Tony Ayres’, The Home Song Stories continues its extraordinary lead up to its national theatrical release on August 23, by taking out the prestigious FIPRESCI international jury award at the Brisbane International Film Festival over the weekend and being nominated for the Victorian Premiers Literary Award.
FIPRESCI is the international federation of film critics, with members in 60 countries, and awards the prestigious International Film Critics Prize at film festivals around the world. Its first jury prize was presented at the 1946 Cannes Film Festival.
Anne Demy-Geroe, the Executive Director of the Brisbane International Film Festival said, ‘I read the script for The Home Song Stories and instantly fell in love with it. I always knew I wanted it to be part of BIFF, so I was thrilled that both Tony and his sister, Linda Kwok, were at the festival to personally collect the FIPRESCI international jury award.’
These latest accolades for The Home Song Stories follow the film’s international success at the Berlin Film Festival and the recent announcements that the film has been selected to screen at both the Toronto and Edinburgh International Film Festivals.
Locally, it was voted one of the most popular films at the Sydney Film Festival and received a rousing response from audiences at the Adelaide and Melbourne Film Festivals.
Writer/director Tony Ayres was recently also awarded the Screenplay Prize at the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards for his autobiographical script for The Home Song Stories and received an AWGIE (Australian Writers Guild) nomination for Original Feature Film.
The Home Song Stories is the true story of Rose (Joan Chen), a glamorous Shanghai nightclub singer, who struggles to survive in seventies Australia with two young children. Based on writer/director Tony Ayres’ own life, it is an epic tale of mothers and sons, mothers and daughters, unrequited love, betrayal and secrets.
The Home Song Stories opens nationally on August 23 – with advance screenings this weekend (August 17-19) at selected cinemas.
[release from Dendy Films]