “really well received” and it wasn’t until Monday he found out he was the winner. “It was funny because I wasn’t receiving my emails as I had problem with my wifi,” van Genderen says. “Then Bartosz called me and said, ‘Congratulations, you’re the winner!’”</p> <p> Of Red Earth Hip Hop,ŒDirector of Progamming for Sundance, Trevor Groth, said, "We find this [film] very engaging and illuminating. Red Earth Hip Hop may be as underground and unique as you could get by reframing the way we think about seemingly disparate but intrinsincally linked styles of music."</p> <p> As the overall winner, van Genderen received an additional $5000, some of which he has donated back to the Indigenous community which featured in Red Earth Hip Hop. </p> <p> A cyclone near the area of filming has prevented van Genderen letting the community know the film has won, but he says he can't wait to inform them their participation paid off in more ways than one.Œ</p> <p> "To be able to share a story with a lot of heart in it, about an Indigenous community, to rest of the world, and to let their flavour of music get out there... it's just amazing," he said.Œ</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p> View Red Earth Hip Hop below.Œ</p> <p> Œ</p> <p> Œ</p> <p> </p> Thu, 02 May 2013 13:17:44 +1000 http://if.com.au/2013/04/29/article/New-York-Australian-feature-The-Rocket-bags-number-of-awards-at-TriBeca/CFYSGASKVP.html http://if.com.au/2013/04/29/article/New-York-Australian-feature-The-Rocket-bags-number-of-awards-at-TriBeca/CFYSGASKVP.html Inside Film Correspondent <p> Australian feature The Rocket has triumphed at the TriBeca Film Festival in New York, winning Best Narrative Feature, Audience Awards and Best Actor (awarded to ten-year-old Sitthiphon Disamoe). Set in Laos, the film follows Ahlo (Disamoe) whose family are forced to leave their home due to the construction of a dam. Considered unlucky and blamed for the family’s misfortune, Ahlo tries to prove his worth by entering a rocket into the biggest and most dangerous competition of the year – the Rocket Festival. The success of The Rocket at TriBeca comes after receiving similar acclaim at the Berlin Film Festival, where the film was awarded with the Crystal Bear for Best Feature (Generation Kplus program), Best First Feature (across all sections of the Festival) and the Amnesty International Film Prize. Written and directed by Kim Mordaunt and produced by Sylvia Wilczynski, The Rocket will be released by Curious Distrubution in Australia later this year. Œ</p> Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:15:52 +1000 http://if.com.au/2013/04/23/article/FTI-announce-the-return-of-the-Western-Australian-Screen-Awards/FRRHFYBVXA.html http://if.com.au/2013/04/23/article/FTI-announce-the-return-of-the-Western-Australian-Screen-Awards/FRRHFYBVXA.html Emily Blatchford <p> The WA Screen Awards are back after a year-long hiatus. The Western Australian Film and Television Institute (FTI) today announced the return of the Awards after they were put on hold in late 2011. FTI CEO Paul Bodlovich says,“ˆit is our intent through the structure of this year’s awards to recognise excellence and achievement across the sector as broadly and as genuinely as possible”. Changes included a new, broader definition of “short form” and “long form” productions with most categories being allocated an award for each. The 2013 Awards will see 34 categories, to be announced next week, and include the new additions of “Best Game” and “Best Interactive Narrative”. The FTI will be accepting entries from Monday April 29 and confirmed productions delivered between January 1, 2011 and March 31, 2013 will be eligible. A date for the gala WA Screen Awards Night has been confirmed for Monday July 8, as part of a new partnership with the Revelation Film Festival Program. The WASA’s have also announced a new partnership with CinefestOz, which will see the winning short films of WASA offered a place Cinefest’s new short film program in August. Full details of submission requirements will be released in coming weeks.Œ</p> Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:03:47 +1000 http://if.com.au/2013/04/17/article/WA-film-Drift-named-best-narrative-feature-in-Puerto-Rico/WEEGVBFYRD.html http://if.com.au/2013/04/17/article/WA-film-Drift-named-best-narrative-feature-in-Puerto-Rico/WEEGVBFYRD.html Emily Blatchford <p> West Australian surf film Drift has been judged best narrative feature at the Rincon International Film Festival held in Puerto Rico. </p> <p> The film, starring Myles Pollard, Xavier Samuel and Sam Worthington, beat hundreds of other features to claim the title.Œ</p> <p> Drift tells the story of the Kelly brothers (Pollard and Xavier) who start up their own surf-wear business in a small coastal WA town in the 60s and 70s.Œ</p> <p> The film screened during the week-long film festival to an audience of over 500, with producer Tim Duffy in attendance to participate in a Q&A session afterwards.Œ</p> <p> Leading actors Pollard, Xavier and Worthington will be in Perth this Friday to take part in similar Q&A events, for which the tickets to the first session have already sold out.Œ</p> <p> Pollard and Worthington both hail from Western Australia, as do many of the other supporting cast, including actors Greg McNeill (The Circuit, September), Sarah Louella (Cloudstreet), Maurie Ogden (The Shark Net), David Bowers (Cloudstreet), Igor Sas (Lockie Leonard), Murray Dowsett (The Circuit), Laura Fairclough (Cloudstreet) and Phil Miolin. Youngsters Sean Keenan (Lockie Leonard) from Busselton and Kai Arbuckle from Clarkson play the young Kelly brothers. Drift is co-directed by Morgan O'Neill and Ben Nott and is produced by Tim Duffy, Michele Bennet and Myles Pollard. </p> <p> Drift hits Australian cinemas on May 2.