Australia’s fastest growing boutique film festival (and the bearer of Australia’s richest film prize) kicks off tonight with the Australian premiere of Julius Avery’s Son of a Gun.
CinéfestOZ, now in its seventh year, is held at various seaside locations across the Western Australian coast including Busselton, Bunbury and the Margaret River, and is widely touted as being Australia’s premiere destination festival.
“Being a destination film festival means people can completely immerse themselves in the festival – attending screenings, gala events, lunches and sidebar events where films and film matters are being discussed,” says CinéfestOZ vice chair Helen Shervington. “There is nowhere else in Australia where this is possible. People make friends with others with like interests… it is a four and a half day film party like no other.”
As previously reported by IF, there are six films in contention for the coveted $100,000 prize; Julius Avery’s Son of a Gun, Matt Saville’s Felony, Robert Connolly’s Paper Planes, John V. Soto’s The Reckoning, Stephen Lance’s My Mistress and finally, the documentary The Waler: Australia’s Great War Horse from director Russell Vines.
Each will enjoy a screening throughout the program, which also boasts a selection of Australian and French films.
The winner will be decided on closing night this Saturday by a jury – a task Shervington does not envy.
“Every time I think about which film might wind the top prize I come up with a different answer,” she says. “They are all brilliant films but they are all very different, the jury has a very difficult job.”
Notable guests to this year’s festival include actors Joel Edgerton, David Wenham, Marta Dusseldorp and Myles Pollard as well as jury chair Bruce Beresford and movie critic Margaret Pomeranz.