</p> <p> View the trailer here: <a href="http://if.com.au/2013/02/28/article/Drift-Trailer/HXHSXTHMQJ.html">http://if.com.au/2013/02/28/article/Drift-Trailer/HXHSXTHMQJ.html</a></p> Wed, 17 Apr 2013 08:34:14 +1000 http://if.com.au/2013/04/17/article/Jason-van-Genderen-to-premiere-short-film-Red-Earth-Hip-Hop-at-Sundance-London/HAIGMFSRXG.html http://if.com.au/2013/04/17/article/Jason-van-Genderen-to-premiere-short-film-Red-Earth-Hip-Hop-at-Sundance-London/HAIGMFSRXG.html Emily Blatchford <p> Terrigal-based filmmaker Jason van Genderen has been announced as one of two finalists of the Sundance Nokia Music competition. As a result, his short film Red Earth Hip Hop will premiere at Sundance London, held from the 25-28 April at Cineworld at the O2. Van Genderen first heard about the competition, which calls for the submission of a 60-second trailer capturing an underground music story, via social media. “Someone sent me a link for this trailer competition and I thought, ‘What a fantastic way to test the content,’” he says. “Then later I was talking with friends and someone mentioned how an indigenous hip hop scene starting to grow and mature.” </p> <p> A meeting with a Triple J producer put van Genderen in contact with Melbourne based Hip Hop artist Morganics and the idea for Red Earth Hip Hop was born.Œ</p> <p> The film – which van Genderen is currently in the midst of editing - tells the story of indigenous hip hop and how it is paving the way for Aboriginal youth to reconnect with their culture and traditional languages.Œ</p> <p> Though van Genderen says he is passionate and proud of the subject, he says he was still surprised his trailer was chosen.Œ</p> <p> “I was genuinely stunned to be selected, there were hundreds of brilliant entries submitted,” says Van Genderen. “I think there were 280 in total. When I went through and started watching the other entries, my hope sank, there were so many high calibre concepts there. I am genuinely stunned that we got in.”Œ Along with a return trip to Sundance London to see his film premiere, van Genderen’s prize included two Nokia 920 smartphones and $5000 with which to complete his film. The filmmaker then had just over a week to shoot and edit the project. “It was a whirlwindˆ we had no time to plan things. We just scrambled and got it together,” he says. </p> <p> The film was shot in four days in Lockhart River, Queensland, and looks at how hip hop is impacting indigenous youth in the community.Œ</p> <p> “(The film is about) how hip hop is giving today’s Aboriginal youth a way to reconnect with what their story-telling elders passed on, only through a new tool,” he says. “It’s also preserving local language which has been a struggle for decades. Now kids are wanting to learn the language because they want to rap it. It’s coming full circle.”Œ</p> <p> Van Genderen is quick to point out the differences between indigenous hip hop and the US variety.Œ</p> <p> “American hip hop is seated in the Bronx, it’s the language of struggle from the streets,” he says. “It’s all bling and bitches and hoes and crime and that sort of stuff.Œ</p> <p> “Indigenous hip hop also addresses problematic issues in the community such as isolation but it’s very culturally rich and very empowering.”Œ</p> <p> Currently in the editing process (the final version of the film is due tomorrow) van Genderen says he hopes the final film will run around the five minute mark.Œ</p> <p> Of the two finalists, an overall winner will be announced.Œ</p> <p> “I hope I’ll bring home a gong, but really I think I’ve already won by just being there,” he says.Œ</p> Wed, 17 Apr 2013 08:16:35 +1000 http://if.com.au/2013/03/27/article/Sydney-Film-Festival-launches-free-online-publication-to-celebrate-anniversary/JDJEMDVZGP.html http://if.com.au/2013/03/27/article/Sydney-Film-Festival-launches-free-online-publication-to-celebrate-anniversary/JDJEMDVZGP.html Inside Film Correspondent <p> A free online publication has been launched to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Sydney Film Festival.</p> <p> Sydney Film Festival 1954 to Now: A Living Archive was launched by NSW minister for the arts, George Souris.</p> <p> “This new digital archive is not only a comprehensive anthology of Sydney Film Festival and the Australian film industry, but it is also a celebration of Sydney and NSW as the nation’s hub of film and creative industries,” the minister said.</p> <p> The publication employs Realview technology and was partially funded by a special history grant via the City of Sydney's History Publication Sponsorship Program.</p> <p> “The City of Sydney is pleased to support this wonderful archive which shows how significant the festival’s impact has been to the evolution of the city’s cultural life over the past 60 years,” said Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore.</p> <p> Sydney Film Festival's festival director Nashen Moodley said: “This free digital archive provides a thorough historical overview of the festival, which has challenged, delighted and entertained Sydneysiders for six decades. Within its pages you will find a multi-layered, multi-dimensional chronicle of Sydney Film Festival – its past, present and future, seen from many perspectives and told with many voices. It is an amazing resource full of multimedia, interviews and analysis of the history of the festival, its relationship to the local and international film industries, its position in cinema history and its role in the development of local art, culture and entertainment.”</p> <p> The publication can be viewed <a href="http://online.sffarchive.org.au/#folio=1" target="_blank">here</a>.</p> Wed, 27 Mar 2013 09:37:36 +1100